Bloody Headless Mess - Shakopee, Minnesota

Summary

Podcast Summary: Small Town Murder

Title: Bloody Headless Mess - Shakopee, Minnesota
Host/Authors: James Pietragallo & Jimmie Whisman
Release Date: June 27, 2025

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Introduction

In the gripping episode titled "Bloody Headless Mess - Shakopee, Minnesota" of Small Town Murder, hosts James Pietragallo and Jimmie Whisman delve into a harrowing case that unfolded in the suburban landscape of Shakopee, Minnesota. Through meticulous research and their characteristic comedic flair, the duo explores the tumultuous relationship, escalating violence, and eventual tragic demise of America Thayer at the hands of her partner, Alexis Soberit.

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Background: Shakopee, Minnesota

Shakopee, a rapidly growing suburb of Minneapolis, has witnessed its population skyrocket from 8,000 in 1990 to approximately 45,000 by 2025. With a median household income of $96,473 and median home prices around $349,900, it stands as a prosperous community. The town’s history dates back to the 1700s, named after Chief Shekopee II of the Mdewakanton Dakota tribe.

James: “[...] it’s now just tied in intrinsically to the Minneapolis area. [...]”

The town boasts attractions like Valley Fair Amusement Park, a 90-acre Six Flags-owned park with numerous rides, including the infamous Wild Thing roller coaster, which experienced a significant accident in 2006.

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The Central Figures

• America Thayer: Born in 1966 in Cuba, America immigrated to the United States and, by 2021, was juggling two jobs at the MyPillow factory and Dollar Tree. Described by peers as "very soft-spoken" and "genuinely kind," America maintained a cheerful demeanor despite her challenging circumstances.

• Alexis Soberit: Born March 30, 1979, also from Cuba, Alexis arrived in the U.S. in 2007. His history is marred by aggressive behavior, including multiple charges of domestic abuse and alarming incidents that suggest escalating mental instability, particularly following a traumatic brain injury sustained in a car accident in 2017.

James: “He's insane also, is also a thing. [...]”

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Escalation of Violence

Their relationship took a dark turn in 2014 when America and Alexis, despite their tumultuous pasts, rekindled their partnership. Alexis's violent tendencies were evident, with multiple arrests for domestic abuse, including instances of strangulation and armed violence.

Alexis's Abuse:
In 2009, Alexis was charged with severe domestic abuse, including battery and false imprisonment. By 2014, their relationship was fraught with continuous violence, leading to police interventions and restraining orders, which America eventually sought to overturn, indicating a complex and possibly manipulative dynamic.

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The Traumatic Incident: Car Accident and Its Aftermath

In July 2017, Alexis was involved in a severe DUI-related car accident that left him in a coma. This incident exacerbated his mental health issues, leading to auditory hallucinations and paranoid delusions.

James: “[...] after the car accident in 2017, he began experiencing auditory hallucinations and paranoid delusions.”

Post-accident, Alexis's behavior became increasingly erratic. He was diagnosed with multiple psychiatric disorders, including manic psychosis and delusional disorder, yet he frequently refused to adhere to his prescribed neuroleptic medications, further destabilizing his mental state.

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Climactic Events: July 2021

On a fateful day in July 2021, Alexis's behavior reached its peak:

1. Courts and Disabilities: Despite multiple incarcerations and a history of violent outbursts, Alexis was conditionally released multiple times, each time with increased bail amounts due to his ongoing threats and violent actions.

2. The Murder:

   • Incident: Alexis attacked America Thayer in their shared vehicle at approximately 2:15 PM. Witnesses reported a terrifying scene where Alexis, armed with a dumbbell and a machete, violently assaulted America.

   • Decapitation: In a horrifying twist, Alexis used a machete to decapitate America, leaving her head disembodied and bleeding at the scene.

   James: “[...] he used both an 8 pound dumbbell and a machete during his assault. [...]”

3. Aftermath and Arrest:

   • **Discovery: Passersby found America’s decapitated body and head scattered near the vehicle at the intersection of 4th Avenue and Spencer Street.

   • **Evidence: Bloodied clothing and a machete sheath were found, linking Alexis directly to the gruesome crime.

   • **Capture: Police swiftly apprehended Alexis near Shenandoah Parkway and Highway 101. Despite his attempts to evade, including fleeing on foot, Alexis was subdued and taken into custody.

   James: “[...] he demonstrated significant symptoms of psychosis evidenced by disorganized thought processes, paranoia, and bizarre delusions.” (Time Stamp: 54:04)

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Legal Proceedings and Verdict

The trial of Alexis Soberit was fraught with complexities due to his mental health status:

• Defense Argument: The defense contended that Alexis was not mentally competent at the time of the murder, suffering from severe psychosis and delusions that impaired his understanding of his actions' moral and legal wrongness.

• State Argument: Contrarily, the prosecution argued that the meticulous nature of the crime—using both a dumbbell and a machete—indicated deliberate intent, challenging the notion of his innocence due to mental illness.

• Verdict:
  On July 12, 2023, the court ruled Alexis guilty of first-degree murder. However, recognizing his severe mental illness, he was found not guilty by reason of mental illness and was subsequently committed to a psychiatric care facility.

  James: “[...] he's guilty of first degree murder.” (Time Stamp: 66:56)

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Impact on the Community and Victim’s Family

America Thayer was widely regarded as a beloved member of the Shakopee community. Her son, Charles, expressed profound grief and confusion at the court's verdict, struggling to reconcile the premeditated nature of the crime with the legal acknowledgment of Alexis's insanity.

Charles Thayer: “I cannot tell you how many times the cops were called for him beating the crap out of her and leaving her bloody.”

The community remains in shock, grappling with the tragedy of a seemingly ordinary suburban life shattered by extreme violence and mental instability.

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Conclusion

The "Bloody Headless Mess - Shakopee, Minnesota" episode of Small Town Murder presents a chilling narrative of love, violence, and the tragic consequences of untreated mental illness. James and Jimmie adeptly weave together the complex layers of Alexis's descent into madness, the relentless suffering of America Thayer, and the unwavering impact on their small community. This episode serves as a sobering reflection on the intersection of mental health and justice, leaving listeners both horrified and contemplative.

James: “I just don't know what world or society we're living in anymore.”

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Notable Quotes

• James Pietragallo (00:28): “...it’s just 10 pounds of murder in a two-pound bag.”

• Jimmie Whisman (03:35): “Yeah, most of those peas. Are birds.”

• James Pietragallo (14:05): “Or, I mean, delusions are the only thing that make you crazy in the eyes of the law. And he fucking had him for sure.”

• James Pietragallo (66:57): “He's nuts, obviously.”

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Final Thoughts

The Small Town Murder hosts balance the gravity of the case with moments of levity, providing listeners with a comprehensive understanding of the events while maintaining engagement through their unique dynamic. This episode underscores the importance of mental health awareness and the dire consequences when it intersects tragically with personal relationships.

For more engaging discussions on similar cases, merchandise, and live show tickets, visit shutupandgivememurder.com and support the show on Patreon.

Transcript

[James Petragalo]

Hello and welcome back to Small Town Murder Express.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yay and choo choo.

[James Petragalo]

Oh, yay indeed, Jimmy. Yay indeed. My name is James Petragalo. I'm here with my co host Jimmy.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I'm Jimmy Whisman.

