The suspect who beheaded his girlfriend with a machete in broad daylight in Minnesota is an illegal immigrant from Cuba who was wanted by ICE.
Alexis Saborit, 42, is charged with brutally murdering his 55-year-old girlfriend, America Mafalda Thayer, while they were sitting in traffic in suburban Minneapolis last week.
Thayer’s body and decapitated head were found dumped by her car in the middle of an intersection on July 28.
It has since emerged that Saborit, who is charged with second-degree intentional murder, was in the US illegally from Cuba, Alpha News reports.
ICE had tried in 2012 to remove Saborit from the US but his native Cuba would not approve the travel documents, according to an ICE spokesperson.
Instead, Saborit was released on an order of supervision.
ICE confirmed Saborit had a lengthy criminal history in the US, including domestic abuse convictions in Minnesota and Louisiana.
He also has pending charges in Minnesota from last year for first-degree arson and damage to property.
At least one of the domestic abuse convictions related to his slain girlfriend. He was arrested in 2017 for pinning Thayer to the ground.
Following that arrest, Thayer had begged a court to throw out a pre-trial no-contact order so she could see Saborit.
“I live with Alexis Saborit for 4 year, we never have a problem,” she wrote in the note.
“He don’t have anyone an [sic] this country and don’t speak English,” she added. “I need to be in contact with him to help us!”
“We will go to any treatment recommended,” she said. “I need the no contact order removed please.”
The court granted her petition.
Saborit is currently being held on the murder charges following the July 28 killing.
He is accused of attacking his girlfriend with a knife while they were sitting in a car at an intersection.
Police say they were told a body with no head had been pulled out of the car and that a suspicious man had been spotted walking in a nearby alley, a criminal complaint says.
Officers found Thayer’s headless body next to her car when they arrived at the scene.
Her head was dumped about a foot away.
Police found a machete-style knife, as well as a bloody shirt and shoes in the nearby alley.
Investigators have not yet said what motivated the attack.
Saborit was arrested about 1.5 miles away.