Minneapolis woman charged with second-degree murder

A Minneapolis woman has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of her boyfriend, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

Zara Case, 35, was charged with one count of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of her 39-year-old boyfriend. She is expected to make her first court appearance Thursday.

According to the criminal complaint, on Feb. 15, officers responded to 990 15^th Ave. S.E. on a report of a neighbor dispute in a Minneapolis apartment. Upon arrival, officers spoke with a male witness who stated that Case was trying to force her way into his home.

Officers found Case outside her boyfriend’s apartment, naked from the waist down and extremely intoxicated. After police convinced Case to go back into the apartment, officers spoke to her boyfriend, who was also intoxicated, but cooperative, the complaint states.

While officers were speaking with the boyfriend, the male witness again called 911, stating that Case was trying to enter his apartment. The boyfriend and the officers found Case and convinced her to return to the apartment, the complaint continues.

Approximately one minute later, officers received a call of a reported stabbing that occurred in the same location. When they returned, police found Case and her boyfriend in the apartment, and noticed that the boyfriend had been stabbed in the chest and had bite marks and bruising on his right arm and shoulder, the complaint says.

When officers attempted to arrest Case, she resisted and appeared hysterical, continually screaming that her boyfriend stabbed himself. When officers asked the boyfriend who stabbed him, he did not say anyone specifically, the complaint continues.

During an interview with officers, Case told them “I stabbed him. That’s all there is to it,” and then claimed she did not remember what happened, the complaint states.

The boyfriend died from his injuries at HCMC. A medical examiner determined the manner of death to be a homicide and the cause to be a stab wound 10.5 centimeters deep, the complaint says.

Case is currently in custody at the Hennepin County Jail.

Zara Case Criminal Complaint (PDF)