[James Petragalo]

Thank you folks so much for joining us today on another absolutely insane episode of Small Town Murder Express. As you know, it's just 10 pounds of murder in a two pound bag. We had Shabusiness last week and we have someone that could be crazier than Shabusiness this week. Oh, like these, like they should get married, these two, and live forever miserably ever after in insane matrimony. You know, it's crazy stuff. We'll talk all about it before we get to that though. Certainly. Head over to shut upandgivememurder.com get your merchandise. First of all, everything from skateboards to coffee cups on there with everything you want on the show and everything for crime and sports and your stupid opinions too. Then you get your tickets for live shows. Is what you do a place to wear that merch. Head over to there, get your tickets. A lot of them are sold out in the fall here. There are tickets left for what I saw we just released a few for Grand Rapids. Oh, so if you've been waiting on some tickets there, the Grand Rapids is available. I think Irvine just sold out. So we have Philly, D.C. and Seattle also have tickets left. So get those. Those are in November and December. So get your tickets right now for that. Shut up and give me murder dot com. Listen to crime and sports. Listen to your stupid opinions. Then get patreon as well. Patreon.com crimeinsports Just like our other show there. And that will get you anybody $5 a month or above. That'll get you everything that we have hundreds of back episodes. As a matter of fact, these two will be episodes 299 and 300. So 300 bonus episodes to binge on and then new ones every other week. One crime and sports, one small town murder. And you get it all this week for crime and sports. Crazy football player, this guy named Jeff Alm who went out in a spectacular fashion. We'll talk all about that. And then for small town murder we're going to talk about people who marry prisoners and, and people who've married serial killers and people who are currently looking to marry prisoners. And just we're going to figure out the prisoner dating game love after lockup thing and try to figure out the psychology behind this. And it's going to be Fun to explore that is patreon.com crimeinsports and you get a shout out at the end of the regular show as well. That said, I think it's time, everybody. What do you say? I think it's time to. Here we go. Clear the lungs. Arms to the sky, everyone, and let's all shout. Shut up and give me murder. Let's do this, everybody. Let's go on a trip, shall we? All right. We are going to Minnesota this week. We like it up there. It's always nice in Minneapolis. I haven't really been to many other places there, but Minneapolis is nice. We're going to Shekape.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah.

[James Petragalo]

S H A K O P E E. Shekopee.

[Jimmy Whisman]

It's gotta be a bird, right?

[James Petragalo]

No, it's an Indian chief actually named after him. It's in southeastern Minnesota. It does sound like a bird, though. It's a really good guess. The state bird is the Shekopi. If you said that, I'd be like, yeah, of course.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah. Most of those peas.

[James Petragalo]

Yeah.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Most of them go back east. Are birds.

[James Petragalo]

Yeah. Your eastern pee is birds. It's about 30 minutes outside of Minneapolis. So a suburb of Minneapolis and about an hour and 20 minutes to blooming Prairie, Minnesota. Our last Minnesota episode, Losing streak. Lois, remember her?

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, yeah.

[James Petragalo]

Wow. Was she crazy. And a mess, too. Well, that was a wild episode. Just following her around and finding her. This is in Scott county, area code 952. Population here has just boomed in the last 25 years. It's gone crazy. It's about 45,000 right now. It had 20,000 in the year 2000. It had like 8,000 in 1990. It's a suburb, so it's blown up. Median household income out here, $96,473. So doing okay? Doing great. Almost 30,000 above the national average. Median home cost here, $349,900. So it's not even exorbitantly expensive. But it's kind of a wealthier area, like a nice suburb type of deal. Little drop of history here. In the 1700s, Chief Shekopee II of the tribe here, of the. How do you say that? Madua, Canton, Dakota tribe here. That's where they were established. Established his village on the east end of this area near the water. So that's how it happened. In 1851, a guy established a trading post here and then started platting the village and named it after the chief. And it grew. The town grew, it incorporated, and then it surrendered its charter in 1861. For some reason, they Ended up naming it Jackson Township for a while after Andrew Jackson. Which is the opposite of naming it after an Indian chief completely. And then somehow I don't know when but renamed it. Check a P. Back again at some point. Yeah. So pretty much it's now just tied in intrinsically to the Minneapolis area. It's all people who live in Minneapolis live here or work in Minneapolis. It's that sort of thing. Here's some reviews of this town. Five stars. I moved here not long ago. That's a sentence. Just. That's an opener. I moved here not long ago. It is a wonderful neighborhood and it is very safe. I can't really name any type of negative experience at all. Truly wonderful.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Never had a bad time.

[James Petragalo]

Never. Everything's perfect. The best. Truly wonderful. Three stars. I like the community that she has. But I wish there was more to do locally instead of having to drive to do things. I think you're just being a little spoiled there. You moved out there. I need to move to me. Yeah. So then I can complain about living in the middle of stuff and move even farther away and then complain it doesn't have enough. Two stars here. It's Minnesota. We freeze balls all winter.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Do we?

[James Petragalo]

We do. I had to use this review just because we freeze balls all winter is great. Then it says for Smee too. I don't know what that means. S M E E T. Okay. Don't know.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Has it come back?

[James Petragalo]

But then this next sentence. I don't know if this person got hit in the head before they wrote this review. Come for it to just rain for floods to start. Increase some traffic in the area. Huh?

[Jimmy Whisman]

What?

[James Petragalo]

I don't know.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Bring floods? Is that what he said?

[James Petragalo]

I don't know if I need an interpreter or like a. Like a. Like a. Like a medium from beyond the dead. I don't know what the hell this guy's talking about. But things to do here. There is the Valley Fair amusement park. Big deal. It's owned by Six Flags. It's their local. Six Flags is here. So it's a 90 acre amusement park and opened in 76. Features about 90 rides and attractions including eight roller coasters. So it's a big one. That's something to do. They also have a water park called Soak City which is included in the price of admission. Cedar Point, which we've talked about during the amusement park disasters. Patreon episodes and Valley Fair were the first two parks in the Cedar Fair chain. And they sold them later on. I did find a recent accident. Well, not recent, but in 2006, the rear car of an amusement park roller coaster. Separate. It's called this was the Wild One, or the Wild Thing, I think it was. I'll find it. Back down. Yeah, the Wild Thing. That was the roller coaster. Okay. The rear car separated from the others and tipped over.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, no.

[James Petragalo]

Injuring 18 people.

[Jimmy Whisman]

18 people were in this car?

[James Petragalo]

Yeah, they got thrown off. The rider said it happened after one of the front. One in front of it experienced a problem. A 16 year old girl said it started jerking and moving around like not right. We kind of heard scratching and we didn't know anything was wrong until we smelled metal grinding with each other and. And then we looked back and one of the cars was tilted on its side.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Jesus.

[James Petragalo]

Did we lose somebody? Oh, shit. There's no one behind us anymore.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Smells like we're on fire. Metal fire.

[James Petragalo]

Is that normal? 14 people were taken to the hospital. 4 people refused medical coverage there. The roller coaster, the wild thing has six cars, was carrying 35 people. It reaches speeds up to 74 miles an hour. But it wasn't going that fast when the people fell out. So. So. And they said it's been 10 years since we've had any problems with this thing. It's fine. That said, let's talk about some murder, shall we? Let's get into this. Okay, let's go to 2021 and we'll introduce some people.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah.

[James Petragalo]

And then we'll start talking about them. Okay, let's introduce first a young lady. Or not a young lady, but a lady. America is her first name. Sure, America. Mafalda is the middle name. Thayer. T H A Y E R. America thayer. She's born 1966. She's from Cuba originally. So born in 66 in Cuba. Not great. Yeah, that's tough. That's tough. You're in a communist country. I mean, that's just how it is. So she has a son named Charles as well. We'll talk about later on. Now, as of 2021, she's lived in the States for years and years and years. And she is at that point, she has two jobs, working hard. She works at the Mypillow factory. Oh boy. And she works also at the Dollar Tree as well.

[Jimmy Whisman]

She has to have two jobs.

[James Petragalo]

Two jobs. She's hustling. Yeah, she's hustling to make it work. And you know, she's 55 years old in 2021. She's working her two jobs. Um, she's described by everyone that knows her as very soft spoken and just kind of good spirited smiley. And in every picture of her, she's always very smiley. Always doing, like a smiley, happy pose. Like, she doesn't seem like. All right, get the fucking picture of her with, like, I look in pictures.

[Jimmy Whisman]

She'S having a good time.

[James Petragalo]

She looks like she's having a good time even taking a picture. One person said she's truly the kindest to everyone. I haven't met anyone as genuinely kind as America since my late grandma. That's what one of her coworkers said. The nicest lady since my dead grandma is the biggest favorite woman on the planet. The biggest compliment you can get, I think. Right? So she, in 2014, hooks up with a guy here. Now, he's about 13 years younger than her. All right, not bad. His name is Alexis Soberit. And S O B O R I T. He is also from Cuba. So they're both from Cuba. That helps. He's born March 30, 1979. He arrived from Cuba in 2007 and pretty much immediately started fucking up as soon as he got here.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Really?

