A 32-year-old Minnesota man have been charged with the murder of a man at a Thief River Falls tech company Tuesday night.
Jorge Luis Benitez-Estremera is charged in Pennington County Court with one count of second-degree murder and third degree assault. He faces a maximum of 40 years in prison. A judge set bail at $10 million, or $1 million cash, both with conditions. Benitez-Estremera will be seen in court again on May 22.
Police were called just after 10 p.m. on May 9 to Digi-Key Corporation in the 700 block of Brooks Ave. S. for a report of a man found dead. Police have identified him as Steven Opdahl. He was found in a spot workers say is a popular place for smoke breaks.
Documents say surveillance video shows Benitez-Estremera driving into the Digi-Key parking lot just after 9 p.m. At 9:44, Opdahl is seen walking outside to the smoking area, and one minute later, Benitez-Estremera gets out of his car and approaches Opdahl. Court documents say Benitez-Estremera knocks the cigarette out of Opdahl’s hand, and the two exchange words.
For more than four minutes, Opdahl was then brutally and relentlessly assaulted by Benitez-Estremera, according to court documents. Opdahl’s head was slammed into the windshield of a car, he was violently punched in the head at least 16 times, as well as kicked, body slammed and stomped on over and over again, court documents allege. Opdahl tried to get up and get away from his attacker several times, but was unsuccessful. The end of Benitez-Estremera’s assault came when documents allege he grabbed a sign on a post and chased Opdahl before catching up with him and striking Opdahl in the head multiple times.
After the assault, police watched security footage as Benitez-Estremera grabbed a jug of water from his trunk and washed his hands, as well as changed his clothes. The bloody clothes were thrown away in a nearby dumpster, and later collected by police.
Benitez-Estremera’s girlfriend, an employee at Digi-Key is seen getting into his vehicle just after 10 p.m., approximately four minutes before 911 was called. The girlfriend later told police when she got into Benitez-Estremera’s car, he didn’t have any pants on. Documents say Benitez-Estremera told his girlfriend that “someone was standing right next to the car smoking and that person was just staring at him and he felt threatened and then he said that he punch him.” Documents say Benitez-Estremera claimed he felt a negative force from Opdahl.
In an interview with police, court documents say Benitez-Estremera told officers Opdahl “was contaminated” and needed to be taken out of the system, but stated he did not know Opdahl and was not afraid him.
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