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Joseph James Benson, 35, of Edgerton, is in Pipestone County Jail facing a murder charge after an incident that occurred at an Edgerton residence on Saturday, Nov. 2.
According to a criminal complaint filed Nov. 5, deputies with the Pipestone County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a possible domestic assault at the residence shortly before noon. The report came from the property owner, who told law enforcement that Benson and his girlfriend were house sitting for her and she had received a message from Benson indicating that he had killed the woman, according to the complaint.
Officers arrived at the residence and detained Benson. They observed that he had scratches on his face and arms, which Benson told them were from his girlfriend, according to the complaint. Benson told the officers that “there’s a dead body upstairs,” according to the complaint.
Officers entered the house and found a person on the bathroom floor with an extension cord wrapped around her legs. She had no pulse, according to the complaint. She was later removed from the residence, at which point an officer observed marks on her throat, blood in her ears and blood matted in her hair.
She was transported to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy. A provisional report completed Nov. 3 indicated that the cause of death was likely asphyxia and stated that the manner of death was homicide, according to the complaint.
During a phone conversation with an officer with the Pipestone County Sheriff’s Office on the afternoon of Nov. 2, the owner of the property reported she had received a message from Benson earlier in the day in which he told her that the victim was “freaking out and wanted to leave,” according to the complaint. The owner of the residence told law enforcement that she told him to let her leave and that she told both of them that she didn’t want such issues at her house, according to the complaint.
The property owner told law enforcement that she then received a call from Benson about 20 minutes later and he told her that the victim was “gone” and that she wouldn’t stop screaming, that she would have “called the cops” and that he wasn’t “going back to prison,” according to the complaint.
Law enforcement seized Benson’s phone, obtained a warrant to search it and found a video taken the morning of Nov. 2 that showed Benson and the victim arguing. In the video, the victim accused Benson of beating her and showed the left side of her face, which appeared to have marks on it, according to the complaint. The two can then be heard arguing in the video and then the victim can be seen lying on the floor on her right hip, crying, appearing to be unable to stand, and asking Benson to call 911, according to the complaint.
Benson is charged with second-degree murder, a felony punishable by up to 40 years imprisonment. His first hearing in Pipestone County District Court was scheduled for Nov. 12.