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 A Minnesota couple has been charged in the killing and decapitation of the woman's alleged rapist, authorities said Thursday. 
 
 Joseph Christen Thoresen, 35, appeared in court on Wednesday in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, to face a charge of murder in the second degree for allegedly killing a 20-year-old man by beating him with a baseball bat and then stabbing him repeatedly on or around June 21, the Itasca County Attorney’s office said in a statement. 
 
 Thoresen believed the man had raped his girlfriend, according to a criminal complaint. 
 
 On Thursday evening, Thoresen’s 22-year-old girlfriend was charged with being an accomplice to second-degree murder after the fact, as well as third degree assault, according to NBC affiliate KARE. 
 
 NBC News does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault. 
 
 Mugshot of Joseph Christen Thoresen Itasca County Sheriff 
 
 Thoresen was first stopped by police on June 24 after an officer spotted a vehicle with an obscured license plate and the driver not wearing a seat belt, according to the criminal complaint. The car sped away when the officer tried to pull it over, reaching speeds of more than 90 mph, police said. 
 
 The driver of the car eventually ran into the woods and was arrested at a nearby home, according to the complaint. 
 
 Thoresen, who was the passenger, was apprehended at gunpoint but initially released. 
 
 But when police questioned the driver — a man identified only as "T.M.C." — he said that Thoresen told him he had brutally beaten and decapitated the vehicle’s owner a few days earlier. 
 
 The driver told police that Thoresen pulled a knife on him and forced him to speed away — but cops never found any knife — the complaint states. 
 
 The car was owned by a man from Hibbing, Minnesota, identified in the complaint as "D.A.H.," who had earlier been reported missing. NBC affiliate KARE and others have identified that man as David Haiman. 
 
 The driver said Thoresen told him he and his girlfriend were driving with Haiman when Thoresen attacked him. 
 
 When investigators spoke to the girlfriend, according to the complaint, she said that the incident began when Thoresen told her Haiman would be coming over. The woman said she was upset and told Thoresen that Haiman had raped her in their bedroom. 
 
 When Haiman arrived, she confronted him and punched him and he "agreed to be tied up and beat up," the complaint states. Thoresen also allegedly punched Haiman in the face and said repeatedly that "he should not have raped 'my girl.'" 
 
 The woman told investigators that the couple then drove around with Haiman, in his car — while smoking marijuana and methamphetamine. 
 
 As they were driving in the woods, Haiman allegedly began to verbally insult the couple when they ran into car trouble. When Thoresen and Haiman exited the car to investigate the problem, the woman said she heard a loud thud and saw her boyfriend stabbing Haiman, according to the complaint. 
 
 The woman said she tried to stop him but was unable to, according to the complaint, which noted she said "this was 'not my Joe.'" 
 
 Authorities eventually found Haiman’s torso and head in the woods in Itasca County near where the girlfriend told investigators the crime had taken place, according to the complaint. 
 
 Thoresen was arrested at his home on Sunday, June 26, after an alibi he gave cops didn't check out. The woman was on Thursday charged with being an accomplice to murder. 
 
 Thoresen was being held on $2 million bail without conditions and $1 million with conditions, according to the Itasca County Attorney's Office. His next court date is set for July 5. ||||| MINNEAPOLIS -- A northern Minnesota man faces a murder charge for allegedly beating and decapitating a man he believed raped his girlfriend. 
 
 According to a criminal complaint, Joseph Christen Thoresen on June 21 beat David Haiman with a baseball bat, stabbed him, then used a machete to decapitate him as Haiman was groaning on the ground. Thoresen then dragged Haiman's torso and threw his head into the woods, the complaint says. 
 
 The girlfriend told police that the group had smoked meth before the attack, the complaint said. 
 
 Thoresen, 35, made his initial appearance Wednesday on a murder charge in Itasca County District Court and remained in custody. Online court records do not list an attorney to comment on his behalf. 
 
 Haiman, 20, of Hibbing, had been reported missing Saturday after he didn't show up for work and hadn't been seen for five days, the complaint said. His torso and head were found Sunday. 
 
 According to the complaint, Thoresen's girlfriend told police that when she learned Haiman was coming to the couple's Grand Rapids apartment, she became upset and told Thoresen that Haiman had sexually assaulted her. 
 
 When Haiman arrived, the girlfriend tied him up and punched him, breaking his nose. She untied him, then Thoresen punched him repeatedly and told him that he should not have raped "my girl," reports CBS Minnesota. 
 
 The girlfriend told police that the group left in Haiman's car and drove to Deer River to "smoke some bud." They also drove to Ball Club and smoked meth, the complaint said. 
 
 The girlfriend told authorities they drove into the woods and Thoresen and Haiman argued about car trouble. Thoresen allegedly told another acquaintance that he had Haiman check the oil, then he hit him in the head with a baseball bat and stabbed him, the complaint said. 
 
 The girlfriend told authorities she tried to stop Thoresen but he took a large knife from Haiman's belt loop and cut off Haiman's head. 
 
 Thoresen was arrested June 24 after a traffic stop and later released, reports CBS Minnesota. The driver of the vehicle, who was also arrested after fleeing, told police Thoresen had told him he had killed the owner of the car, police say. 
 
 After authorities learned the car's owner had been reported missing, they arrested Thoresen June 26 at his Grand Rapids apartment. Officials say he initially denied having any contact with Haiman, but officials uncovered a text conversation between the two on Thoresen's phone. 
 
 If convicted, Thoresen faces up to 40 years in prison, the station reports.
– A Minnesota man and his unnamed girlfriend have been charged with brutally murdering and beheading a 20-year-old man the girlfriend claimed raped her, NBC News reports. According to KARE 11, the girlfriend was upset when her boyfriend, 35-year-old Joseph Thoresen, informed her David Haiman was coming to their apartment June 21. She told Thoresen that Haiman had raped her, then she broke his nose when he showed up at the apartment. Haiman apparently agreed to be tied up and beaten as punishment for raping Thoresen's girlfriend. Police say Thoresen punched Haiman multiple times while telling him he shouldn't have raped "my girl." Afterward, the three allegedly drove around in Haiman's car, smoking marijuana and meth. While they were driving, Haiman repeatedly insulted the couple until Thoresen faked car trouble. Thoresen allegedly had Haiman get out and check the oil, then beat him with a bat and stabbed him multiple times, CBS News reports. Police say Thoresen then took a machete off of Haiman's belt and used it to cut his head off, leaving both Haiman's head and torso in the nearby woods. Thoresen was arrested in Haiman's car last Friday following an unrelated traffic stop. He's now been charged with second-degree murder and faces up to 40 years in prison. His girlfriend has been charged with being an accomplice to murder and assault. She isn't being identified because she's the alleged victim of a sexual assault.