ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Minnesota man pleaded responsible Thursday to killing and dismembering two girls whose our bodies had been discovered in several storage models.
Underneath his plea deal, Joseph Steven Jorgenson, 41, of Woodbury, is predicted to be sentenced Feb. 28 to 2 40-year phrases for the deaths of Manijeh Starren in 2023 and Fanta Xayavong in 2021, prosecutors mentioned.
That’s the utmost beneath Minnesota legislation for every depend of intentional second-degree homicide. He’ll serve them concurrently. In Minnesota, defendants usually serve two-thirds of their sentences in jail and one-third on supervised launch.
“These heinous acts of cruelty took the lives of two younger girls and endlessly altered the way forward for their family and friends,” Ramsey County Legal professional John Choi mentioned in an announcement.
Authorities started investigating after getting a lacking particular person report from Starren’s father in April 2023. He informed police that she struggled with psychological well being and dependancy challenges and had not checked in as regular that day. Proof from her condominium, surveillance video, and her social media and monetary accounts led police to treat Jorgenson as the first suspect.
Prosecutors mentioned keys recovered from Jorgenson’s condominium led investigators to a storage facility in Woodbury the place they positioned Starren’s dismembered stays in two separate coolers in addition to a big bag.
Throughout that investigation, authorities uncovered proof of a second sufferer, Xayavong, with whom Jorgensen had a relationship in 2021. Investigators discovered her stays in a separate storage locker in Coon Rapids.
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