Manijeh Starren,Fanta Xayavong Obituary, Death; – A Minnesota man pleaded guilty Thursday to second degree murder after two women were killed and their remains were stashed in storage units.
Court documents filed in Minnesota’s Ramsey County District Court show that Joseph Steven Jorgenson pleaded guilty Thursday in the deaths of missing women Manijeh Starren, 34, and Fanta Xayavong, 33. The prosecutor is seeking a sentence of 40 years for each of the killings in Jorgenson’s case, court documents show.
Xayavong was last heard from in July 2021, while Starren was last heard from in April of 2023, court documents show. Jorgenson admits to killing Xayavong at his home
Xayavong had allegedly been in an abusive relationship with Jorgenson, the Saint Paul Police Department said in a news release.
Someone contacted investigators in May 2023 and said she’d last been heard from in July of 2021. She was last seen with her boyfriend, Jorgenson, at his home, court documents obtained by USA TODAY show. According to investigators, they found messages between Jorgenson and another person where Jorgenson admitted to hitting her.
“I legit broke my hand on her skull last week”, he wrote in one message.
Investigators also spoke to witnesses who said that between July and September 2021, they visited his home and it smelled “terrible.” When Jorgenson moved out of the home, a cleaning crew filmed the property and noted that the bedroom carpet had been removed and there was a large stain on the wooden floorboards, court records show.
“The cleaning crew noted the horrible smell emanating from throughout the home,” officials wrote in court documents. When investigators went into the home with cadaver dogs, the dogs were drawn to the bedroom and the garage.
Investigators found out that Jorgenson had a storage unit in Coon Rapids that had been rented by a friend. Authorities searched the storage unit on July 6, 2023 and found a styrofoam cooler containing a severed human foot, as well as multiple large plastic totes, including one with more human remains inside. The remains were later identified as those of Xayavong and investigators also found personal items of hers. Authorities also found Jorgenson’s DNA on packing tape on one of the totes.
Jorgenson was also charged with second-degree murder in relation to her death. He told police in a statement that he killed Xayavong around Labor Day of 2021 but he wasn’t 100% sure because he had been using substances around the time of the murder.
He admitted to killing her at his home in Shoreview, hitting her in the head with his knee. He kept her body at his home before trying to dismember her and later taking her remains to the storage unit in Coon Rapids.
Starren had not been heard from since April 2023, according to the Saint Paul Police Department.
According to Starren’s father, who contacted police, his daughter missed an appointment and the last time he saw her, she seemed afraid due to something Jorgenson had done, court documents show. Her family filed a missing person’s report with police in May 2023, launching an investigation into her whereabouts.
Saint Paul investigators went to her last known location, her apartment in Saint Paul. Once they secured a search warrant, they found blood inside the home, the Saint Paul Police Department shared in a news release. On April 21, 2023, Starren was captured on video surveillance footage running from her apartment. Jorgenson is seen running after her and pushing her back inside the unit, court documents show.
She was last seen entering the apartment between 5:55 p.m. and 6 p.m. that day and is never seen leaving again. Jorgenson, however, is seen leaving and entering the unit 28 times between April 21 and April 28, 2023. He is last seen leaving the unit on April 28, 2023 just before 5 p.m., carrying two large duffle bags and a large suitcase, according to court documents.
He was the last person to enter Starren’s apartment and did not let police know she was missing, authorities said. Witnesses reported multiple domestic violence incidents between Starren and Jordenson, including seeing her with a black eye, marks on her neck from strangulation and reports of Jorgenson putting a rope around her neck.
Investigators also found that around the time Starren was last seen, Jorgenson went to a Dollar Tree store and bought cleaning supplies. He also Googled topics such as “what do police do with a missing person’s report” and “how to clear cookies from android phone,” according to court records.
Starren also called police weeks before her disappearance asking for a male to be removed from her home because she “did not feel safe.” Just 10 days before she disappeared, there was a report of her bleeding from her wrist during a “domestic related” incident.
The investigation led authorities to Jorgenson’s home, where a SWAT team went to take him into custody. Jorgenson shot at law enforcement and fought with the officers, trying to disarm them, police said. He was arrested on unrelated charges and was booked into the Ramsey County Jail, police said. Investigators also found blood evidence at his apartment.
As investigators continued to look into Starren’s disappearance, they found a connection to a storage facility in Woodbury. They searched the unit and found human remains later identified as Starren. Her death was ruled a homicide, police said, leading the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office to charge Jorgenson with one count of second-degree murder. Jorgenson, 41, is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 28.
