[Music] on Friday police executed another search warrant at Jorgenson's former home in Shoreview this case will likely span numerous cities and [Music] counties thankfully cases like this are extremely rare but they are reminders to all of us that monsters can be real [Music] St Paul one of Minnesota's oldest cities is a place better known for its historic charm snowy Winters and Minnesota nice reputation than for sinister crimes on the surface it seems like the last place you'd expect to find a gruesome mystery but in the spring of 2023 behind the calm exterior of a quiet suburb something dark was brewing it started small just a faint unpleasant odor wafting through an unassuming apartment complex neighbors noticed complaints trickled in and what seemed like a minor annoyance would soon unravel into something far more Sinister at the center of it all was the accused a person who like so many before him thought bleach duct tape and a bit of elbow grease could erase the evidence on that subject isn't it odd how some folks think they can outsmart everyone with nothing more than a trip to Home Depot and a few poorly worded internet searches they buy what's essentially a murder kit and then Google such gems as how do I clean up a murder scene or how do I dispose of a body without getting caught we see this time and time again this story though didn't start with Google gole searches or receipts it started with a smell an unmistakable stench and a property manager who had his suspicions let's dive in in miday of 2023 complaints began piling up at the Sentry Ridge Apartment Complex in Maplewood Minnesota residents were fed up with a foul odor seeping through the building and it didn't take long for the department manager to take notice according to an affidavit the smell was described as like a dead animal or something that had died it was unbearable the manager confronted one of the tenants a man named Joseph Jorgenson better known as Joe about the stench coming from his unit but Joe wasn't very Cooperative he flat out refused to let the manager inside to investigate determin to get to the bottom of it the manager returned 3 days later with a maintenance worker to inspect the unit this time time they got inside but Joe was verbally combative and physically blocked their access to one of the bedrooms the same room where the smell seemed to be strongest frustrated the manager gave Joe and his roommate an ultimatum they had one week to clean the apartment and they complied not long after the manager and maintenance workers saw Joe carrying large black duffel bags out of the apartment something about the way he moved them slow and deliberate immediately raised suspicion one of them even commented it looked like he was carrying a dead body the circumstances were certainly suspicious but without solid proof of a crime they hesitated to call the police it was a choice they would come to regret what the century Ridge apartment manager didn't know was that just a week earlier 34-year-old Mani Starin known as Manny by loved ones had been reported missing by a family member Manny was a mother of three someone who worked hard as a CNA and a home health aid in St Paul born in Roso Minnesota she was known for her kind spirit and quiet determination she also struggled with mental health issues and on April 21st 2023 she disappeared without a trace an officer entered Manny's apartment with the property manager and found clear signs of a struggle a bedroom window screen on the floor a cracked TV screen and a shattered microwave glass that had been cleaned up in the bedroom the bed sheet was partially removed a foam mattress topper had a large cutout hole and red stains were visible at the foot of the bed the manager also noted missing items from the closet next officers obtained a warrant to search and process Manny's apartment for forensic evidence crime scene technicians located evidence of large amounts of Blood on the couch the floor of the living room and the kitchen it was also apparent that someone had attempted to clean up the blood preliminary analysis shows that it was Manny's blood that was recovered from the scene investigators believe that someone was seriously injured or killed in the apartment on June 6th police asked the public for any information on what might have happened to Manny as tips began to pour in investigators made chilling discoveries detectives learned that Manny may have been afraid of her boyfriend his name Joseph Jorgenson Joseph Steven Jorgenson was born inun une 1983 and spent most of his life in St Paul most recently he shared an apartment with a male roommate he'd known for many years before that he owned a home valued at $200,000 in the 5,000 block of Fernwood Street in St Paul where he resided until September 2022 details about his education are scarce but Joe worked in finance holding a managerial role at Amira prise Financial beneath this professional exterior however was a darker side his criminal record dating back to 2012 was extensive and included multiple DWI domestic assault charges theft and Drug rated offenses as investigators dug deeper into his relationship with Manny a disturbing pattern of violence began to emerge family members recounted harrowing incidents of domestic abuse on one occasion Joe allegedly wrapped a rope around Manny's neck one neighbor recalled seeing her with a black eye and red marks around her neck when asked if she wanted