Charge: Iron Range man decapitated after being accused of rape

Accused of rape, a 20-year-old Iron Range man was decapitated with a machete by the woman's boyfriend, according to authorities.

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

Joseph C. 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 he 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 in Deer River with other people, and then smoked methamphetamine with a friend.

From there, they "drove around in the woods" near Ball Club and later stopped, supposedly to check on trouble with the car.

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 from the victim's belt, decapitated Haiman and threw the head in the woods.

"This was not my Joe," the woman told investigators.

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

Haiman's Facebook page listed him as an employee at an education and employment center in Hibbing and as having attended Cherry School and Northern Lights Community School.

Haiman first came to the attention of authorities early last week when he did not show up for work and was reported missing, as was his vehicle.

After Haiman's death, the vehicle was spotted late Friday — with an obstructed license plate — being driven on Main Street in Deer River by a 19-year-old man, and Thoresen in the passenger seat without a seat belt on, the complaint against Thoresen read.

Just as the Deer River officer was about to pull over the car, driver Triston M. Corwin took off, but he was caught several miles later. Thoresen was briefly detained at the scene, as was Corwin.

Corwin told the officer that Thoresen was threatening him with a knife during the pursuit and ordered him to keep going. Corwin also revealed that Thoresen confessed to decapitating Haiman and stealing the dead man's vehicle, according to the charging document.

The day after the chase, investigators showed up at the apartment where Thoresen and the girlfriend live with questions about Haiman.

Thoresen appeared in court on Wednesday and remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail ahead of another hearing Tuesday. His criminal history in Minnesota includes only minor offenses, among them two misdemeanor convictions for disorderly conduct.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482