ALEXIS Saborit was arrested for allegedly "beheading and dumping the 'bloody body' of a Minnesota woman on the street," police said.
Disturbing footage circulating online appeared to show the moment America Thayer, 55, was dragged from her car and attacked before her body was left on the pavement in Shakopee, Minneapolis, on Wednesday.
Police said Saborit, 42, was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of second-degree murder after her grisly death as officers recovered a large knife in an alley near the scene.
Thayer and Saborit were reportedly in a relationship with each other and cops said it was "not a random act."
Thayer worked at Dollar Tree and My Pillow, where co-workers claimed she was allegedly domestically abused by the suspect, KMSP reported.
Read our America Thayer blog for all the latest updates…
- Danielle Cinone
DOMESTIC ASSAULT CONVICTION AGAINST THAYER
Authorities have not said what motivated the attack, but Saborit has a criminal history that includes a domestic assault conviction for an attack against Thayer in 2017.
At that time, she said they had been dating for seven years.
The police statement submitted to court, says that he and Thayer had been dating for several years.
- Danielle Cinone
POLICE COMMENTS ON ‘DISTURBING’ VIDEO
Shakopee Police Chief Jeff Tate told Bring Me The News: “We are aware that a bystander took a video of this incident.
“We have that video. It is deeply disturbing that the first instinct was to post that on social media.
“This woman has a son, has a family and people that care about her and the last place anyone should find out about a tragedy involving a loved one is via social media.
“Thankfully we were able to apprehend this individual quickly.”
Saborit was arrested about one-and-a-half miles (2.41km) away, about three blocks from a hotel where he was staying.
- Danielle Cinone
CONTENT WARNING: GRUESOME CRIME SCENE FOUND BY POLICE
According to the complaint and a search warrant affidavit, police were told that a body with no head had been pulled out of a car belonging to Thayer.
They were also told that a suspicious man was seen walking in a nearby alley.
Police arrived to find Thayer’s headless body on the ground, next to her bloodied car.
Her head was a foot away.
A machete-style knife, bloody shirt, and shoes were found in an alley a few blocks away, the Star Tribune reported.
- Danielle Cinone
WEAPON FOUND NEAR BLOODY SCENE – COURT DOCUMENTS
A local resident helped cops locate the weapon allegedly used to kill Thayer, with the statement adding that her dog had found a knife in a garden near the intersection of Spencer Street and 4th Avenue.
MSN News reports that the statement says cops noted a black handle sticking up from the ground, concealed in a bush.
The knife was almost entirely concealed in the dirt and difficult to see, the court document adds.
It was described as a black machete with a partially serrated edge.
The blade was covered with what cops described as a blood-like substance and there appeared to be strands of hair on the blade.
The knife also appeared to fit the sheath found at the crime scene, the document claims.
- Danielle Cinone
COPS SAY MURDER WAS NOT ‘RANDOM ACT’
Shakopee police revealed in a statement that Thayer knew Saborit, and that the horrific murder was “not a random act.”
Thayer worked at Dollar Tree and My Pillow, where co-workers said she was was allegedly abused by the suspect, KMSP reports.
Saborit had previously been convicted of gross misdemeanor domestic assault, KMSP News said.
- Danielle Cinone
NO SHOW FOR COURT DATE
On the day Alexis Saborit allegedly committed the atrocious murder, he was scheduled to appear in court but did not show up.
The 42-year-old had a history of domestic abuse, America Mafilda Thayer’s former colleagues have said, while court documents obtained by FOX 9 show he had been previously convicted of gross misdemeanor domestic assault in 2017.
It’s also understood America fled to a neighbor’s house in the middle of the night fearing for her life a month before her death.
- Danielle Cinone
A ‘DANGER TO SOCIETY’
Alexis Saborit – the man who beheaded his partner America Thayer in broad daylight – was freed on bail despite being a “danger to society.”
The Minnesota man was out on bail for arson and property damage for allegedly trying to burn down his apartment when he killed America.
One Twitter user dredged up a ruling by Judge Richard C. Perkins ordering Saborit’s release in March despite the defense’s claim he was mentally ill and that his release would “endanger safety of any person or the community.”
