Man charged in suspected double homicide on Wharton’s Dock Road

This story was updated at 8:41 p.m. July 29 to include bond information. 

BANDERA — A 28-year-old man found inside a residence with a pair of bludgeoned, decomposing bodies is behind bars and charged with two counts of murder.

The identities and genders of the deceased have not been released, but both were still in their bed, investigators said.

Michael Andrew Novak was arrested Friday, July 28, and booked in the Bandera County Jail in the early hours of the next morning. 

The discovery in the 8700 block of Wharton’s Dock Road was made about 6:40 p.m. Friday, July 28, when deputies responded to a call from residents reporting a foul odor coming from the house.

“The deputies smelled decomposition,” said Bandera County sheriff’s Chief Deputy Matt King. “They looked in the windows and saw bodies in the bedroom.”

King said the bodies had suffered what appeared to be “severe trauma” to their heads.

An autopsy has been scheduled with Central Texas Autopsy in Lockhart.

“We believe it’s the residents, but due to the trauma and decomposition, we haven’t been able to positively identify,” the chief deputy said.

A deputy who entered the home saw a bedroom door slowly shutting and detained a man inside the residence.

A $1 million total bond ($500,000 per charge) was set late Saturday, July 29, according to King. 

King says a truck left abandoned earlier in the week on private property on Lakeshore Lane may belong to the residents of the house where the bodies were located.

“Neighbors said the truck at the house had been missing several days,” said King, adding investigators spoke to the property owners where the truck was found.

For more details on this developing story, see next week’s Bulletin.