ST. PAUL — Prosecutors on Thursday charged a Minnesota man with murdering his missing wife, after investigators found blood traces throughout the couple's home, a large head and torso-shaped stain under a rug, and evidence of an extensive effort to cover it up.
Authorities said they have not found 30-year-old Kira Trevino's body, but they believe she's dead because of the amount of blood found in her car and the couple's St. Paul home and because it wasn't like her to disappear without telling anyone.
Jeffery Dale Trevino, 39, was arrested Tuesday and made an initial court appearance Thursday. He is charged with two counts of second-degree murder in his wife's death, which investigators believe happened last Thursday or Friday.
Kira Trevino didn't show up for work at the Mall of America on Saturday, and her car was found in the mall parking lot that day with her cellphone and purse inside.
According to police, Jeffery Trevino called Sunday to report that he hadn't heard from his wife since Friday morning, when she went to run errands. He told officers she was going through a "mid-life crisis" and had been leaving for up to three days at a time and lying about where she was staying.
According to the criminal complaint, investigators searched the couple's home Monday and found "copious" amounts of blood evidence and of an extensive effort to clean it up. A carpet cleaner had what appeared to be blood and human tissue inside of it, and investigators also found bleach, bleach-stained towels and a mop and bucket in the hallway.
In the bedroom, forensic examiners found blood on the floor and wall, bed frame and box spring, which was partially broken, according to the complaint. There was also blood evidence in the living room, kitchen, hallway, basement, and in the laundry area — where authorities found freshly washed towels.
Investigators also found a large stain shaped like a human head and torso under a large section of bedroom carpet that they cut away, and the stain tested positive for blood, investigators said. They said the amount of blood spatter is consistent with "more than one forceful blow."
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said Trevino hasn't told police where his wife's body might be, but he is confident he can prove she was killed, even without a body.
"All the schemes and his efforts to cover up his crime have been foiled by a lot of hard work by the investigators involved in this case," Choi said.
On Wednesday, police in Bloomington recovered video from the Mall of America that showed Kira Trevino's car entering the parking lot Friday morning. The video isn't clear enough to show who was in the car, but it shows someone at the back of the vehicle throwing what appears to be a trunk liner away from the car.
The person then got into a cab, which had a GPS tracker, and was dropped off near Trevino's home, the complaint said.
Kira Trevino's car was found Monday in the back corner of a parking lot at the Mall of America. A tow truck operator saw what looked like blood around the trunk. Police also found a trunk liner near the car, which later tested positive for blood.
Before he was arrested, Trevino told police he and his wife left their home Friday morning to run errands. But records show she did not go to the gym or a tanning salon, as Trevino said.
Family members and friends told police that Kira Trevino had been unhappy and had talked about moving out over the past few months.
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