Charges: Maplewood man dismembered girlfriend, hid her body in storage unit
MINNEAPOLIS -- Joseph Jorgenson of Maplewood is accused of second-degree murder for allegedly dismembering his girlfriend Manijeh "Mani" Starren and hiding her body in a storage unit.
Starren's father reported her missing on May 1, saying that she struggled with drug addiction and mental health issues. She had not been seen since April 21, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
A surveillance video outside of Starren's apartment showed her running from her apartment on April 21. In the video, her boyfriend, 40-year-old Jorgenson, chases after her and pushes her back into the apartment, according to a criminal complaint.
Between April 21 and April 28, Jorgenson accessed the apartment 28 times, even though Starren was the only one with a set of keys. Then on April 28, Jorgenson was seen on video carrying two duffle bags and a suitcase from the apartment, charges state.
Officers obtained a search warrant on May 25 for Starren's apartment and found large amounts of blood in the living room and on the floor.
"It was apparent that someone had attempted to clean up the blood," the complaint reads.
Police obtained a search warrant for Jorgenson's phone and found he had googled topics like "what do police do with a missing person's report" and "how to clear cookies from android phone."
On May 15 and 16, the apartment manager said they'd received multiple complaints about a "foul smell" coming from Jorgenson's apartment. Apartment management entered and saw Jorgenson carrying and dragging large black duffle bags out of the apartment. They commented to each other that it looked like Jorgenson was "carrying a dead body," the complaint reads.
Officers were able to get a search warrant for Jorgenson's apartment. On June 28, he barricaded himself inside when officers arrived, and started a fire in his bedroom. When SWAT entered, Jorgenson fought officers and tried to disarm them, charges state.
Jorgenson's phone revealed he had been in the area of an iStorage unit in Woodbury, which was registered to Jorgenson's roommate. Police obtained access to the unit and found a large cooler wrapped in plastic, a blue duffle bag, and a small carry-on suitcase. The bags were the same ones that Jorgenson was seen in the surveillance video leaving from Starren's apartment with.
The bags contained a human body, and was determined to be Starren.
"He just went on with his life. Without saying anything to anyone," Sgt. Mike Ernster said at a press conference on Friday. The documents also said he had used Starren's EBT card multiple times in May to buy cleaning products, latex gloves, and disinfectant wipes.
During the press conference, Ernster said that police were also searching for 33-year-old Fanta Xayavong, who was last seen in July of 2021. A report for her was not made until May of 2023, and she was last seen with Jorgenson, possibly in Shoreview.
Anyone with information on Xayavong's whereabouts is asked to call 911 in an emergency or 651-291-1111 to speak with an officer.
Women's Advocates
Crisis Line: (651) 227-8284
St. Paul & Ramsey County Domestic Abuse Intervention Project
Crisis Line: (651) 645-2824
Minnesota Day One
Crisis Line: 1-866-223-1111
Esperanza United
Bilingual crisis line: (651) 772-1611.
For anonymous, confidential help, people can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-787-3224.
