Murder charge: Coon Rapids man, 42, fatally beats neighbor, is captured days later in Nevada

A 42-year-old Coon Rapids man fatally beat his neighbor and was captured days later in Nevada, according to a criminal complaint.

John J. Hare was charged in Anoka County District Court with second-degree intentional murder in connection with the death early last week of David C. Nelson, 62, whose body was found in his home in the 10100 block of NW. Wintergreen Street.

Officers who went to Nelson's home saw a bloodied hammer next to the man's body, the complaint read, which did not address a motive for the killing.

Hare was arrested more than 1,500 miles to the southwest in Nye County, Nev., where he remains jailed as extradition efforts proceed.

According to the complaint and related court records:

Law enforcement met at the home on Feb. 23 with family members, who said they went inside the home and saw Nelson on the floor and a significant amount of blood around his body. Officers saw that Nelson had head injuries and a slashed throat.

The officers recovered two cellphones near Nelson's body and later determined that one belonged to Nelson and the other to Hare.

Two days earlier, the mother of Hare's child told officers that she picked him up near Nelson's home. She said he was distraught and making statements about death.

A former girlfriend told law enforcement that Hare summoned her to Nelson's home on the night of Feb. 20. She arrived and saw Nelson bloodied, "but still alive," the complaint read.

Hare was standing nearby with blood on much of his body. The girlfriend ran from the home, explaining that she feared Hare would harm her.

Investigators tracked a second cellphone belonging to Hare to activity in Nevada, where he "was known to have significant ties ... including a brother who still resides there." Also, Hare served two years in prison in Nevada for his involvement in a shooting in Las Vegas.

Hare called a neighbor on Feb. 21 and said he was in Las Vegas. Authorities have yet to say when Hare was arrested or where he was picked up in vast and sparsely populated Nye County, the southern tip of which is about 60 miles west of Las Vegas.