UPDATE: Margot Lewis moved to Hennepin County jail
(ABC 6 News) — According to the latest jail roster from the Hennepin County Sheriff, Margot Lewis has been moved to the Hennepin County jail.
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(ABC 6 News) – Search warrants filed Thursday, June 27, shed more light on law enforcement’s investigation into a crash-turned-murder-case over the weekend.
According to Olmsted County documents, initial observations of the scene of the crash at I-90 and Highway 42 on June 22 “indicated that the crash was intentional.”
After responders found Liara Tsai’s body wrapped in blankets and a tarp in the vehicle, a BCA officer obtained a warrant to obtain a buccal swab, fingerprints, and check Lewis for gunshot residue or any “biological fluid or apparent blood.”
Any cellular phones, memory cards, or other electronics would be detailed in an additional warrant, the first Olmsted County document read.
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(ABC 6 News) – Margot Lewis was charged in Hennepin County Court with two counts of 2nd-degree murder– with and without intent — in the death of Liara Tsai.
According to court documents filed late Wednesday, June 26, detail the grisly law enforcement found scene at Tsai’s apartment over the weekend.
The court documents state that a small dog was found at the scene of the car crash Saturday morning, which had a microchip registered to Tsai, as well as her address.
That, as well as documents in the car and Tsai’s vehicle registration, led investigators to her studio apartment in Minneapolis.
When investigators searched Tsai’s apartment, they allegedly found a “bloody scene,” noting that Tsai’s bed was saturated with blood, as was an unknown plastic-and-metal object.
More blood was found in the apartment’s bathroom.
Investigators noted that a single steak knife was missing from a butcher block in the kitchen.
Items commonly located in a car trunk had been moved into the apartment.
The knife was not located in the apartment.
Lewis’ interactions with law enforcement
Lewis, who was cleared at the hospital following the crash, had taken a vow of silence and preferred to communicate with sign language.
“Once at the sheriff’s office, Defendant sat down on the floor, pulled her knees into her chest, lowered her head, and began to cry,” court documents read.
Officers obtained a search warrant to collect evidence from Lewis’ person, but the suspect allegedly did not cooperate, became combative, and tried to keep officers from taking fingernail clippings for sampling.
Surveillance video, travel evidence located
According to court documents, Tsai’s ex-spouse told law enforcement that Lewis planned to visit Tsai between June 21 and 29.
“Victim’s former spouse indicated that the relationship between Victim and Defendant was sordid and emotionally challenging,” court documents read.
A flight tag in Tsai’s video confirmed that Lewis had flown into Minneapolis June 21, just one day before the two were found in the car on I-90.
Investigators located surveillance video from the road outside Tsai’s apartment, which allegedly showed Tsai’s car driving onto 16th Street in Minneapolis at 4:37 a.m. June 22.
The driver of the vehicle was allegedly wearing the same clothing as Lewis when she was taken into custody June 22.
Tsai’s dog was also visible on the front passenger seat, according to court documents.
According to Minnesota Court Records Online, Hennepin County Court filed a warrant Wednesday to bring Lewis to Hennepin County.
The defendant’s first appearance on the 2nd-degree murder charges was not scheduled by that evening.
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(ABC 6 News) – Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson reiterated that on Saturday, June 22, deputies responded to a single-vehicle crash on I-90 and Highway 42 Saturday morning, where suspect Margot Lewis allegedly crashed the car into the median at a high rate of speed.
Law enforcement found the body of 35-year-old Liara Tsai, of Minneapolis, in the back seat of the car. She was wrapped in a blanket and futon, with multiple sharp force injuries, including a large wound to her neck.
Her cause of death was listed as a homicide by the Southern Minnesota Medical Examiner’s Office.
Lewis was arraigned on a single charge of interference with a dead body Tuesday, and is currently held on $1 million bail at the Olmsted County ADC.
Lewis, who took a “vow of silence,” has not spoken to or cooperated with law enforcement, Torgerson said.
The two knew each other, Torgerson confirmed.
As Lewis has not communicated with investigators, Olmsted and Minneapolis law enforcement, as well at the BCA, are sharing information across multiple counties.
The Minnesota State Patrol filed a search warrant Tuesday, June 25, for the Airbag Control Module and Sensing and Diagnostic Module from Tsai’s Chevrolet Sonic, which Lewis crashed into the median.
The warrant alleges that Lewis drove into the highway median for “quite some time” before crashing into a pillar barrier, and made no visible attempt to avoid the crash.
“At this point, we’ll lean on technology, as we have before in cases that have been very significant,” Torgerson said.
Torgerson confirmed that the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office traveled to Minneapolis to help search Tsai’s home, where law enforcement found a violent scene.
The Minneapolis Police Department is continuing to investigate Tsai’s murder, and further information related to that investigation and charges will come from Hennepin County, Torgerson said.
“The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family of Liara Tsai,” Torgerson said.
Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Tips may be submitted electronically at www.CrimeStoppersMN.org. All tips are anonymous.