[James Petragalo]

Yeah. It's like Scarface came over. Like the beginning of Scarface. That's kind of what he's about. He's insane also, is also a thing. And part of that, as we'll talk about, is a traumatic brain injury that caused him to be in a coma for a long period of time.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, no.

[James Petragalo]

And then he started having wacky thoughts. So weird. Yeah. He's like, he was a criminal before that. No, he was a criminal, and then he turned into an insane criminal. It would be like in a movie if they put the wrong brain in the wrong. Like Frankenstein. But they. You know what I mean? They put this criminally insane person in there. So he has a conviction for domestic abuse in 2009. Tons of violating protecting orders and things like that. Battery charges, false imprisonment, armed with a weapon, you name it.

[Jimmy Whisman]

It's a tough time making critical thinking decisions.

[James Petragalo]

Yes. And this is before his injury. He doesn't have an injury until a couple years from here. He was arrested in 2009 from preventing his girlfriend. Not America, they didn't meet till 2014, but preventing his girlfriend from leaving their vehicle by pulling her hair. So that was that. He was charged with domestic abuse because somebody saw him whipping his girlfriend's head around by the fucking hair in the car. Which obviously will get the cops called on you. Hopefully another time in 2011. This is down in Louisiana, by the way, I think, where he first came with a different woman. Here at this point, a live in girlfriend, he was charged this time with attempted murder, second degree kidnapping, false imprisonment with a dangerous weapon, and domestic abuse by strangulation.

[Jimmy Whisman]

God damn.

[James Petragalo]

Yeah. His girlfriend, when the cops got there, was found with a swollen face, a lacerated arm. And the report said that the abuse happened due to a belief that Alexis thought his girlfriend was cheating on him. I mean, so obviously you beat her half to death. Clearly, you don't have a talk about it or break up. No.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Throw hands.

[James Petragalo]

Attempted murder is all the only solution sometimes, you know. Wow, that's crazy. He's not even like, wouldn't you be sad rather than, I'll kill you. What a weird. It's a weird reaction for me.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I just. I can't get.

[James Petragalo]

I go inward first. I abuse myself first before anyone.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Anytime somebody says, I don't want to see you anymore, I go, yeah, that makes sense.

[James Petragalo]

Yeah. I've been expecting that for a while now. That's.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I can't believe you did in the first place.

[James Petragalo]

Every week you people come back. We're shocked. Unbelievable. It's been 600 weeks and we're still shocked. Or not. 600 episodes and we're still like, wow. We just expect you all to abandon us one week. Because that's how we are. We're pathetic. So he threw her on the bed and suffocated her with a pillow, repeatedly punching the pillow over her face, which will, I guess, maybe stop a cut from forming on your forehead, but you're still getting all the force of the blow, and that's brutal. And so the pillow caused her right eye to swell and her lips to swell up because he's been beating her. And then he said, I got to up the ante a bit. Sure. I threw her on the bed and she's half suffocated. And I'm beating her about the head and face, but I could use a knife is what I could use. A large knife, as a matter of fact. So he told her repeatedly he was going to kill her and then tried to stab her repeatedly. And she was dodging it. And what the cut on her arm is from. He caught her, then finally her. Wow. Eventually his knife broke from stabbing into something and missing her, but that's how hard he's not.

[Jimmy Whisman]

So, yeah, this isn't for show.

[James Petragalo]

Yeah. This is with for purpose. He's trying to kill her. And so the knife broke. So he just chased her throughout the home. And somewhere along the chase, he found a pair of scissors to pick up.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah.

[James Petragalo]

And then tried to stab her with scissors. And there's holes in things all over the house. From him trying to stab her with the scissors, too, where he misses her because apparently he's not very good at this. Holes can be seen throughout the home, including in a door and on parts of a bed. Now, they have a roommate, by the way.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Really?

[James Petragalo]

He's doing this with another person in the house. What does that tell you?

[Jimmy Whisman]

He's a bad guy. He's a care what you think he's.

[James Petragalo]

A crazy fuck is what that says. He's not even like, I'll wait till later, which I guess is more premeditated, but he's just nuts, this guy. This is because normally maybe if the guy said, I'll wait till later, maybe he'd cool off by then and change his mind. This guy's just like, what? I'll kill you. And then just attacks now. Now. So, yeah, the third roommate called the cops. And by the way, after he had already called the cops and the cops were on the way, Alexis didn't know that he then threatened to kill both his girlfriend and the roommate if they spoke to the police.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Jesus.

[James Petragalo]

So there's a lot going on there here. So he gets convicted of domestic battery down in Louisiana, and he is sentenced to two years of hard labor.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah, Louisiana does not play around.

[James Petragalo]

No, no, no, no. Two years hard labor. At that point, they try to deport him, but Cuba won't take him back. No, no. So basically they put like a keep an eye on him thing. Basically. And so, yeah, Cuba doesn't want him back. Would you want him back?

[Jimmy Whisman]

I want Guy.

[James Petragalo]

That's all right. You keep him.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I think we're all right.

[James Petragalo]

Because if you came in 2007 from Cuba, there's no travel from Cuba then. Like, you couldn't. You couldn't, like, you know, get on a Southwest flight from Havana to Miami, like that didn't exist. No. And they wouldn't let you in through another country either. But if you could get here and get on land, then you're a refugee. So that's how Cuba seek asylum. Yeah, that's how it worked with Cuba for a long time. So I don't know how exactly he got here, but, you know, he's here. So 2017, he gets pulled over for driving under the influence and is found with the report says, quote, a large kitchen knife on the driver's side floor and an open bottle of Bacardi Rum. That's a good combination. Open bottle of rum and two deadly weapons, both a car and a knife. Good job. Then July 23rd, 2017. Oh, boy. This is in Shaska, which is up in. That's the town up in Minnesota. No, that's in Minnesota. Okay. This is with America now. America. Thayer and he are together starting in 2014. So it's about 2:22am which is when all the. Anything good happens, usually. The police department responds to a report of a verbal domestic altercation at Patron's Bar and restaurant at 207 Chestnut St. The officers arrived, and they learned that it was closed and nobody was inside. So somebody called the cops and then just closed. That's how long it took them to get there. They closed the bar. We'll be there eventually. When you close the bar, you have to put those mats up from behind the bar. They count the tips. It takes forever. Like, this is really a long night. So that's interesting. So they learned that from dispatch. I guess the caller. I guess America had called the cops. She was now at home. So they were like, okay, we'll go to the house. So they go to the house, and they were able to hear what sounded like people struggling on the west side of the home. So as they went to the west side of the home, an officer observed a male, Alexis here, crouched over America and appeared to be holding her on the ground, like, pinning her to the ground. So the cop separated them and noted that Alexis smelled like a fucking distillery. Just like a sailor. Yeah, he's just drunk as shit. So she said, yeah, they've been dating on and off or whatever. She said that the argument started when he began arguing with her at the bar because he thought she was talking to another man.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, boy.

[James Petragalo]

This is that guy.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yep.

[James Petragalo]

Like you know what I'm saying? That's not a good guy. When America and Alexis got back to the house, she tried to exit the entryway to speak with the officers. And that's when he pinned her. He pushed her over, told her not to. They were at the house, and she went outside, and he went out and shoved her to the ground. She fell and scraped her elbow, and then he held her to the ground. And this is what the cops saw when they went over because they heard the struggle. He was holding his hand over her mouth, telling her, shut the fuck up. Don't you fucking. Don't let him know you're over here trying to prevent her from talking to the cops, which is a whole separate charge in itself. So it's not good. We'll just say not at all. No. So he was convicted of domestic violence. Luck. Good. And now before the trial, a restraining Order was put in place against him, but America sent the court a handwritten note asking for it to be overturned.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Really?

[James Petragalo]

She wanted him back. She didn't want the restraining order. So that happened. Yeah, I don't know what's going on. So then he gets in a car accident later on in 2017, and this is what really, I think fucks him up good even more than he's already fucked up.

[Jimmy Whisman]

This is the head injury.

[James Petragalo]

Yeah. This is who this is. This is bad. So he's driving while intoxicated, obviously, and he gets in a motor vehicle accident and it leaves him in a coma for like more than a day. Like days on end. He's in a coma.

[Jimmy Whisman]

What year is this?

