Carina Saunders: Autopsy reveals grisly details of murder and dismemberment of teenager
Autopsy reveals grisly murder details of teenager who had hands, feet and head cut off before killers tried to hide her identity by cutting a tattoo from her back
- Carina Saunders, 19, was tied to a table and tortured by human trafficking gang to intimidate others
- Autopsy could not confirm if feet were sawn off when she was still alive
- Her dismembered was body found stuffed in duffel bag last October
- Two men charged with first-degree murder of Oklahoma woman
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Brutal end: The autopsy report on Carina Saunders revealed the young woman's suffering before she died in Oklahoma
The sickening details of a teenage girl's tortured death have been revealed in the autopsy report.
Carina Saunders' dismembered body was found stuffed in a duffel bag and dumped behind a grocery store in Bethany, Oklahoma, on October 13 last year.
The report, released on Wednesday, said the 19-year-old had a 'violent death' with someone trying to cut out a tattoo on her upper back so her body could not be identified.
She was decapitated and her hands and feet were missing - although it was unclear whether her body parts were sawn off before she had died.
The medical examiner had withheld details of the 19-year-old's death so that police could build a murder case.
It was believed she was killed by a human and drug trafficking gang to intimidate female witnesses so they would cooperate with the gang's demands.
Jimmy Massey, 34, and Luis Ruiz, 37, were charged with the first-degree murder of the young woman from Mustang on July 23.
The two men were being held in the Oklahoma County Jail without bail.
Ruiz is a former elementary school teacher, according to his family, who later became deeply involved in the drug trade.
The autopsy report revealed that Miss Saunders' decomposing body had to be identified by dental records. Her tattoo, which read 'Kween Spade', could also be made out on her back.
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Brutal crime: Luis Ruiz, left, has been charged with killing and dismembering Carina Saunders, right, in Oklahoma City
Tragic end: A makeshift cross marks the spot where the body of Saunders was found in Bethany, Oklahoma
There is speculation that the tattoo is adopted by white women who like to advertise themselves for sexual relationships with black men. The tattoo is also taken by music fans of bands of the same name and has references in mythology.
'The body parts were wrapped with plastic wrap, a laundry bag and a duffel bag,' states the report, according to Newsok.
There was prescription painkiller tramadol in the 19-year-old's system but the quantity was unclear.
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ShareA witness told police last month that one of the men charged with Miss Saunder's murder beat her, tied her to a table and tortured her by sawing off her left foot.
The suspect then tried to cut off the 19-year-old's right foot before the saw broke, it was claimed.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in Oklahoma County District Court, Ruiz planned and carried out the torture killing.
In the affidavit, a woman named Michelle Hanshaw told police she went to a house in the city with Saunders and witnessed Ruiz 'physically beat Carina Saunders and then tie her up'.
Elusive link: Police never revealed the supposed relationship between Saunders, 19, and Ruiz
Threatening: Luis Ruiz (left) and Jimmy Massey (right) were being held without bail at Oklahoma County Jail on first-degree murder charges
Ruiz then dragged Saunders to an upstairs room and tied her to a small table with rope and twine before using the saw on her feet, Hanshaw told Bethany police investigators.
Hanshaw 'jumped out a window to escape' after witnessing the killing.
Stephanie Howard, Ruiz's girlfriend in October 2011, told investigators that on two occasions she and Ruiz had to 'babysit' a girl Howard later learned was Carina Saunders, police reported.
Ruiz said Saunders was going to be 'dealt with', Howard told investigators.
The relationship between Saunders and the two men who are believed to have murdered her, has not been revealed.
Another woman was at the house with Saunders and Hanshaw, but left soon after, police reported.
Tia Downour said she had been told there was a video of the homicide on the phone, and the phone belonged to Ruiz.
Downour told investigators she shared a room at the Bel-Aire Hotel with Ruiz in May, and when he went to the bathroom, she viewed the video, police reported.
Possible link: Ruiz's younger brother said Ms Saunders resembled a white woman that his brother used to 'hang out with'
Horrific find: Saunders' remains were discovered inside a duffel bag in a field behind a Homeland grocery store
'Downour said she watched for a few seconds until Saunders began to scream,' Bethany police Lt. JR Jencks wrote in the affidavit, adding that she told investigators she recognized Ruiz 'as the person in the video cutting off the foot of Saunders'.
Another person interviewed by detectives said Ruiz told him he 'had been the one that planned the entire incident which resulted in the death of Carina Saunders'.
Massey, while jailed on drug charges, shared details of the murder with two inmates, according to a probable cause affidavit filed with his murder charge.
He told one that he participated in the homicide and they 'they cut the girl's arms and legs off'.
The second inmate told police Massey 'gave handwritten statements in the form of passed notes' describing what parts of the woman's body were dismembered and how the body was wrapped before disposal.
House of horrors: In December 2011, police found blood, hair, and a blood-stained knife inside an apartment where they believe Saunders was tortured and killed
Downour, who told investigators she left the house soon after Saunders and Hanshaw arrived, said Massey, who she also knew as 'Country,' was there when she left.
A confidential witness told police she was kidnapped and forced to watch as members of a human trafficking ring tortured and killed Saunders to send a message to others to cooperate with their illegal activities..
According to court records, Massey admitted to kidnapping a woman and making her watch as Saunders was tortured and killed October 9.
Massey also described how Saunders' body was dismembered and left in a field behind the Homeland grocery store, 15 miles away from her home in Mustang.
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