to call the police she responded that just make things worse while detectives had plenty of speculation and suspicion there was no hard evidence to implicate Joe that would soon change however as the investigation would yield shocking findings detectives obtained surveillance video from Manny's apartment dated April 21st the day she was last seen alive the footage reportedly showed her running from her apartment clearly in distress with a man that fit Joe's description chasing her down moments later he caught up grabbed her and forced her back inside she was never captured on video again this meant Joe was the last person to enter Manny's apartment after her disappearance and made no attempt to report her missing to the police additionally investigators discovered that between April 21st and the 28th Joe used Manny's keys to access her apartment more than two dozen times on April 28th surveillance footage captured him carrying two duffel bags and a suitcase out of her unit loading them into a pickup truck and driving away away the truck was registered to a man who lived at the same Century Avenue apartment building in Maplewood Joe's longtime roommate if that wasn't incriminating enough what investigators uncovered next left little room for doubt with terms and phrases like jugular what do police do with a missing person's report and lime for soil Joe's Google searches raised eyebrows incidentally lime can speed up decomposition and mask odors he also Googled how to clear browser cookies and remove GPS trackers and it didn't stop there Joe used Manny's payment card to purchase Saran Wrap gloves cleaning supplies and disinfectant wipes from a local Dollar Tree store then there were the text messages just 2 weeks before Manny disappeared Joe sent her a series of threats that were as cruel as they were ominous one read now you owe me two because you called the cops on me two times very clear I was of that being punishable by hanging I'm giving you this plea bargan opportunity so you're welcome another said hope you die of a kidney infection you blankety blank with this evidence in hand police determined they had sufficient probable cause that a crime had occurred they secured a search warrant for Joe's Apartment in connection with Manny's disappearance however what was meant to be a routine search sech quickly spiraled into chaos good afternoon my name is Sergeant Mike ernster that's spelled e r n s r I'm the public information officer for the St Paul police department our investigators focused on an apartment earlier this week on Monday um in relation to a search warrant in Maplewood uh at an address on Sentry Avenue our SWAT team executed the search warrant on behalf of our investigators they encountered Jorgenson in the apartment where he started a fire fought with officers and attempted to disarm them two officers were injured in this incident Jorgenson was arrested on unrelated charges and booked into the Ramsey County Jail a search of the apartment did reveal additional uh blood evidence that we believe is related to this case as the investigation went on a connection was made to a storage unit in Woodbury Minnesota it was located on the 800 block of Weir Drive on Wednesday June 28th investigators executed a warrant at this at this storage unit and did discover human remains inside the unit our forensic Services Unit as well as the Ramsey County Medical Examiner did respond to the storage unit and they processed it as if it was a crime scene the remains in question were brought to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner office for further examination on Thursday June 29th yesterday the Ramsey County Medical Examiner did identify those remains as Manny staran of St Paul they also ruled that the cause of her death was homicide Jorgenson Still Remains in the Ramsey County Jail and the investigators forwarded their investigation to the Ramsey County Attorney's Office for review this afternoon the Ramsey County Attorney's Office have charged uh Joseph Jorgenson with the murder of Manny Starin on Monday June 26th just before 10: a.m. the St Paul Police SWAT team executed a search warrant at Joe's Apartment the situation quickly escalated when Joe barricaded himself in his bedroom and started a fire after forcing entry into the room SWAT officers faced additional resistance as Joe fought with them and attempted to grab an AR-15 from one of the officers he was eventually subdued taken into custody and transported to Regent's hospital for evaluation Joe's roommate who was also home at the time locked himself in his bedroom during the raid but surrendered without incident he was transported to the St Paul police department for questioning during his interview the roommate who claimed to have a traumatic brain injury that impaired his sense of smell explained that he had known Joe for 30 years he described limited interaction with Joe and little awareness of what was happening in the apartment stating he worked weekdays and rarely engaged with the various women Joe brought home but those were not the only individuals in the apartment perhaps most disturbingly during the search police encountered a woman in the apartment who had visible bruises scratches and redness around her neck she told officers Joe had Strang L and threatened to kill her stating he had said the neighbors won't hear you scream she was treated for minor injuries and released meanwhile a review of