[James Petragalo]

2017.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Uber super exists.

[James Petragalo]

Oh, absolutely exists. Yeah. He has no excuse to be that shit faced. So he suffers a traumatic brain injury and he ends up in this coma. After this, he begins experiencing auditory hallucinations.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Hell yeah.

[James Petragalo]

And paranoid delusions.

[Jimmy Whisman]

That brain is so fucking beaten.

[James Petragalo]

Think about this. He was crazy before this.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, yeah.

[James Petragalo]

Now you add in voices telling him to do shit and paranoid delusion. So you know thoughts of people conspiring against you and you're hearing voices telling you shit too. Like, that is a dangerous mix for this guy who was already on the edge of, you know, I'm not even gonna say on the edge. I was gonna say on the edge of civility. He's not anywhere near the edge. He jumped way off the edge.

[Jimmy Whisman]

He's been holding, wielding knives.

[James Petragalo]

He's like Wile E. Coyote. He ran off the edge and was just running with his legs going. And then he fell.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yikes.

[James Petragalo]

Gravity finally took. Took hold here. So by 2018, somehow he and America are not only back together, but according to court records. And that's the only place I could find it. They're married. Why? I don't know. I don't know why she would want to marry.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Did he notice this?

[James Petragalo]

Was there a knife at the seraph? He held a knife to her side the whole time. Shut up. You say, I do, bitch.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I do you.

[James Petragalo]

I'm sorry. Jesus Christ. Which is really weird. One of America's friends reached out to Alexis's probation officer in 2020 even, and expressed concern about his physical and emotional abuse of America. So a third party said, hey, I know a guy that's doing this. The friend characterized Alexis as, quote, mentally ill to an extreme extent. Fucking batshit crazy.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Extreme extent. Extreme.

[James Petragalo]

Extreme crazy. I mean, mentally ill doesn't even cover it. Like, to an extreme extent is a lot.

[Jimmy Whisman]

That's Too much.

[James Petragalo]

And predicted to the probation officer that America Thayer is going to, quote, end up dead soon.

[Jimmy Whisman]

He's going to hurt her.

[James Petragalo]

He's nuts. Even if he doesn't want to hurt her, he's gonna fucking hurt her. When the probation officer reached out to America, she denied everything. She said he wasn't being violent at all and insisted that her friend had fabricated the story because he just. The friend just doesn't like Alexis and wants her to break up with him. So that's what's going on now. October 17, 2018. He's gonna be arrested for a few things. Fleeing a peace officer by means other than a motor vehicle.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, what is that?

[James Petragalo]

Pogo stick? I don't know. That's what I picture. Razor, scooter, Bird scooter. Yeah, it's a unicycle. Just picture the craziest conveyance you can. Maybe that it's possible. Yeah. And obstructing legal process and interfering with a peace officer. This is October 27th, 2018 at 11:40pm Again, we know his hours of operation. What they usually are. Here she now they're there. Police officers are dispatched to Babe's place, which I believe is a restaurant or bar, whatever, at 124 Holmes Street south in the city of Shakopee. And it was due to a report of a man with a knife outside the bar.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Nice.

[James Petragalo]

I'll give everybody one guess who that might be.

[Jimmy Whisman]

America.

[James Petragalo]

Yeah. Yeah. So a physical description of the male was exactly. Alexis. You know, 6 foot, 160 pounds or something. Whatever it was, he's the one. It's him. Apparently they were told that Alexis tried to start a fight in the bar earlier in the evening and got kicked out.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh.

[James Petragalo]

So he apparently went to the. Went to the passenger side floor of his car and picked up his butcher knife that he likes to carry. Came back on arrival, the officers observed Alexis here, the guy that was reported to them having a knife. They approached him and searched him for weapons and found a folding knife with a three inch blade, which. That's nothing. That's a little pocket knife you could. People clean their fingernails with those things in their pocket to.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Knife right there.

[James Petragalo]

That's a. That's exactly right. That's exactly what Danny DeVito would say. And a 10 inch kitchen knife. Not a 10 inch whole thing. 10 inch blade on a butcher knife. Big old butcher knife he's got on him too. Who brings a 10 inch butcher knife to a bar?

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah, that stays in the block.

[James Petragalo]

Yeah, like I don't like how they cut the Lime. Sometimes I'm gonna do it myself. That's a block knife. Yeah, that's like the top block too. It's up there. That's the big one.

[Jimmy Whisman]

It's right next to the sharpener. Up top.

[James Petragalo]

Yeah, that's a big one up there. Yeah. So there was that. They put him in the back of a squad car. However, no one at the bar wanted to press charges. They were like, just tell them not to come back in here. They don't want to deal with all that. Just trespass them. It's easier, you know what I mean? So they said he was severely intoxicated. They were gonna let him go, but they said he was so shitfaced they didn't think he couldthey couldn't just release him into the street. Basically, he's too shitfaced to care for himself. So they put a hold on him and take him to a detox. Drunk tank. He got drunk tanked here. When the officers attempted to transfer him to another squad car, he somehow slipped out of his handcuffs and ran from the officers.

[Jimmy Whisman]

A little slippery guy.

[James Petragalo]

What the fuck is that? He's not even little. He's like six feet tall. But how do you slip out of. How do you slip out of handcuffs and run away? I've never heard of that.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Never seen anybody get handcuffs put on that. Didn't complain about how tight.

[James Petragalo]

How tight they were. Yep. And they're like, don't worry, we'll double lock them so they won't get. They won't get tighter, but they don't get looser. That's insane. So he somehow. This is like a silly movie now. Like, they open the door to get him out and he just bursts out of his cuffs and runs away. And they chase after him with the Benny Hill music playing in the background. And so he did that. An officer was the first to catch. One of the officers caught up with him. He grabbed him by the waist and attempted to tackle him to the ground. Didn't work though. Guy wouldn't go down. Jesus, man, he's squirrely. And so Alexis resisted the officer, so the officer used a leg sweep to take him to the ground, and then he was taken back to the squad cars. When they attempted to put him back in the squad car again, he started fighting the officers again. And they had to like, wrestle him to the ground and throw him in the squad car. So he's a handful. He is told, by the way, the responding witness told the responding officers that he, quote, often carries a machete with him also. So look for that.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Nice.

[James Petragalo]

And that's interesting. And so, yeah, 2019, he apparently started smoking weed, which this guy could use some weed. If anyone on earth. If anyone on earth could use a demotivator, it's this guy. You know what I'm saying?

[Jimmy Whisman]

It's interesting that he started now, though.

[James Petragalo]

He said it was to combat his chronic headaches and neck and back pain from the car accident. That's why he started doing. And like I said, if anyone could use something that'll make them go, should I get up and go stab that person? Nah, I'm just going to see what's on. Nah, fuck it. I'm going to put Netflix back on.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I got a freezer full of strawberry shortcake ice cream cones.

[James Petragalo]

Shit, you know what? I have so many snacks. I have Doritos. This is ridiculous. I'm staying home. I have those Haagen Dazs ice cream bars with the almonds on them. Yeah, this is crazy. I'm staying home. So instead, he reported he was smoking two, three times a day. And then he entered a chemical dependency treatment center in July of 2019. In less than six months, he needed treatment for his weed use and his alcohol use as well.

[Jimmy Whisman]

It feels like anything he does is going to be done.

[James Petragalo]

Extreme. Extreme. Yeah, he's extreme. This guy's extreme. July of 2019, he went in and then he was discharged in four months. So he spent four months at this rehab center. Then November 2020, here he is again. Okay, November 9, 2020, at about 4:35pm so he's expanding into afternoons now, which is nice. The city of Shecapi. Officers are dispatched to the Pullman Club in reference to a male smashing car windows with a baseball bat.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Unbelievable.

[James Petragalo]

Not a particular window windows, just car to car. No particular target. Just wilding out here, Just losing it while they're heading there. Dispatch advises the suspect's description and all that, and they say that he's returned. He left the Pullman Club and he's now at his apartment, which is near the Pullman Club. And now he's not holding. This is a wild day. He's not smashing things with a baseball. Baseball bat anywhere. He's now holding a gas can out of the window of his apartment.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Nice.

