Aug 14, 2007 6:30 pm US/Central
19-Year-Old Charged With Rape, Murder Of Girl, 15
(WCCO)
A man has been charged with the murder and rape of a 15-year-old girl from Backus, Minn.
Matthew Martin, 19, is charged with second degree murder and first degree sexual conduct in connection with the rape, stabbing and shooting of the teen.
According to the Cass County Attorney's Office, Martin was arrested and questioned on Aug. 11.
He told police that he and the teen had met at a party and they were one of the last people to leave in the early hours of Aug. 4. They walked down nearby a road and found an unlocked camper trailer and went inside.
Martin said that's where he had consensual sex with the girl and that he used a knife to partially cut off her jeans. He said they got into an argument and he used the knife he found in the trailer to stab her in the head.
According to police, Martin said he then walked to the cabin next to where the trailer was parked. There he found a gun, returned to the trailer and shot the victim in the head because he was concerned about the fact he had sex with a minor.
Martin told police he threw the gun and other evidence along a swampy trail he walked through to get to the home he was staying at. Police have since recovered the gun.
The victim's body was days after the incident on Aug. 8 by the owner of the fifth wheel camper trailer where she was murdered.
Martin's bail is set at $1 million.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