Joe's phone records revealed that his cell phone had pinged near a storage facility in Woodbury on May 18th 20123 armed with this information police secured a search warrant for the storage unit shortly after they discovered the remains of Manny Starin but chillingly that's not all they found as information obtained from the search LED investigators to a second storage unit in [ __ ] Rapids all right uh good afternoon I'm here to provide an update in the missing person case involving Fanta saong unfortunately for the second time in a week I'm here to report that we found a missing person deceased fanta's case began at the end of May when a tip came into to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal apprehensions human trafficking tip line that tip was from a concerned citizen somebody who knew Fanta and was concerned for her welfare they reported to us that Fanta was in an abusive relationship uh they they stated that Fanta was in a relationship with Joseph [Music] Jorgenson and they had lost contact with her and they were concerned for her safety our investigators received this tip and they were in the middle of another inves tigation where Joseph Jorgenson was a person of interest so they immediately became concerned for her safety and open a missing person's case that investigation led us to this week where investigators went up to the 9100 block of University Avenue Northwest in [ __ ] Rapids and served a search warrant on a storage unit located um at that location investigators located what they believed to be human remains inside the storage unit our forensic Services Unit as well as the Midwest uh medical examiner's office of Anoka responded to the storage unit and recovered those remains they were brought back to the medical examiner's office where today those remains were identified as Fanta saang the investigators today also served a search warrant in Shoreview at a residence that search warrant was conducted by St Paul investigators who were serving the warrant at a home that was previously owned by Joseph Jorgenson we believed he was in that home until approximately September of 2022 the search warrant was conducted with the hopes of finding any evidence in relation to the death investigation involving Fanta saong cases like these are horrific and the impact everyone in our community thankfully cases like this are extremely rare but they are reminders to all of us that monsters can be real and we are committed as your Police Department to keeping our community safe from harm Banta Zang was a mother of two and the youngest daughter in a family originally from La born in May 1990 she graduated from East FW High School in 2008 unlike her killer she had no record of violent offenses however like Manny struggled with mental health challenges a quiet battle that made her no less deserving of safety or dignity on January 2nd 2024 at the Ramsey County Courthouse Joseph Jorgenson pled guilty to two counts of second degree intentional murder in exchange for his plea prosecutors agreed to drop charges of arson threats of violence and attempting to disarm an officer stemming from his chaotic arrest at the century Ridge apartment in court Joe admitted to being in relationships with Manny and Fanta at different times he confessed to killing Manny in her St Paul apartment in April 2023 according to a statement an argument turned deadly when she demanded he leave in a rage he placed her in a choke hold and said he choked her out until she was no longer breathing he then admitted to dismembering her body with a long razor blade and transporting her remains to a storage unit in Woodberry where they were later discovered by police Joe also confessed to killing Fanta 2 years earlier in 2021 he described a verbal argument at their shared town home in Shore View that escalated into violence he admitted to beating her until he realized she was no longer alive I felt bad about it immediately afterward he told the court but it was my intent at the time to kill her like Manny fanta's body was dismembered and hidden in a storage unit this one in [ __ ] Rapids Joseph Jorgenson is scheduled for sentencing on February 28th 2024 he faces a maximum of 40 years in prison for murder with the sentences to be served concurrently intimate partner violence is a devastating reality and in the cases of Manny Starin and Fanta Zang its ultimate cost was their lives it's important to be clear the responsibility for their deaths lies solely with Joseph Jorgenson his choices his actions and his violence ended their lives and rob their families of two cherished women abuse does not just happen and it is never the victim's fault it is the deliberate decision of the abuser to harm control and in this case kill Manny and Fanta were more than victims they were Mothers Daughters and individuals worthy of safety and respect and while Joseph Jorgenson will spend decades in prison it doesn't erase the pain and loss he caused that said awareness is a powerful tool by recognizing the signs of abuse and holding perpetrators accountable we can work to prevent additional tragedies like this organizations communities and individuals all play a role in creating a future where everyone feels safe in their relationships by talking openly about intimate partner violence and advocating for those who feel powerless we take steps towards hope a world where abusers are stopped before they choose to take another life