[James Petragalo]

Making threats. Okay, okay. So they locate him there. They observe him on the second story where his apartment windows are open. After some time, they observe him stick his head out of the window too. Finally.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Now he's gonna set out.

[James Petragalo]

Okay, he's upset and yelling. He didn't just come out and wave he's pissed and screaming at them. He's screaming about hating people in general and particular people he doesn't like. But then he would calm down for a minute and listen to the cops. They'd talk to him, and he'd talk back. And then he would just start freaking out again. Out of nowhere, they said. A short time after establishing contact, he angrily disappeared from view. So in other words, fuck you guys. And then went back in the. In the window, then came back a short time later again with a red plastic gas container, you know, that you have in your car there.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah, the jerry can.

[James Petragalo]

And poured a small amount out of the. Like, out of it onto the ground outside the window so the officers could smell it. And they said, oh, shit, it's diesel fuel. I can smell that. Oh, yeah, that shit burns. So for a while, yeah, yeah, they said he would put the container down, then pick it back up again. At one point, he pops out with a lighter and the gas can. Now he's upping the ante and held the lit lighter above the gas can, threatening to hurt anyone who came into the apartment. I'll blow us all up, he's saying. He said if anyone came in their apartment, he's not going down without a fight. And he tells them, okay. They said he'd be. Then he would calm down. He'd listen for a couple minutes, you know, then see other officers and be like, hey, you guys are fucking. I hate you motherfuckers. You're trying to sneak up on me. I see you guys there. Like they're just gonna leave one guy to deal with him when he's got a gas can and threatening to murder people. So he said that he only drank one shot of alcohol today, but said he was angry because in that one shot, someone had, quote, put shit into his drink.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Actual shit?

[James Petragalo]

Of course not. No, no, no. Mind control, drugs.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah.

[James Petragalo]

That's what crazy people think all the time. So now, 4:51pm this has only been 15 minutes, and all this crazy shit's going on. 435 was the call to go to the bar about the window smashing.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah.

[James Petragalo]

451, he agrees to come out onto the deck to speak with the cops.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Great.

[James Petragalo]

He entered the inside of the restaurant, the restaurant, the residence, walked down half the stairs, opening the doorway to the deck. The officers observe at this time, he's holding a large machete, standing in the threshold of the doorway to the deck, which isn't the most welcoming way to invite people in.

[Jimmy Whisman]

It is.

[James Petragalo]

Drawing a line in the sand. I Believe.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah. But it's certainly much more comforting that this guy can't get a hold of guns.

[James Petragalo]

That's. That's a fact.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah, he likes swinging weapons.

[James Petragalo]

He likes. Oh, yeah, yeah. They're more personal. I feel like he likes to get close. Yeah, he likes to be close to you so he can whisper. Shit.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah.

[James Petragalo]

He likes to whisper crazy nothings in your ear as you fear for your life. I feel like. So he's standing there welcoming them in with a machete. Some time goes by. Obviously they're not walking right up to that. So at about 5:04pm the officers are able to convince him to drop the machete out of the window.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Nice.

[James Petragalo]

So he threw it on the ground next to the vehicle which was parked directly underneath his windows. Then they began to. The officers start to stack up on the stairway to the second story. So they're like getting in position to raid him up there. He was able to see out of the window, though. Alexis is okay. And into the stairwell window and got real pissed he. That they're trying to sneak up on him now.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Stop being so sneaky.

[James Petragalo]

Yep. According to the police report, quote, he became uncooperative and the successful dialogue was lost. That's one way to put it. He then held a lighter up and returned to the interior of the apartment and closed all the windows.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Okay.

[James Petragalo]

He's like, I got a lighter. Closed all the windows. They're like, oh, shit. The cops are screaming at him. There's people inside. We don't want anybody to get hurt. And he just continued to yell over them and say, I hate you. Fuck you people. I can't Trust you. At 5:07pm I can't believe it's been 32 minutes since they got a phone call.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Pretty amazing.

[James Petragalo]

Officers then observe the flicker of the fire near the front door of his apartment. He has set his apartment on fire now.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh my God.

[James Petragalo]

He came back to the window now with a bat. With a baseball bat, sure, why not? Right. So cops are watching the fire increase inside. He then goes turns off all the kitchen lights and appears to throw more shit on the fire.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Really?

[James Petragalo]

Yeah, you gotta stoke it, you know, get it better here. He then began screaming at the top of his lungs to go outside, which he yelled several times. He then returned to the windows to yell at them and then closed all the windows again. At that point, the officers evacuate all the other residents from the apartment building because it's on fire and all it is. So the cops, they get out the less lethal shit here. Beanbags and Such and they break the window on the northwest side so the fire men could shoot water into the apartment to try to contain it. He then returned to the window and continued screaming and pointing. So the cops observed white smoke initially start flowing out of the window, which quickly turned heavy black smoke. Because I'm sure he's not throwing, you know, normally flammable items on there. Yeah, he's throwing, like, fucking, you know, couch cushions and shit on there. It's getting weird. Yeah, yeah.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Ugly shit. Yeah.

[James Petragalo]

Straight. Just like he. Man figures and stuff. He's just throwing, like, plastic things, I'm sure. Dildos. Yeah. So, okay, so he's screaming and pointing. Turns heavy black smoke. Then he had the bat again and began beating the windowsill in the side of the building. The smoke increased a lot, so he began throwing tree bags out of the apartment. I don't know what a tree bag is. They said tree bag.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Is it a bag, like, for leaves maybe? Maybe that.

[James Petragalo]

The leaf bag.

[Jimmy Whisman]

There's a lot of tree bags, aren't there? There's all kinds of different, right?

[James Petragalo]

I don't know. I don't know. Apparently they're heavy, though, because they're landing on a parked vehicle below him and cracking the windshield and denting the hood from the second story. So these have to be heavy bag due to the only apartment entrance being blocked by heavy fire. He. Alexis then becomes overcome by smoke. So they finally convince him to jump out of the window.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Wow.

[James Petragalo]

So then he jumps out of the window and landed on the hood of a vehicle below him and then stood up. And do you think he's like, okay, guys, no, he's not done. Yeah, you think he's done now?

[Jimmy Whisman]

He's not hurt.

[James Petragalo]

He's not done. Fuck no. Crazy people don't get hurt. That's the thing. They just don't get hurt. So he. If he was this crazy when he got in that car accident, he wouldn't have had the traumatic brain injury. He would have got out and been fine.

[Jimmy Whisman]

You're making great points.

[James Petragalo]

They would have caught him at a diner, like, eating some hash browns. That's like an hour later. So he jumps off onto the hood. Then he stands up and goes toward the wall where the officers are attempting to place him under arrest. He's uncooperative, pulling his arms away and resisting. And then more cops come over and they finally tackle him to the ground and take him into custody while firemen put out the building.

[Jimmy Whisman]

A blaze.

[James Petragalo]

What is now a massive blaze. Yes. This is crazy. So he's charged with Arson, first degree in a dwelling, two counts of that. He's got damage to property, first degree, obstructing a legal process, interfering with a police officer, all sorts of fun charges. That's one of the craziest days a human being's ever had right there.

[Jimmy Whisman]

That's a pretty wild day.

[James Petragalo]

And that's not the craziest day he's gonna have. We're gonna get to the craziest day. He's hospitalized in May of 2020, by the way, because he believes that there is a camera in his head and not looking out, like, taking, like, you know, POV shots. Yeah, it's in his head. Recording and taking pictures of what is inside his head. You know, the. The wheels and knobs and whatever's inside your watch that belts and such, you know?

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah.

[James Petragalo]

He said also that everyone can hear what he's thinking.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Nice.

[James Petragalo]

And that makes him upset that he can't even have a thought without everyone hearing it.

[Jimmy Whisman]

He's the opposite of Mel Gibson.

[James Petragalo]

Yes. What a girl wants, what women want. This is what Alexis thinks. That's the name of this movie. It's a crazy movie. Though. He also is diagnosed with various mental health disorders, which we'll get into a little more detail, including manic psychosis and delusional disorder, among others. Those are not good. When delusional and psychosis make their way into your diagnosis. Bad.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah, that's a. That's two. Two ways of saying one thing that and then another, more severe thing.