- Cybele Mayes-Osterman
MEMORIAL FOR THAYER PUT UP
Citizens of Shakopee, Minnesota have set up a memorial for America Thayer following the gruesome killing, Mary McGuire reports for FOX9.
- Cybele Mayes-Osterman
COWORKERS REMEMBER AMERICA THAYER
America worked at Dollar Tree and My Pillow, where her co-workers claimed she was abused by Saborit, KMSP Fox 9 reported.
Lori Stejskal and Eileen Necklen used to work with Thayer at Dollar Tree.
"A bubbly person, always smiling. Just sweet," said Necklen.
"I'm still kind of in shock," added Stejskal.
- Cybele Mayes-Osterman
AMERICA WROTE NOTE TO COURT
America had written a heartbreaking note to a court to allow her to see him, The Sun can exclusively reveal.
Her petition was granted and Saborit was given permission to see her in person and speak with her on the phone.
In the note, she wrote: "I live with Alexis Saborit for 4 year, we never have a problem. The problem we have was an argument, he never abuse me! Never."
- Cybele Mayes-Osterman
WHAT WAS SABORIT CONVICTED OF EARLIER?
Authorities have not said what motivated the attack, but Saborit has a criminal history that includes a domestic assault conviction for an attack against Thayer in 2017.
According to a police statement, Saborit told investigators the pair were together earlier in the day and were going to go to his court appearance for an earlier case.
On the way to court, Thayer allegedly told Saborit that she wanted to "get rid" of him and end their relationship, the statement adds.
- Cybele Mayes-Osterman
WHAT DOES THE VIDEO SHOW?
Horrifying footage that circulated online appeared to show the moment the victim was dragged from her car and attacked before her body was dumped in the street in Shakopee, Minneapolis, on Wednesday.
Shakopee Police Chief Jeff Tate told Bring Me The News: "We are aware that a bystander took a video of this incident. We have that video. It is deeply disturbing that the first instinct was to post that on social media.
"This woman has a son, has a family and people that care about her and the last place anyone should find out about a tragedy involving a loved one is via social media."
- Cybele Mayes-Osterman
POLICE CONFIRMED VICTIM'S IDENTITY
In a press release, Shakopee Police Department confirmed that Ms Thayer, 55, was found with stab wounds at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Spencer Street at around 2.31pm.
After police responded to calls of a stabbing, they discovered the woman’s decapitated body next to a car, with her head nearby, according to a search warrant obtained by KMSP.
Officers also recovered a large knife in an alley near the scene.
- Cybele Mayes-Osterman
LOCAL RESIDENT HELPED COPS FIND MURDER WEAPON
A local resident helped cops locate the weapon allegedly used to kill Thayer, with the statement adding that her dog had found a knife in a garden near the intersection of Spencer Street and 4th Avenue.
MSN News reports that the statement says cops noted a black handle sticking up from the ground, concealed in a bush.
The knife was almost entirely concealed in the dirt and difficult to see, the court document adds.
- Cybele Mayes-Osterman
THAYER AND SABORIT WERE ALLEGEDLY GOING TO COURT ON MURDER DAY
According to a police statement, Saborit told investigators the pair were together earlier in the day and were going to go to his court appearance for an earlier case.
On the way to court, Thayer allegedly told Saborit that she wanted to "get rid" of him and end their relationship, the statement adds.
He allegedly told cops he used a knife to kill Thayer because she had “gone too far” in her alleged abuse of him and in her comments about ending their relationship.
- Cybele Mayes-Osterman
THAYER'S FRIENDS TELL OF ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP
Friends and colleagues of Thayer told of how Saborit’s controlling behaviour had raised alarm – and they suspected she was a victim of domestic abuse.
Reba Skaar, who worked with Thayer for three years at a Dollar Tree store in the area, told the Star Tribune that Saborit had once not let her use the bathroom alone on a visit to her apartment and was “just dangerous”.
Skaar also claimed that Thayer would sometimes spend the night sleeping at her desk at her MyPillow job or in her car at the Amazon fulfillment center parking lot.
- Cybele Mayes-Osterman
THAYER WROTE NOTE TO COURT YEARS BEFORE DEATH
In a tragic handwritten note almost four years to the day before she was murdered, America told Carver County district court: “My name is America M Thayer.
