A 27-year-old man from Minnesota has been charged with killing a 19-year-old teenager, dismembering her body and dumping the pieces in the dumpsters of his apartment building.
The victim, Dystynee Avery had been missing since April 3, and she was last seen staying with Ethan Broad in Moorhead, North Dakota, according to KVLY. However, Broad told investigators he last saw Avery on April 4, when she left his apartment and taking her things with her.
Admitting to the murder
The court documents stated that Broad admitted Avery was dead during a follow-up interview. He told detectives that another person had hit Avery over the head with a lead pipe and cut her throat in his bathroom. He then added that he and some other people, who he had not named, moved Avery's body to the garage where they planned to dismember and dispose of the pieces.
But the court documents also stated that Broad was seen alone on the surveillance video. He was seen dragging a blue tote from his apartment building to the garage. In another interview, Broad admitted killing Avery.
The witnesses of the crime told Moorhead Police that Broad told them he killed and dismembered Avery. The police then searched Broad's apartment and the garage, they found a saw that Broad used to dismember Avery's body. Investigators also found blood in the garage and spots inside his apartment that appeared to have been cleansed of blood. According to the documents, Broad admitted to cleaning the spots using bleach.
Self-defense claim
Dystynee Avery's mother, Doreen, told NBC's Valley News that she previously considered Ethan Broad to be a great friend for her daughter and a great guy with zero red flags as they've known each other for a while. She added that a worried Broad called her, as well as Dystynee's boyfriend, and he claimed that they had a fight the night before and that when he woke up the next day, Dystynee was gone.
However, according to the law enforcement, when Broad was challenged with his statement, he admitted that he was the one who killed and dismembered the teenager and that he acted alone, he also claimed that he had done it in self-defense. The two witnesses also stated in an interview that Broad was alone when the murder happened.
Dystynee's mother said she knew that something was wrong when her daughter did not call to check-in like she did every day. She said that it was the moment that she knew that something bad happened because it is not like Dystynee to not call her or her father. She added that the worried call from Broad the day that Dystynee went missing was a bunch of B.S. because obviously he had already taken her life and she was already gone by then.
Jordan Yarobrough, Dystynee's boyfriend, added that Ethan Broad told him four different stories that did not add up. Jordan stated that for Broad to commit such a horrific act just shows that he didn't really know him. Dystynee's family and her boyfriend as still in shock over what Broad did.
Ethan Broad was charged with second-degree murder and if he is found guilty, he could serve a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.