[James Petragalo]

And then it gets worse is what that is.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I'm fucked up, and then it gets worse.

[James Petragalo]

Yeah. So they talked to America, and she reported that Alexis began experiencing auditory hallucinations and paranoid delusions after the car accident in 2017. Medical records show a. What's called in a psychiatric report a bizarre. A string. A report of bizarre delusions during an emergency department visit to St. Francis Hospital in. As early as March 2013. Before the car accident in May 2020, he was hospitalized at Unity Hospital. He reported a number of delusions, including having a GPS tracking device in his head and some type of chip or camera in his head as well. That didn't come till after, he said they implanted that in his brain when they were helping him when he was in a coma after the car accident. Everyone can hear what he's thinking. He said that he was raped by medical professionals while he was in a coma. Repeatedly.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Repeatedly.

[James Petragalo]

And that's not the worst thing they did to him, by the way. They also removed his eyes, not permanently, just so they could get More easily to his brain to implant microchips. They took his eyes out to get to his brain to implant. Okay, so we're following this. All right.

[Jimmy Whisman]

This person exists. Man. This is fucking terrible.

[James Petragalo]

And he was walking the streets after starting the fire, the arson there. He was reported to have racing thoughts and hearing voices leading to him barricading himself in the burning apartment and also telling him to jump out the window. But those voices may have been the dozens of police officers imploring him to do that, to do the same. So interventions in the past diagnosis include. Okay, here's all his diagnoses. Unspecified depressive disorder, unspecified schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorder. Schizophrenia versus schizoaffective disorder, manic psychosis, and delusional disorder. They were working with him and observed. The professionals working with him have observed symptoms of mania in conjunction with psychosis. He's been prescribed a number of neuroleptic medications, though he has a significant history of never taking his medicine.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Awesome.

[James Petragalo]

By 2021, he and America are living in a Travel Lodge motel.

[Jimmy Whisman]

They are still together.

[James Petragalo]

Yep. While she's working two jobs. And his main job is just being crazy, basically. So 2021, here they show that after the arson thing, he was ordered conditionally released and posted a $75,000 bond after his arrest, even though the mental competency evaluation had been ordered and his defense attorney had planned to submit that he was mentally ill and he needs to be put away. But instead they released him. Then in 2021, that condition, March 31, that conditional release was revoked because he failed a urinalysis which came back positive for alcohol, which violated the conditions of his release. With the revocation order, a box was checked that said, continued release of defendant will endanger safety of any person or the community. Not even a single, but anybody he comes across is in danger.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Okay.

[James Petragalo]

Okay. Despite the warning, he was again ordered conditionally released on April 1, 2021, by a judge named Richard C. Perkins. Dick, appropriate name for him, after paying an additional amount in bail. Okay. Normally bail is so people don't want that to get revoked, so they come back. When you're insane, an extra 50 grand doesn't mean much to you. You don't care when you think there's microchips behind your eyes.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Money that's just of this world. It doesn't matter.

[James Petragalo]

It's a nebulous concept when you got all that other shit going on. So June of 2021, America is scared. And I'm not talking the woman. I'm talking the entire nation. Part of America, 330 million people are terrified of this asshole. So, no. But America, the woman is upset here. And a woman named Faith Howey, who's a friend and neighbor of America, recalled that Thayer came to her apartment one night in June looking for help. She said, quote, she came around 1:32 in the morning and knocked. She goes, can I sleep here tonight? I'm afraid he's going to get up and start in again being crazy. So July 2021, getting wackier, if that's possible. In a text here during July, America noted that Alexis. She texts to her friend that Alexis was talking to the voices in his ears. Now.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, no.

[James Petragalo]

Now he's not just hearing voices. He's talking back to them.

[Jimmy Whisman]

He's responding.

[James Petragalo]

That's when it's gone.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah, you're in a lot of trouble.

[James Petragalo]

That's when it's gone. Yeah, that's one of those things. Like when you talk to yourself, does anybody talk back? No. Okay, that's good. When you hear voices, do you speak back to them?

[Jimmy Whisman]

Is there a conversation happening?

[James Petragalo]

That's not good. And others knew that Alexis had discussed with many people his heightened symptoms during this month. Also, there was concerns about his mental stability from the court and the possible threat that he posed to the community. But that didn't matter, really. Statements at this point point out a heightened level of paranoia. And everybody said that he started to get really crazier and crazier as July progresses. July 28, 2021, he is due back in court for his arson charge. Okay. At this point, at 2pm people see America with Alexis in her Chrysler 300, with him driving at about 2pm at Shekape's Memorial Park. Okay. Then there's a 911 call a little while later, not from the park, but from a street right in down. Right in downtown little town here. The 911 caller says, quote, he just pulled a body out of his car.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Who did?

[James Petragalo]

And it has no head.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, what?

[James Petragalo]

I don't know what is going on. I don't know where to go. All this. That's a 911 call. Someone freaking out. Okay, this person called 911 and other people called, too. One person said he was with America and Alexis at Memorial park at around 2:15 that day. He said that America was trying to convince Alexis to go to go to his court date. So there's no warrant issued for him. Alexis or America got upset with Alexis that he's going to get in trouble for something stupid. Just go to court. He said, though, Everything seemed fine between the two of them at that point. He also said that Alexis carries a machete with him wherever he goes. So 2:31pm that is when the officers get the 911 call about a. A person observing a male throwing a headless body out of a car in the middle of an intersection. This isn't even pulled over to the curb. This dude stopped in the middle of an intersection. He's got surrounded by four crosswalks. This dude decided to pull a headless body out of a car. The officers arrive at the scene and observe a female naked from the west up lying or the waist up lying with her feet toward the curb and her shoulders near an open car door. She was completely decapitated and her head was lying about a foot away from her body. There were large amounts of blood on the ground and on the passenger side of the vehicle. They find out from the witnesses that while this was going on, he was also beating her with a dumbbell as well.

[Jimmy Whisman]

He's hitting a headless body now before.

[James Petragalo]

The head came off, apparently, and then after too, beating the body with a dumbbell. So this the victim is America. Unfortunately, it's her car. The intersection is 4th Avenue and Spencer street here. The car was facing southbound on Spencer Street. Officers identify some witnesses here. One witness said he was driving westbound on fourth Avenue and stopped at the intersection with Spencer Street. Saw a dark colored vehicle stop heading southbound. Saw the driver of the vehicle by the passenger side swinging an object in the air and bringing it down repeatedly. That he said it looked like a police baton. That's a dumbbell, okay?

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, that's a. Just the centerpiece of it. Oh, my God.

[James Petragalo]

Beating her. So then he said he continued on fourth Avenue and returned southbound on Spencer where he saw a body lying on the ground. Another witness said she was driving southbound on Spencer Street. There was a vehicle several cars in front of her that she thought maybe was having mechanical issues. His fucking brain is having mechanical issues.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah, sure is.

[James Petragalo]

A vehicle in front of her drove around the stopped vehicle and then made and made another U turn. This witness could then see the driver of the stopped vehicle standing by the passenger side making a hitting motion. The driver then threw an unknown object into a yard, then, then dragged something out of the car that looked like a body. He then grabbed an object which they realized at that point was a human head with blonde hair, holds it up by the hair and said that the driver left, dropped the head and started walking eastbound. So someone nearby went, looked through their window and recorded a video on Their phone of this, by the way, their video exists of this whole thing of.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Him holding a head by the air.

[James Petragalo]

Yes. Yeah. It captured the end part of this murder. It was taken from insider residence. And in the video, you can see him pulling her body out of the vehicle, picking up the head and moving it away from the body. At the end of the video, you can see Alexis reaching into the back seat of the vehicle.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I don't like this at all.

