An Iowa woman has been convicted of murdering her ex-partner after the victim’s body was found in the back seat of a car she crashed.
On Monday, a Minnesota jury found 33-year-old Margot Lewis guilty of two counts of second-degree murder in the 2024 stabbing death of 35-year-old Liara Tsai, a well-known Minneapolis DJ, according to MPR News.
The case emerged on June 22, 2024, when Lewis crashed Tsai’s car on Interstate 90 in Eyota, Minn., the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office said. Two Good Samaritans stopped to help Lewis, who was sitting in a lawn chair on the road’s median, and discovered the body of a woman in the back seat, the criminal complaint states.
According to MPR News, the body was wrapped in bedding, a mattress, and covered with a tarp. Authorities initially charged Lewis with interference with a dead body. After identifying Tsai through the car’s registration, deputies went to her home and found evidence of violence.
Prosecutors told the jury Lewis stabbed Tsai in her Minneapolis apartment, where Tsai bled to death. Tsai had recently moved from Iowa to Minneapolis and volunteered at a suicide hotline, friends told WCCO. “She was just such a magnetic personality,” said Jaycee Cooper, who met Tsai at one of her performances. “She was one of those people that made you feel welcome and seen.”
Lewis pleaded not guilty and was held on $1 million bail. The jury found aggravating factors, meaning the judge could impose a sentence beyond standard guidelines. Lewis is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 18 and still faces a separate charge of concealing a dead body in Olmsted County.
This article has been carefully fact-checked by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and eliminate any misleading information. We are committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity in our content.
Leave a Reply