--- description: A Minnesota man allegedly used a machete to decapitate a man whom he believed raped his girlfriend, according to a criminal complaint. title: Suspect Allegedly Decapitates Man Accused of Raping His Girlfriend image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf95221025c1d41fe/69889a410a4a2227a09ca4fd/joseph-christen-thoresen-minnesota-decapitation.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Suspect Allegedly Decapitates Man Accused of Raping His Girlfriend  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 30, 2016 5:58 PM CUT  Joseph Thoresen is accused of decapitating another man after his girlfriend told him that the man had sexually assaulted her. Joseph Thoresen is accused of decapitating another man after his girlfriend told him that the man had sexually assaulted her.Itasca County Sheriff's Office/AP  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 30, 2016 5:58 PM CUT A Minnesota man allegedly used a machete to [decapitate a man who he believed raped his girlfriend](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cops-joseph-christen-thoresen-decapitated-minnesota-man-david-haiman-he-thought-raped-his-girlfriend/ "undefined") before throwing the victim’s head into the woods, according to a criminal complaint. Joseph Thoresen, 35, faces a murder charge for the alleged attack last Tuesday after the torso and head of missing 20-year-old David Haiman was found over the weekend, CBS News reports. Thoresen’s girlfriend had told Thoresen that Haiman had sexually assaulted her, the complaint says. Thoresen is accused of beating Haiman with a baseball bat, stabbing him, then using a machete to decapitate him, the news station said. He then allegedly dragged Haiman’s torso and threw his head into the woods, according to the complaint obtained by [CBS Minnesota](http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2016/06/29/deer-river-decapitation-charges/ "undefined"). Thoresen faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted. \[[CBS](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cops-joseph-christen-thoresen-decapitated-minnesota-man-david-haiman-he-thought-raped-his-girlfriend/ "undefined")\] Suspect Decapitates Man He Thought Raped His Girlfriend ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4390101/man-decapitates-rape-girlfriend/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4390101/man-decapitates-rape-girlfriend/"},"headline":"Suspect Allegedly Decapitates Man Accused of Raping His Girlfriend","datePublished":"2016-06-30T17:58:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:51:39.118Z","description":"He then allegedly threw the victim’s head into the woods","url":"https://time.com/4390101/man-decapitates-rape-girlfriend/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf95221025c1d41fe/69889a410a4a2227a09ca4fd/joseph-christen-thoresen-minnesota-decapitation.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf95221025c1d41fe/69889a410a4a2227a09ca4fd/joseph-christen-thoresen-minnesota-decapitation.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Joseph Thoresen","caption":"Joseph Thoresen is accused of decapitating another man after his girlfriend told him that the man had sexually assaulted her.","creditText":"Itasca County Sheriff's Office/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4390101/man-decapitates-rape-girlfriend/","name":"Suspect Allegedly Decapitates Man Accused of Raping His Girlfriend"}}]}] ```