ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Minnesota man pleaded guilty Thursday to murdering and dismembering two women whose bodies were found in separate storage units.
Under a plea agreement, Joseph Stephen Jorgenson, 41, of Woodbury, will be sentenced to two terms in prison on Feb. 28 for the deaths of Manije Stalen in 2023 and Fanta Xayavong in 2021. The prosecutor's office announced that he will be sentenced.
This is the maximum penalty for each count of intentional second-degree murder under Minnesota law. He intends to serve them at the same time. In Minnesota, defendants typically serve two-thirds of their sentences in prison and one-third on supervised release.
“These heinous acts of brutality claimed the lives of two young women and forever changed the futures of their friends and families,” Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said in a statement.
Authorities began investigating after receiving a missing person report from Stalen's father in April 2023. Her father told police that she suffers from mental health and addiction issues and had not checked in as usual that day. Evidence from her apartment, surveillance video, social media and financial accounts led police to identify Jorgenson as the prime suspect.
Prosecutors say keys recovered from Jorgenson's apartment led investigators to a storage facility in Woodbury, where they found Stalen's dismembered body in two separate coolers and a large bag. He said he discovered.
During that investigation, authorities found evidence of a second victim, Xayavong. Ms. Jorgensen was in a relationship in 2021. Investigators found her body in another storage locker in Coon Rapids.
