Man stabs his girlfriend more than a dozen times and then hugs her: Police

A man is said to have stabbed his 14-year-old girlfriend multiple times in a park in Minnesota before slitting her throat, hugging her and stabbing her again in the back.

Isaac Arthur Arndt, 18, is charged with the premeditated murder of Jaelyn Walker in Moorhead, which is on the North Dakota border near Fargo. According to a probable cause affidavit, Arndt walked into the Clay County Law Enforcement Center around 11 p.m. on Aug. 19 to report an assault. He had two cuts on his fingers. Arndt claimed he and Jaelyn were in Gooseberry Park when an “unknown white male” began chasing them. He said as he ran away, the man attacked him with a knife, according to the affidavit.

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About 90 minutes after Arndt's statement, Jaelyn's mother called Moorhead police to report her missing. A tracking device on her phone via Snapchat led officers to the vicinity of a bike path at Elm Street and 6th Avenue South. Several officers searched the area where they found Jaelyn's body in the Red River near a wooded area along the path. She had multiple stab wounds. Officers also found a knife and a lot of blood.

Moorhead detectives spoke with Arndt at the hospital. After being granted Miranda, he initially told them the same story he had told the other officer earlier that evening, but his statements were inconsistent, detectives noted. Arndt eventually admitted that he and Jaelyn had been in a “romantic relationship” for several months but that it had recently ended, the affidavit states. He claimed the two were at the park when Jaelyn wanted to know about his new girlfriend and attacked him when he refused to tell her.

“The defendant stated he began hitting the victim and stabbed the victim approximately 13 times. The defendant stated he fled the scene on his scooter, discarding his phone, backpack and scooter along the way,” investigators wrote.