On 1 May 2023, the father of Manijeh ‘Mani’ Starren, reported his daughter missing, stating he hadn’t heard from her in 10 days and she had missed her rehab appointment.
His daughter, and a mother of three, had been battling mental health issues and drug addiction for years and had consented to go to a drug rehabilitation centre. Despite grappling with her own life’s challenges, she was always prioritising others. She had a knack for making friends wherever she went and wouldn’t hesitate to give her last dollar to someone homeless.
Little did the 34 year old know, she’d soon be targeted viciously by an ex-partner with fatal consequences, who left her flat for the final time with a trio of sinister items.
Mani’s father, Marvin, first informed the police that during their last conversation, Mani appeared scared of her boyfriend, whom he only knew as Joe. Marvin remembered an instance when Mani mentioned that Joe had wrapped a rope around her neck during a heated argument that “got out of hand”.
The police found out that Mani had been in a relationship with Joseph Jorgenson, which was marred by physical abuse. Neighbours of Mani reported seeing her with a black eye and red marks around her neck.
Mani was captured on CCTV entering her St Paul, Minnesota home on 21 April 2023 at approximately 6pm. Later that evening, she appeared to be attempting to flee the property, but Jorgenson seemed to be dragging her back inside.
Over the subsequent week, he was spotted entering and exiting the residence 28 times. The final time he departed, he was carrying two large duffle bags and a hefty suitcase which he stowed in a pick-up truck.
Upon entering the flat, officers discovered damaged furniture and appliances, along with traces of blood on the living room sofa and in the kitchen. The blood was identified as Mani’s.
But where had she gone?
Jorgenson emerged as the prime suspect in her mysterious disappearance. Authorities found that he had been utilising Mani’s food state benefits card to purchase cleaning supplies, including a bucket, six boxes of cling film, latex gloves, and disinfectant wipes.
His online activity raised further alarms; on 21 April the day Mani’s father last made contact with her Jorgenson sought information on the term “jugular”. By 1 May, his searches included queries such as “What do police do with a missing person’s report?” Alongside this, he researched how to erase cookies from a mobile phone and “lime for soil”, which is notably used to accelerate decomposition of human remains and mask odours.
In a chilling precursor, investigators also uncovered hostile messages Jorgenson had sent to Mani just a fortnight prior to her vanishing. One message ominously stated: “N u owe me 2 bc u called the cops on me 2 times. Very clear I was of that being punishable by hanging. I’m giving u this plea bargain opportunity. So yw,” while another menacing text read, “Hope u die of a kidney infection u bitch c**t terrible f*****g mother.”
A dramatic operation ensued when a SWAT team descended on Jorgenson’s apartment, leading him to barricade himself within. In a desperate bid to evade capture, he ignited a fire and violently clashed with officers forcing entry, even attempting to snatch a firearm from one of them before ultimately being detained.
His telephone records directed law enforcement to a storage unit in Woodbury, leased under his flatmate’s name. Keys to padlocks at Jorgenson’s abode were discovered, and it was there, in June 2023, where authorities stumbled upon the gruesome sight: Mani’s dismembered remains were located within the storage unit.
The dismembered remains, comprising the head, arms, thighs, legs, and feet, had been meticulously wrapped in a substantial amount of clingfilm and distributed among multiple bags.
A second victim emerges
Jorgenson was subsequently charged with her murder, and his name being made public prompted someone to come forward, linking him to another missing person Fanta Xayavong. She had been unaccounted for over two years, having previously dated Jorgenson around the time of her disappearance, when she was 33.
However, a missing person report was only filed in May 2023, after the informant saw Jorgenson’s arrest for murder reported in the press. Fanta, also a mother, struggled with drug addiction, and her lifestyle often led to periods of absence.
Police discovered text messages from 2021 on Jorgenson’s phone, in which he confided to a friend that he had broken his hand by hitting Fanta. “I legit broke my hand on her skull last week,” he wrote.
Upon speaking to witnesses, investigators learned that between July and September 2021, visitors to Jorgenson’s home in Shoreview, Minnesota, noticed a “terrible” smell. After he moved out, a cleaning crew tasked with sorting out the property observed that the bedroom carpet had been removed, revealing a large stain on the wooden floorboards.
Only weeks after Mani’s body was discovered, police visited a separate storage facility in Coon Rapids, rented under a different name. There, they found the dismembered body of a woman, her hands still bound behind her back, concealed in coolers and large plastic containers.
The victim was identified as Fanta. Knives used to dismember her body were also discovered, along with some of her personal belongings, and Jorgenson’s DNA was found on the tape used to restrain her.
In January this year, as part of a plea agreement, 41 year old Jorgenson pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder. He admitted to killing Fanta “around Labor Day of 2021”, although he claimed to have been under the influence of drugs at the time and couldn’t recall the exact date.
Jorgenson confessed to attacking Fanta during a drunken argument at his home in Shoreview, striking her in the head with his knee and continuing to beat her until she died. “I was very drunk at the time,” he told the court.
“I did feel bad about it immediately afterwards, but my intent at that time was to kill her.”
He revealed that he kept her body at his home before attempting to dismember her, and then transported her remains to the storage unit in Coon Rapids.
Jorgenson also admitted to strangling Mani in her apartment in April 2023. He described becoming enraged after she demanded he leave the flat, at which point he put her in a chokehold and “choked her out until she was no longer breathing”.
He confessed to using a long razor blade to dismember her body, which he then moved to the storage facility. During the sentencing, Jorgenson expressed his remorse. “I’d just like to say that I truly am sorry. I want to say especially to the family and especially to the children of both Mani and Fanta, I am very, very sorry,” he stated.
Ricki Starren, Mani’s mother, shared her grief: “Mani was more than just my daughter, she was the light in our life a source of joy, strength and unconditional love. Her dreams of making a difference in the world were as bright as her spirit. Her absence has left an irreplaceable void, not only in our family,but in the lives of the people she would have helped and cared for in the future.”
The pain persists
Fanta’s sister voiced her anguish: “He didn’t just take Fanta’s life, he destroyed the lives of her children, her family and everyone who loved her. ” The judge delivered the sentence, stating that Jorgenson deserved life without parole, but his hands were tied due to the plea deal. “You inexplicably committed the most gruesome and heinous of crimes I have ever known,” he declared.
Jorgenson received a 40-year sentence for each murder, to be served concurrently. He is expected to serve approximately 27 years before being released.
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.