[James Petragalo]

No. In the video, something red can be seen under. Under his pants, such as boxers or shorts. Like he's got, you know, basketball shorts on or something. So witnesses said they saw a man standing outside the open passenger door striking the victim with a hand weight. They said they saw the man chopping at the front passenger seat with a large knife and then pulling a decapitated body and severed head out of the vehicle. And one witness said they drove by again and saw a body and a severed head on the ground outside the vehicle. Alexis just walks away, takes off, pieces out. I'm out. So they search for him all over the place. In the grass a few feet from the scene, they do locate an empty black sheath for a machete. Now, in an alley about a block and a half from the crime scene, they also find a white T shirt, white shoes, and a knife, all in a recycling bin. The white shoes and white shirt have blood all over them, by the way. They're destroyed. Now, some of the officers at the scene, since it's a small town, they know America and Alexis. They've dealt with this before. Absolutely. So they know who they're looking for. They're like, we're looking for Alexis. They saw her. As soon as they saw the blonde hair on that, they. Alexis is who we're looking for here. So they observe him in the area of Shenandoah Parkway and Highway 101. They find him and they see him. Officers are waiting for backup, and they're keeping an eye on him. Alexis notices them watching him, which we. We know how much he hates that. Yeah, he hates it.

[Jimmy Whisman]

It's interesting how he is so good and so astute. Aware, yet so not aware.

[James Petragalo]

Well, I mean, he's like an animal. Like, he has, like, a sense. Like, you know, he can, like, smell shit coming or something. He's got a. It's crazy, man. So, yeah, it's. He knows when it's coming, and he. He certainly doesn't want you watching him. You can already hear his thoughts, so he's pissed off about that. So he then, I guess, appears to notice Them watching him. And then he changed course and walked north into the Murphy's Landing parking lot. So they approach him and they take him into custody. Okay. The red thing under his shorts was. Under. Under his pants was shorts. And he's wearing a black hoodie. So they bring him in, they sit him down. This is gonna be a fun conversation.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Sure is.

[James Petragalo]

They said he demonstrated significant symptoms of psychosis evidenced by disorganized thought processes, paranoia, and bizarre delusions. He said they'd been dating for several years. He said they were together earlier in the day at the park and were planning to go together to the court appearance. He day, on the way to court, he said, she told me she wanted to break up with me all of a sudden, which I don't even think that happened, by the way. Even if she did, even if she did, who cares? You got to keep her head on her body. That's insane. He said that? Yeah, he said that on the way. That she wanted to. She said she wanted to get rid of him and end the relationship with him. So he said he used a knife to kill her because she had, quote, gone too far in her abuse of him. Wow. Because. And they said, well, how did she do that? And he said, well, her comments about ending the relationship, clearly that's abuse, Officer. Wow. So they said for a while, he'd be clear and coherent in his answers, and then he would just devolve into confused and disorganized statements on multiple occasions. Because they have an interpreter there. He speaks English, but they have an interpreter just to, you know, you kind of have to do that. Otherwise later he can say he didn't understand something or it makes it all legal and fair. So the interpreter indicated that he did not make sense or was simply not understandable in his native language. So he would say something, and the interpreter would go, I don't think that was Spanish. I don't know what to tell you. Like, I didn't get it. I don't know what he's talking about. So he needs, like, an interpreter just for him and his crazy thoughts. They said his thought processes were circumstantial and tangential, and he perseverated on his paranoid and delusional thoughts. Throughout the interview, he repeatedly claimed that America had raped him. Huh? The Hulk? No, just her. Or not only raped him, possibly induced other people to rape him. Oh, she also poisons his food, Put semen in his food. I don't know where she got that from.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Poison.

[James Petragalo]

Poison. Semen from somewhere. All semens. Poison. As Far as I'm concerned. But yeah. I don't know how she produced this semen, but apparently she got it from somewhere. Planted cameras in his body, multiple cameras, and is always trying to kill him. That's why he did it, obviously. So, yeah. He also believed that America had hurt him, tried to kill him in the past, believed that she intended to do him harm. He told detectives that she wanted to get rid of him. And he said she said she wanted to get rid of him while making a cutting motion like that, like she was gonna kill me. When one of the detectives asked if he killed America because of the things she's done to him, he cried and provided responses that the interpreter couldn't figure out. So your guess is as good as mine what language it was. He subsequently stated that he wanted to, quote, get everything she put in my body out. But anyway, this is not going to happen again. My heart is not good anymore. I just want to stop suffering every day. America was telling me that she was going to kill me. I never thought this was going to be this way. Everyone thought of her as if she was an angel, but she was pure devil, okay? Pure devil.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah, she's a monster.

[James Petragalo]

So a psychiatrist talks about the interrogation, a Dr. Lovett, and reviewed it. And during the three hour interview, he noticed that even the interpreter didn't know what the hell was going on. Half the time. His thoughts would devolve, all that kind of shit. So at his first court appearance, he asked the judge if he could just be deported to avoid standing trial. Can you just send me back to Cuba? And they said, no, we can't. You got some business to take care of here first. I would think we're gonna have our way with you first.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Please just send me back. I won't do it here ever again.

[James Petragalo]

Wow. Sets his bail at $2.5 million, which he does not have living at the Travel Lodge. And then his bail is raised later in the week to $4 million. Oh, so good luck.

[Jimmy Whisman]

There's more.

[James Petragalo]

He remained calm and cooperative throughout this. And, you know, they said for the next several weeks, he also. He'd be calm and cooperative, and then he would demonstrate significant psychosis for weeks as well. In jail, he suspected his food, food was tainted, so he would rinse it with water in his cell, rinse all his food off for several weeks. He severely limited food intake, leading to a hospitalization. He thought it was all poison. He was. Oh, yeah, he was. Started on Abilify, a medicine, and then returned to jail. Upon return, he remained paranoid of his food being poisoned. He complained of depression, auditory hallucinations and all this type of shit. Now the fucked up thing is the person who took the video not only gave it to the cops for evidence, but posted it on fucking social media right after they took it.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Really?

[James Petragalo]

So this is absolutely out there, you can find it? It's horrifying, trust me. So the cop said, we were aware that a bystander took a video of the incident. We have that video. But it's deeply disturbing that this person's first instinct was to post it on social media. Two days after the murder, a woman here called to report that her dog found a knife in the garden and near the intersection of Spencer street and fourth Avenue. They respond to the area and observe a black handle knife sticking up from the ground, concealed in a bush. The knife was almost entirely concealed and difficult to see. He threw it and it went in the dirt like a jar. It went right in the fucking dirt. The knife was a black machete with a partially serrated edge like my jungle master that I have. The blade was covered in blood and there appeared to be strands of blood blonde hair on the blade. On the blade here. Knife appeared to fit the sheath found at the crime scene as well. So there you go. Now her work, her friends are overwhelmed with grief here. Everybody loved America here. One friend who worked with her said, I went there today and I went to the store and I got her a rose and a teddy bear to put on her desk. When I got there, I didn't even look at any of my other co workers. I just stood at her desk with my head down. Everyone was crying. And it was a very emotional day and it still is. I've worked in plenty of offices and if somebody died, no one would give a fuck. They'd be like, good, we're rid of Frank. So if everyone's crying, she was a nice person. Now he talks to the shrinks. He denied hearing voices on the day of the murder. He reported going to lunch with her, talking about the arson case. He says, look, I wasn't even upset. It was an accident. What? Her head came off by. Listen to this explanation. Jimmy, let's do a little small town murder piece. Theater 3000 here.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Fantastic.

[James Petragalo]

Do me a favor. You be a psychiatrist and ask me how her head came off or in your own words, lexus.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I understand this was an accident.

[James Petragalo]

Yes. Yes, it was. See, how.

[Jimmy Whisman]

How did.

[James Petragalo]

C.

[Jimmy Whisman]

How did. How did. How did that accident happen?

[James Petragalo]

Well, you see, we were in the car on the way to court. See, because I Was going to show up in court like a good guy. You know what I mean? That's what you do. Problem is, there's the air conditioning vent was fucked up. It got stuck in this one position. So I tried to fix the air conditioning vent while I was driving with my machete. With a machete, as one does. A fine tool for such a small thing.

[Jimmy Whisman]

It is. Yeah.

[James Petragalo]

The problem is the machete got caught in the vent grill. Couldn't get it out.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah.

[James Petragalo]

So the two of them, he said, I need help. You grab it too. So the two of them together tried to pull it out. Somehow the blade came loose. It popped out all at once. I'm not shitting you. This is what he said.

[Jimmy Whisman]

This is what he said.

[James Petragalo]

It popped out all at once. And the strength of them pulling. Normally fall down backwards. Well, the strength of them pulling the machete came straight back and cut her head off.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, I see.

