Man Charged in Double-Homicide at Saint Paul Sober House
1100 block of Lawson Ave. E. on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. Photo from Saint Paul Police Department
A man on supervised release and previously civilly committed is now accused in a brutal double-homicide at a sober house in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood of Saint Paul.
32-year-old Joseph Francis Sandoval, II, was arrested just after the killings and is now formally charged with two counts of 2nd-degree murder.
Sandoval had three pending felony charges in Hennepin County for assault, burglary and theft in 2020 and 2021. Sandoval had been conditionally released on those charges after he was found incompetent in 2021.
According to court documents, police were called to the 1100 block of Lawson Ave. E. just before 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20 after a man was reportedly screaming that someone had been killed inside a home.
Officers first on scene saw Sandoval leaving the home and walking toward the alley. He had blood on his cloths and lacerations to his face and hands. He also appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance, the documents said.
TWITTER: Our initial thread on the double-homicide
Sandoval told officers outside the home that he had ingested fentanyl. He said he’d just moved into the sober house and didn’t know anyone there. Sandoval told officers that “two big guys” attacked him and “got those other guys,” referencing the two victims inside.
When police entered the home, they saw blood droplets in the kitchen and on the stairs leading to the basement. Lying in a pool of blood in the basement was a 40-year-old male victim who was unresponsive. Police found the other victim—a 56-year-old man—also unresponsive in a pool of blood in an upstairs bedroom.
Medics pronounced both men dead at the scene. Both victims had multiple lacerations and stab wounds, including “many” to the neck and head, the court documents reveal.
Officers found a bloody knife and a bloody hammer inside the home.
Police also spoke with a witness who was found “distressed” outside the home. He said he lived at the sober house and had tried to enter through the front door. Sandoval allegedly blocked the man and said it was “too messy” for him to come inside.
The witness went to a side door of the home and went into the kitchen. He reported seeing blood droplets, went downstairs and found one of the victims. The man told police he tried to escape the home and fought with Sandoval, who reportedly “had a crazed look in his eyes” and put the witness in a chokehold. He was able to break free, exit the home and ran to a neighbor’s house, telling them to call 911.
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The document say Sandoval initially told police that two men had entered the home and attacked him. He could not provide a description of the supposed suspects other than that he saw “long hair.” Sandoval would later tell investigators that as he was sitting on the couch at the sober house, he started “hearing noises” and that the TV in the room “kept saying take your opportunity, so I took my opportunity,” the documents said.
When asked what he meant, Sandoval told investigators “the TV said they’re going to kill me. When I was watching Dragon Ball Z,” Sandoval allegedly said. “The TV said they were gonna kill me and told me to take the opportunity,” according to the documents.
At the hospital, Sandoval reported asked to have his legs shackled to the bed and both arms handcuffed. When asked why, Sandoval said "because I don’t know what I’ll do.”
After he was released from the hospital and taken to the Ramsey County Jail, Sandoval reportedly told an officer that he “just wanted a quiet room,” according to the documents.
The homicides were the 30th and 31st of the year in Saint Paul.
Sandoval had been found incompetent due to chemical dependency and mental illness and was conditionally released on charges in three felony cases in Hennepin County:
March 25, 2021: Assault in the first degree, assault in the second degree, theft
March 26, 2021: Assault in the fourth degree
Sept. 20, 2020: Burglary in the first degree
The maximum sentence on each count of 2nd-degree murder is 40 years.
Sandoval had been charged in relation to a March 2021 incident after he stole a taxi in downtown Minneapolis and led officers on a pursuit through the city—running down a pedestrian and crashing through a parking ramp’s steel fence before being apprehended.
According to the charging documents from 2021, Sandoval said he knew the pedestrian he had struck, that he was angry with him for “messing with his sister” and he had intentionally run him down with the taxi. The documents also reveal that while being interviewed after his arrest, Sandoval punched an investigator in the face.
UPDATE - The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the victims as Jason T. Murphy, 40, and Jon R. Wentz, 56, a handyman at the residence. Both victims were from Saint Paul.
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