Man charged in alleged rapist’s decapitation

Authorities say that a 20-yearold Minnesota man who was accused of rape was decapitated with a machete by the woman’s boyfriend.

David Haiman, of Hibbing, was killed last week in an ambush attack along a northern Minnesota road, his body left in one spot in the woods and his head dumped in another location, according to the criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Itasca County District Court.

Joseph Thoresen, 35, of Grand Rapids, Minn., is charged with second-degree murder. Before his arrest, Thoresen said he hadn’t been in touch with Haiman for the past two to three weeks, but the defendant’s cellphone revealed texts shortly before Haiman’s death.

According to the criminal complaint: Thoresen’s girlfriend told authorities that Thoresen was upset when she revealed to him that Haiman had raped her in the couple’s apartment.

Haiman arrived at the apartment on June 21 or 22, and she confronted him in front of Thoresen, punching and kicking him. Thoresen also punched Haiman and said he should not have raped “my girl.”

The three left in Haiman’s vehicle and smoked marijuana. From there, they “drove around in the woods” and later stopped.

Thoresen and Haiman were standing in front of the vehicle, when Thoresen hit Haiman with a baseball bat and stabbed him in the back and abdomen.

Thoresen then took the machete, decapitated Haiman and threw his head in the woods.

Authorities located Haiman’s torso Sunday morning and his head about an hour later, both not far from where the decapitation occurred.