[James Petragalo]

In one motion.

[Jimmy Whisman]

All right.

[James Petragalo]

Pop. And then shoop. Oh, my God. Her head fell off.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah. I've done it myself.

[James Petragalo]

Who hasn't done that?

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah.

[James Petragalo]

He recalled pulling her from the car, then standing there for a few minutes. Then he heard voices saying, go for a walk. So he took his backpack from the back seat and went for a walk. He said that he knew it was wrong to kill another person at the time. He described it as an accident and that he didn't intend to kill her. He said he denied animosity between the two of them, Just as he did in the beginning. He claimed he only removed his bloody shirt and her bloody shirt as well because they were stained. So you gotta wash those. Why would you keep them? They're ruined.

[Jimmy Whisman]

That she's gonna set. Haven't you seen a Tide commercial?

[James Petragalo]

Once she gets her head back on, she's not gonna want this shirt.

[Jimmy Whisman]

She's gonna be so mad.

[James Petragalo]

Wow. He also admitted that he purchased the machete at a pawn shop a month or two before because he had problems. Okay. He said that he wanted to defend himself against a guy who abused him. That's why he bought it. Whoa. When the doctor informed him that the residents at the hotel where he lived had reported that he was going to use the machete to cut his wife's head off because he had screamed that at her repeatedly on multiple occasions. He responded that he never talked to anyone in the hotel and that the machete was in the car, not in the room. So that's irrelevant. When asked about the allegations he made to the police about America abusing him, he said, yeah. Fuck yeah. She did she? She injected someone into my head. Not something.

[Jimmy Whisman]

She put someone in there.

[James Petragalo]

Yeah. Remember inner space when they made Dennis Quaid tiny? Yeah, that's it. Injected him in there. Injected it and in his head. And then paid someone to put something in his drink and rape him. You know the dollar tree, she's got tons of money to pay people to rape him. He then claimed that these were old arguments and he didn't kill her because of those things. When asked if he was experiencing any mental health symptoms at the time of the offense, he said, here it is. Everybody quote, no, I don't know, maybe yes, I think so. That's every answer you could give. No, I don't know, maybe yes, and I think so. They go, pick one of those. But that's what he said. He said the thing is that an accident can happen to anyone. Mental health has nothing to do with accidents. The voices were telling me at the time to help her and help myself. Wow, this is wild. He said, I wanted to kill myself that day from the thought of how it happened. I don't know what to do. I never had the courage to hurt someone.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Right.

[James Petragalo]

So yeah, this is wild. Obviously. So his symptoms are a mess. They said he noticeably improved after began regularly taking antipsychotic medications.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Oh, that's good.

[James Petragalo]

Trial gets delayed because he gets Covid in 2022. 2023 waives his rights to a jury trial and the judge is gonna decide. Cause it's a crazy thing here. So the verdict comes in. His attorney claimed mental health issues throughout the whole thing. But the judge listing the evidence that he made deliberate decisions the day of the attack. They said he used both an 8 pound dumbbell and a machete during his assault. His decision to put down the dumbbell and use the machete as evidence of deliberate on mental thought process. Guilty of first degree murder.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Good.

[James Petragalo]

Yeah.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah.

[James Petragalo]

Okay. July 2012, the defense puts a motion 2023. It's July 12th, 2023. I fucked that up. The defense says he should be found not guilty by reason of mental illness. Because the psychologists, both court appointed and state issue, determined that his mental illness prevented him from understanding his actions are morally wrong. Also that he had bizarre delusions and you name it.

[Jimmy Whisman]

No.

[James Petragalo]

So now we go to part two of the trial here, which would be to determine his sanity for sentencing or whatever. So they said that both doctors said he was suffering from mental illness to the extent that it prevented him from understanding the moral wrongness of his actions during the offense. They believed that based on statements that the defendant Provided detectives on the day of the offenses. His reasons for engaging in the defenses were motivated by paranoid delusions that his wife was trying to get rid of him and kill him and had been poisoning and implanting items in his body. The state says they argue that he's faking his mental illness.

[Jimmy Whisman]

He's feigning this.

[James Petragalo]

That's a little much of a stretch.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I think he's genuinely crazy, but he also is very aware of some things.

[James Petragalo]

Oh yeah, well, the doctors all said that he's not sophisticated, that he's not sophisticated enough to fake symptoms of mental illness for years of time and keep them exactly where they would be. He's not a doctor to know that shit. And they also said he has psychotic episodes, been characterized by agitation, pressured speech, insomnia, disorganized thinking, auditory hallucinations, entrenched paranoid, somatic and or bizarre delusions. Not good. State says, no, he's fine, he's fine, you're good, he's okay. They say we think he's malingering. They're like, yeah, I don't think he's malingering. He almost starved himself to death in jail. He's crazy. The judge found, quote, no deficit in the expert's review of the records or the soundness of their analysis and considered his medical history before announcing a verdict that his symptoms of mania in conjunction with psychosis and he was suffering from mental illness to the extent that it prevented him from understanding the wrongness of his actions. He is found not guilty by reason of mental illness.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Really?

[James Petragalo]

Now that doesn't mean they put him outside here he is now will be transferred to a psychiatric care facility Fucking psych prison here. So yeah, he's gonna be sent there and he's not guilty of murder though by a sane person. America's son Charles said it's tough to understand how somebody can commit cold blooded murder. Plan to do it, tell everyone they're going to do it, have a motive to do it, then somehow be considered insane. Which is fair. That's fair. He said, I just don't know what world or society we're living in anymore. I just want this to be over with for myself and my family. He said he wouldn't look at the picture of my mother when I did my victim impact, he didn't make eye contact at all. He's obviously very ashamed of what he did. He, he killed the only person in the world that cared about this guy. He said, this is your typical telltale abusive man, controlling relationship for many, many years. I cannot tell you how many times the cops were called for him beating the crap out of her and leaving her bloody. So he also says the words being said that he's not guilty. You know, I get it. He's not going to walk out of jail today and he'll probably be in a hospital for maybe forever, a really long time. But hearing the words not guilty to murdering my mother is really hard for me to understand. And so the state said they're going to try to keep him there obviously for as many years as humanly possible.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Yeah, yeah.

[James Petragalo]

And he's not going to be the first guy they let out. I don't think he'll be down on the list.

[Jimmy Whisman]

He's staying for quite a while.

[James Petragalo]

He's staying for a bit.

[Jimmy Whisman]

I think he's very, very aware of what he did. And yeah, he's. I just think, I think he, he. I think he has problems, but I think that he reacted to those problems terribly.

[James Petragalo]

Yeah, but like literally, like delusions are the only thing that make you crazy in the eyes of the law. And he fucking had him for sure. Yeah, for sure. I don't to me, whether he's in an institution or in a prison, it really doesn't fucking matter either way. Except for the fact as long as they don't let him out in fucking four years and go, he's all fixed.

[Jimmy Whisman]

Now asking me if I want a burrito or a bowl at Chipotle.

[James Petragalo]

That's right, they keep him there for 50 years. I don't give a shit. Then great, keep him there. Or either way, no, no, but he's nuts, obviously. So anyway, there you go. And after. We're running long on time, so I got to bust through this. Hope you enjoyed the show. If you did, get on whatever app you're listening on, give us five stars. It helps the show a lot. Follow on social media, on Instagram, Smalltown Murderer on Facebook. We are at Smalltown Pod so follow us there. Definitely. Shut up and give me murder.com where merchandise tickets for live shows. Some just opened up for Grand Rapids, Michigan in September. Also November Seattle and December Philly in DC. Get your tickets there. Shut up and give me murder.com patreon.com CrimeAndSports $5 a month or above get you everything. Hundreds of episodes of a back catalog. New episodes every other week. One crime and sports. One small town murder this week. Crazy football player for crime and sports died in a wild way. Small town murder. People who marry prisoners, serial killers, lunatics Pair it up with love after lockup type stuff. And Prisoner Dating Game. It's a good prerequisite for that. That's patreon.com crimeinsports and you get a shout out at the end of the show. Do that. Want to follow us on social media? Shut up and givememurder.com dropdown menus take you anywhere you want to go. Until next week, everybody, it's been our pleasure by.

[Jimmy Whisman]

SA.