Ethan Broad, a 27-year-old from Minnesota, confessed to killing a teenager and dismembering her body in his garage.
But according to court documents, Broad claimed he killed 19-year-old Dystynee Avery out of self-defense.
Broad faces a second degree murder charge and could face 40 years in prison if convicted.
A criminal complaint stated that Avery had been missing since April 3.
The next day, Broad told the Moorhead Police Department Avery had been staying with him. He claimed she left with her belongings on April 4.
Avery's mother, Doreen, told KVLY:
"He will not tell anybody where she's at which is the hardest part. And now that I know that she is gone, I want answers. I want to know where she's at. I want to know what he did to her."
Prior to her daughter's murder, Doreen thought Broad was a good friend and there were no red flags to raise concern for her safety.
"For him to do what he did, I guess I really don't know him. Because obviously he's capable of taking someone's life."
Doreen and her boyfriend Jordan Yarobrough said Broad had contacted them on April 3 and allegedly told them he and Avery got in a fight and she left him.
But Doreen was skeptical and said:
"A bunch of B.S. because obviously he had already taken her life. She was already gone."
Jordan added:
"Ethan had told me four different stories. It didn't add up."
When confronted by investigators, Broad said that someone else killed Avery by hitting her in the head with a lead pipe and slitting her throat with a knife in the bathroom. He added that other individuals—who were not named—helped drag Avery's body to the garage where they planned to cut up her body and dispose the dismembered parts.
But after surveillance footage showed Broad leaving the apartment alone dragging blue tote bags, he admitted to killing Avery and mutilating her body by himself.
Court documents showed he maintained the killing was in self-defense.
Broad made his first court appearance on Monday, and his bail was set at $1 million.
Officers who had conducted a search with a warrant found blood and human tissue on the saw found in his garage and a pink-stained carpet with bleached out blood stains inside his apartment.
He remains in jail and is scheduled to appear back in court on May 14.
Avery is originally from Colorado, where both her parents and family reside.
A GoFund Me page was started to cover travel expenses and costs for the funeral.
You can make a donation to the Avery family by visiting the GoFund Me page, here.
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