“I live with Alexis Saborit for 4 year, we never have a problem. The problem we have was an argument, he never abuse me! Never.
“He don’t have anyone an (sic) this country and don’t speak English. I need to be in contact with him to help us!
“We don’t have problem for 4 years please. We never have problem.
“We will go to any treatment recommended. I need the no contact order removed please. Thankyou! (sic)”
- Cybele Mayes-Osterman
SABORIT WAS OUT ON BAIL WHEN MURDER OCCURRED
Alexis Saborit was out on bail for arson and property damage for allegedly trying to burn down his apartment when he killed America.
One Twitter user dredged up a ruling by Judge Richard C. Perkins ordering Saborit's release in March despite the defense's claim he was mentally ill and that his release would "endanger safety of any person or the community".
On the day Saborit, 42, allegedly committed the atrocious murder, he was scheduled to appear in court but did not show up.
- Cybele Mayes-Osterman
FRIEND OF AMERICA THAYER REMEMBERS HER
Nicky Kendrick, who knew the victim for five years and said she visited her every day at work, remembered the victim to SW News Media.
“She was soft-spoken, so funny and always had amazing stories. She always went out of her way to say hi to me when she saw me.
“She was just truly the kindest to everyone. I haven’t met anyone as genuinely kind as America was since my late grandma.
“I had no idea it was her at first, and then a mutual friend messaged me and it all clicked,” she told the outlet. “I’m devastated, it’s unreal and I just have no words.”
- Cybele Mayes-Osterman
WHO IS ALEXIS SABORIT?
Alexis Saborit, 42, was the partner of Thayer and the alleged suspect of the horrific murder.
In a statement, the Shakopee Police Department confirmed that Saborit was arrested in connection with Thayer's murder.
Saborit is being held at the Scott County Jail and has been charged with second-degree murder.
The 42-year-old suspect had previously been convicted of gross misdemeanor domestic assault, the outlet reported.
- Cybele Mayes-Osterman
POLICE COMMENT ON HORRIFIC BEHEADING VIDEO
Shakopee Police Chief Jeff Tate told Bring Me The News: "We are aware that a bystander took a video of this incident. We have that video. It is deeply disturbing that the first instinct was to post that on social media.
"This woman has a son, has a family and people that care about her and the last place anyone should find out about a tragedy involving a loved one is via social media.
"Thankfully we were able to apprehend this individual quickly."
- Cybele Mayes-Osterman
COPS SAY MURDER WAS NOT 'RANDOM ACT'
Shakopee police revealed in a statement that Thayer knew Saborit, and that the horrific murder was "not a random act."
Thayer worked at Dollar Tree and My Pillow, where co-workers said she was was allegedly abused by the suspect, KMSP reports.
Saborit had previously been convicted of gross misdemeanor domestic assault, KMSP News said.
- Cybele Mayes-Osterman
SHAKOPEE POLICE RELEASE STATEMENT
The Shakopee Police Department put out a statement following Thayer's grisly death.
It read: "On July 28, 2021, at approximately 2:31 p.m., Shakopee Police Department responded to a report of a stabbing incident at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Spencer Street.
"Shakopee officers found 55-year-old America Mafalda Thayer of Shakopee on the sidewalk with stab wounds.
"She was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers quickly apprehended 42-year-old Alexis Saborit of Shakopee on suspicion of second-degree murder."
- Katie Balevic
THAYER'S PARENTS WERE 'SO HAPPY THEY MOVED TO AMERICA'
A roadside memorial for America Thayer was erected in Shakopee.
A local reporter shared the origins of America Thayer's name, saying that Thayer's Puerto Rican parents "were so happy to have moved to the United States, they named her America".
Credit: Facebook - Katie Balevic
'IF I LEAVE, HE WILL KILL ME'
Fox 9 reporter Mary McGuire tweeted that she had spoken with a former co-worker of Thayer who said the woman had been "in a long term relationship with the suspect and domestic abuse had been a consistent problem".
McGuire added: "When asked by the co-worker why she didn’t leave, Thayer said 'If I leave, he will kill me.'"
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