Deer River, Minnesota – A man was charged on Tuesday for the decapitation of a man who was accused of raping his girlfriend. Joseph Christen Thoresen, a 35-year-old man, beat David Haiman, 20, with a baseball bat before stabbing him with a machete and beheading him afterward.

The girlfriend, identified only as K.D.G., told the police that she and Thoresen knew Haiman. After she had told Thorsen about the alleged rape that happened in their own bedroom, they confronted him at their apartment on June 21 or 22. K.D.G. punched and kicked Haiman, and Thoresen hit him one more time, but only breaking his nose, according to The Daily Beast.

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Joseph Christen Thoresen faces one felony charge of second-degree murder in connection to the June 21 incident. Image courtesy of CBS

Later, the three of them left the apartment in Haiman’s car and met some friends in Deen River to smoke marijuana and another friend to smoke meth. Next, they got in Haiman’s vehicle, which Thoresen drove into the woods.

During the drive, Thoresen and Haiman got into an argument, and Haiman started to insult them. According to K.D.G.’s declaration to the police, there was a problem with the car, so the two men got out of the vehicle to check on it. Thoresen opened the hood, and having Haiman near; he hit him on the head with a baseball bat. Then he grabbed a machete and stabbed Haiman several times in the abdomen. While he was laying on the ground, Thoresen took the knife and cut Haiman’s head off.

Haiman was reported missing days later

The complaint was filled in last week after not showing up for work. His car was also missing.

Late Friday, a police officer spotted a vehicle with an obstructed license plate on Main Street. The report stated that Thorsen was in the passenger seat while another man, called Triston M. Corwin, drove the car. The officer intended to pull over the vehicle, but the men took off. The car lost control and slid into a ditch. Thorsen tried to escape and, according to the report, Corwin hid in a house in the woods, but they were both detained by the police.

During the interrogation, Corwin told the police Thoresen threatened him with a knife and ordered to keep driving. Police did not find the alleged knife. According to the report, Corwin also stated that Thoresen confessed him he stole Haiman’s car after stabbing and decapitating him, and then dragging his body into the woods.

On Sunday, officers found Haiman’s torso and later his head, not very far from the place where the murder took place.

Thoresen denied having any contact with Haiman for several weeks

After the Haiman’s missing had been reported, investigators found that his last activity on his cell phone was registered on June 21.

On late Sunday, the police showed up at Thoresen’s apartment to ask him about Haiman’s death. He denied to have spoken with him, but on Haiman’s phone, a text conversation with Thoresen on June 20 confirmed the opposite.

Haiman and Thoresen were also friends on Facebook.

On Wednesday, Thoresen showed up at court and was accused of second-degree murder, facing a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. He remains in jail, and the bail has been set at $2 million without conditions and $1 million with conditions.

Source: The Daily Beast