MOORHEAD 鈥� A warrant filed in Clay County Seventh District Court for the suspect in the death of a 14-year-old Moorhead girl earlier this week showed the two were quarreling over a recently-ended romantic relationship before he stabbed her multiple times.
Isaac Arndt, 18, of Fargo, initially went to police just after 11 p.m. Monday, Aug. 19, to report an assault by an unknown white man who he claimed was following him and the victim, Jaelyn Walker, in Gooseberry Park, according to the warrant. He said Walker had fled the area when the assault started and Arndt was taken to a local hospital to have a cut on his hand treated.
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About 90 minutes later Walker's mother filed a missing person report with Moorhead police and directed officers to look for her daughter in a wooded area near a bike trail on Elm Street and Sixth Avenue using Snapchat location services.
Officers found Walker's body in that location. There were "substantial sharp force injuries to her back, torso and neck," the warrant said.
At that time, officers went to the hospital where Arndt was being treated and he agreed to go with them to the Fargo Police Department. There, he initially re-told the story about the unknown assailant, but later admitted that he and Walker had been "in a romantic relationship for several months however it recently ended."
Investigators reviewed Walker's phone and discovered that the two had agreed to meet at 7:30 p.m., Monday, at Gooseberry Park.
Arndt told detectives that when he would not tell Walker the identity of his new girlfriend, she started hitting and kicking him, at which point he pulled out a knife and stabbed her.
"Defendant stated he started to 'slash' at the victim and that he stabbed the victim about 13 times. Defendant stated he fled the scene on his scooter and along the way he discarded his phone, his back pack, and the scooter," the warrant states.
Arndt told detectives he returned to his Fargo apartment to clean up. A search warrant for the residence showed that red-stained socks and a towel were found concealed in a kitchen cupboard and "used toilet paper and toilet paper rolls were found in the bathroom with red in color stains on them."
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Law enforcement reviewed security video from a home facing the wooded area where Walker's body was found. In it, Arndt was seen coming out on foot at first and later on a motorized scooter headed towards the pedestrian bridge to Fargo, appearing to be discarding things in an area where Walker's phone was found.
Arndt told investigators that Walker was dead when he left the scene and that he dragged her body to the river before fleeing.
Preliminary autopsy results from the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office showed that Walker's manner of death was homicide by multiple sharp force injuries. Final autopsy results, including toxicology, are still pending.
The complaint said Arndt is charged with second-degree murder with intent 鈥� not premeditated, a felony offense which carries with it a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
The Moorhead police are seeking the public's assistance in locating a Samsung Galaxy cell phone with an orange case in relation to the case. Information from the department said the phone might be located somewhere between Second and 10th Avenues and 15th and 23rd Streets South. Anyone with information is asked to call the Red River Regional Dispatch Center at 701-451-7660.
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