Chilling Discovery: Complaint Charging Iowa Woman Describes Deputy Finding Body in Crashed Car Near Eyota
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- The Iowa woman who was arrested after authorities found a woman’s body in a crashed car near Eyota made her first appearance in Olmsted County Court Tuesday morning.
Read More: Authorities Share New Details About Woman Found Dead Near Eyota
Olmsted County Sheriff's Deputies arrested 32-year-old Margot Lewis on the morning of June 22 after responding to a single-vehicle crash at the I-90/Hwy. 42 interchange just south of Eyota.
The North Liberty, IA woman was arrested on suspicion of interfering with a dead body after deputies located the body of 35-year-old Liara Tsai of Minneapolis in the back of the crashed vehicle.
Complaint Describes Deputy's Chilling Discovery of Woman's Body Near Eyota
The criminal complaint indicates the vehicle Lewis was driving was traveling east on I-90 when it entered the median at a high rate of speed and crashed into a guardrail that protects the Hwy. 42 overpass support pillar.
Deputies found Lewis sitting in a folding chair in the grass median that was given to her by a bystander. Bystanders told the responding deputy that an injured or deceased person was in the crashed vehicle, the complaint says.
The deputy approached the vehicle and saw Tsai’s body wrapped in a bed sheet, a blanket, a futon-style mattress, and a tarp. Her head was pointing towards the passenger side and her feet were facing the driver’s side, according to the court filing.
The back seats were folded down. Authorities found what appeared to be dried blood that soaked the bed sheet, the court document says.
Tsai had what the complaint describes as a large wound around her carotid artery on the right side of her neck and was cold to the touch. So far Lewis has not given a statement to law enforcement.
An autopsy confirmed that Tsai’s death was not caused by injuries suffered in an auto accident. The court filing does not list any more information on Tsai’s cause and manner of death.
On Monday the Minneapolis Police Department issued a news release indicating authorities found evidence of a violent scene after executing a search warrant at Tsais’s home on Saturday evening.
Lewis was formally charged with a count of interference with dead body or scene of death - conceal body. Her next court date has not yet been set. Her conditional bail was set at $1 million.
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Gallery Credit: Photos supplied by Rochester Police Departmentt
