Fargo man admitted to fatally stabbing teen girl in Moorhead: Charges

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Police lights. (FOX 9 / FOX 9)

MOORHEAD, Minn. (FOX 9) - A man who was arrested after the body of a missing teenage girl was found in the Red River in Moorhead, Minnesota, is now charged with her murder.

The brief

Isaac Arthur Arndt, 18, allegedly told police he fatally stabbed 14-year-old Jaelyn Walker "about 13 times" on the evening of Aug. 19.
Police say Arndt admitted to killing the girl and that they had been in a relationship for several months but that it recently ended before the stabbing.
Investigators reportedly found bloody items at Arndt's apartment.

What we know

Isaac Arthur Arndt, 18, from Fargo, North Dakota, is charged with second-degree murder for the death of 14-year-old Walker, whose body was found in the Red River early Tuesday morning.

Police say Arndt went to the Clay County Law Enforcement Center just after 11 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 19, and reported what he described as an assault.

According to the criminal complaint, Arndt told police he was with Walker at Gooseberry Park in Moorhead, Minnesota, "when an unknown white male started to follow them." Arndt claimed that the man cut him with a knife and that Walker then ran into the woods. Arndt was then treated at the hospital for cuts on his fingers.

Walker's mother then reported her missing to the Moorhead Police Department around 12:35 a.m. on Aug. 20. The mother said her daughter's Snapchat location showed an area near a bike trail on Elm Street and 6th Avenue South in Moorhead.

Officers then found the girl's body in the Red River near the trail in a wooded area. Police also found a knife and saw the girl had wounds to her back, torso and neck.

Suspect's account

According to the complaint, Arndt then spoke to police at a hospital in Fargo after being read his Miranda rights. Though he initially told the same story about the unknown man, he reportedly told "a number of other versions of what happened between him and the victim in the wooded area by the river."

Police say Arndt then admitted to being in a romantic relationship with Walker for several months but that it had recently ended. Arndt added that the teenage girl began to hit and kick him when he refused to tell her who his new girlfriend was.

The complaint states that Arndt said he then pulled out a knife, which caused the injury to his fingers before he slashed at the girl and stabbed her "about 13 times."

Arndt said he then fled the area on his scooter and ditched his phone and backpack along the way. He said he then went to his apartment to clean his clothes, which were covered in blood.

Police later got a search warrant to recover red-stained items from Arndt's apartment. They also found the discarded backpack and scooter, the charges explained.

Investigators say surveillance footage and eyewitness accounts place Arndt and the victim in the area of Gooseberry Park between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.

A detective later spoke to Arndt at the Cass County jail. Arndt allegedly gave more details about the incident, admitting that the teen girl was "not alive when he left the scene," according to the complaint. Arndt reportedly said he "cut her throat, gave her a hug and stabbed her one more time in the back" before dragging her to the river and fleeing the area.