ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. -- A 22-year-old man is under arrest after his roommate was discovered dead inside a Christmas tree box.

Case documents reveal Jose Ortiz-Diaz is charged with one count of Murder in the death of his roommate, 44-year-old Margarito Estrada Hernandez. Ortiz-Diaz' initial hearing is scheduled for April 23.

According to the probable cause affidavit, on April 6, the Elkhart Police Depart responded to a residence in the 400 block of Village Lane for a welfare check on Hernandez.

Police were told Hernandez hadn't been heard from by his employer for five days.

Upon arrival to the residence, officers spoke with a man only identified as "Jose" at the time. He then gave officers permission to search the residence. Police say Jose didn’t appear alarmed by Hernandez' absence.

"Jose" alleged that Hernandez was an alcoholic and often disappeared while going on drinking binges. Police cleared the residence that day without locating Hernandez.

On April 8, Hernandez had still not been found and was entered as a missing person into a national law enforcement database.

On April 10, investigators spoke with close family friends of Hernandez who stated Hernandez doesn't drink or disappear for day at a time as was alleged earlier.

On April 14, an EPD detective went to the residence again to follow up on Hernandez' disappearance. Ortiz-Diaz answered the door and allowed the detective inside.

The detective noted the strong smell of cleaning supplies. The detective asked Ortiz-Diaz if he could search the property, to which he agreed.

Ortiz-Diaz and the detective searched the home together before coming up Ortiz-Diaz' room. The detective then discovered a Christmas tree box wrapped in cellophane in the closet.

The detective noted the smell of decomposition and observed what he believed to be clothing. The box was also noted to be very heavy.

When detectives attempted to detain Ortiz-Diaz, he began resisting, according to documents.

Ortiz-Diaz was eventually taken into custody and transported to the Elkhart County Homicide Unit. Ortiz-Diaz was read his Miranda Rights and agreed to speak with investigators.

Ortiz-Diaz told police he and Hernandez have been roommates since February. He informed police he had a drug problem and recently relapsed, adding that he gets "irritable" when coming down from his high.

Ortiz-Diaz told detectives he and Hernandez had gotten into a disagreement on an unknown date involving a speaker that Hernandez used to play music.

Ortiz-Diaz said after this disagreement, Hernandez began to leave but he called for him to come back into the home so he could fully address the issue. That's when Ortiz-Diaz said it quickly turned into a physical altercation in the living room and at one point, Hernandez began to strangle him from behind.

Ortiz-Diaz told police he then pulled out a pocket knife from his pants pocket and stabbed Hernandez as he stood behind him.

He said once Hernandez let go of him, he stabbed him again in the chest area and possibly one more time in an unknown location.

Ortiz-Diaz told detectives at this point, Hernandez was on the ground "crying." Ortiz-Diaz then left the home, later returning to find Hernandez dead.

Ortiz-Diaz told police he took Hernandez' body to the basement and put him in the Christmas tree box. He later moved it to the garage before placing it in the closet according to the probable cause affidavit.

Ortiz-Diaz also informed police he'd used cleaning supplies in the house to clean up the scene.

A search warrant was obtained for the residence and upon execution, investigators observed what appeared to be dried blood in various areas of the vinyl living room floor as well as the wooden steps leading to the basement.

Once investigators opened the Christmas tree box, a human body, believed to be Hernandez, was located partially decomposed and dressed in bloodied clothing.