Man charged with murder after allegedly beheading girlfriend

The body of America Mafalda Thayer, 55, was found with stab wounds at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Spencer Street in Shakopee, Minnesota. Photo / Supplied

A man was charged with murder on Friday for allegedly beheading a woman while they were in a car in traffic in suburban Minneapolis.

Prosecutors say Alexis Saborit, 42, attacked America Thayer, 56, on Wednesday afternoon at in intersection in Shakopee.

Authorities have not said what motivated the attack, but Soborit has a criminal history that includes a domestic assault conviction for an attack against Thayer in 2017.

The intersection of Fourth Avenue and Spencer Street in Shakopee, Minnesota. Photo / Fox9

At that time, she said they had been dating seven years.

According to the complaint and a search warrant affidavit in the second-degree intentional murder case, police were notified that a body with no head had been pulled out of a car belonging to Thayer and that a suspicious man was seen walking in a nearby alley.

Police arrived to find Thayer's headless body on the ground, next to her bloodied car.

Her head was a foot away. A machete-style knife, bloody shirt and shoes were found in an alley a few blocks away, the Star Tribune reported.

Saborit, of Shakopee, was scheduled to appear in Scott County court on Friday.

He did not immediately have an attorney to comment on his behalf.

Alexis Saborit, 42, was arrested in connection with the killing. Photo / Supplied

According to court documents, several people saw the attack. One witness a few cars behind Thayer's saw Saborit make a hitting motion while sitting behind the wheel, then throw something. The witness then saw Saborit drag what looked like a body out of the car.

Another person recorded video through a residential window that appeared to show Saborit pull Thayer out of the car and then pick up her head by the hair.

Saborit was arrested about 2.4km away, about three blocks from a hotel where he was staying.

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At the time of the attack, Saborit was missing a court hearing in Scott County related to allegations that he set fire to his second-story apartment in November during a confrontation with police in Shakopee.

At one point during that standoff, Saborit brandished a machete.

According to court records in the 2017 gross misdemeanour domestic assault case, Saborit pinned Thayer to the ground.

She told police that Saborit was angry because he thought she was talking to another man at a bar that night.