Killer left crosses around body after murder in Charlotte apartment, prosecutor says
Editor’s note: Many details in this story, provided by court officials, are especially disturbing and graphic beyond routine crime coverage in The Charlotte Observer. Reader discretion is advised.
Graphic details of the murder of a woman found in east Charlotte Sunday were revealed in court this week.
Miguel Gonzales-Rasalas, 36, has been charged with murder in a case that left behind a gruesome scene and an unrecognizable, dismembered victim, according to a prosecutor for Mecklenburg County.
When police arrived at Stone Gate Apartments on Easter Sunday, a ring of salt and three crosses made from pieces of a broken dining room table surrounded a 35-year-old woman’s body, the prosecutor said in court Tuesday.
Gruesome murder
Blood and human tissue had seeped through the third-floor apartment’s front door and floor, she said, and human tissue was scattered throughout the residence.
The prosecutor also reported the victim had a deep cut from her neck to her belly button. Her ankles were tied together, her neck was bound by wires her inner thighs were burned.
The prosecutor asked Judge Matthew Newton if she should continue with the narrative. Newton said he’d heard plenty.
The victim was later identified for police as Laura Miller.
The Charlotte Observer’s news partner WSOC spoke with Miller’s mother by phone earlier this week. She described Miller as “the most kind, caring, and sweet daughter,” WSOC reported.
“She was a sweet little girl — the sweetest,” her uncle said.
Suspect denied bond
The suspect’s brother called 911 to report the murder, the prosecutor said. He told police his brother lived alone at the apartment complex at the intersection of Reddman Road and Southwood Oaks Lane.
Gonzales-Rasalas was driving the victim’s vehicle when police arrested him, the prosecutor said. There was an apparent blood stain in the car, and the suspect had duct tape, a rope, a knife and clear white crystal substance in a plastic bag, she said.
Gonzales-Rasalas is currently being held with no bond, public records show. Along with first-degree murder, he also faces charges for theft of a motor vehicle and destroying remains/concealing death, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police.
His next court dates are April 19 and May 1.
