A 34-year-old New Orleans man was booked on a second-degree murder charge days after police reported they found a woman’s headless torso in a freezer on his property.
Julia Dardar, 36, was reported missing by her estranged husband Micah Dardar on December 23, WVUE previously stated. He told authorities she had mental health and addiction issues adding that she moved in with a 34-year-old man named Benjamin Beale in the Florida area of New Orleans.
An officer with the New Orleans Police Department met with Beale at his home, and the 34-year-old told him he had not seen her since December 16, adding he believed she was suicidal, an affidavit states per WVUE.
The outlet reported:
Beale agreed to meet with police again Jan. 5, and told them this time that he had not spoken to Julia Dardar since Dec. 12. He said they had been in the process of ending their co-habitation “due to her drug habits,” and suggested that she might have committed suicide or overdosed in a part of the abandoned U.S. Naval Support station known to street drug users as “The End of the World.” Beale told detectives he had not reported the woman as missing sooner because he had lost his cellphone and had no way to contact police.
Per Fox News:
“It should be noted that Beale did not give any indication that he was worried about Julia and/or any indication that he attempted to locate Julia,” the affidavit continues. He also told police, in person, that he waited to report her missing “because he had lost his cellular phone and did not have the means to contact police.”
On January 11, the NOPD secured a warrant to search Beale’s property and found human remains, WWL reports:
The remains were found inside of a deep freezer on the home’s property. Police said a number of extension cords led from the back of the house to a padlocked Chevrolet bus in the backyard.
“Upon opening the lid of the freezer, investigators observed the headless torso of what appeared to be an adult human female,” arrest records say.
The police report also said officers found an electric saw inside an ice chest “which appeared to have bits of flesh and fluid on the blade surface” along with a plastic face shield, goggles and garbage bags near the freezer.
Authorities say they discovered a methamphetamine lab in the suspect’s kitchen, according to WVUE. Beale allegedly refused to answer questions regarding the dismembered body found on his property, and authorities booked him on obstruction of justice in a death investigation, court records show.
He was also booked on “illegal carrying of a weapon in the presence of controlled dangerous substances, distribution of methamphetamine, possession with the intent to distribute marijuana, and two counts of creating/operating a clandestine drug lab,” WVUE reports, citing court records.
On Friday, The NOPD announced that Beale was booked on second-degree murder in addition to previous counts, according to WVUE. His initial bond was set at $400,000, but it is expected to increase in light of the murder allegation filed Friday.
The identity of the dismembered woman has not been released.
Once Beale’s arrest became public record, social media users scoured his Facebook under the name “Kelly Kirkpatrick,” according to NOLA.com. On his Facebook, Beale posted an image regarding the Showtime series Dexter, a show about a fictional vigilante serial killer, the outlet reports.
“He’s smart. He’s lovable. He’s Dexter Morgan, America’s favorite serial killer, who spends his days solving crimes and nights committing them,” reads IMBD’s description of the series.