A Minnesota man was arrested after police say he killed and dismembered his pregnant sister last week and placed parts of her body on a stranger’s porch.
Jack Joseph Ball, 23, of Lakeville, is charged with second-degree murder with intent and second-degree murder of a fetus in connection with the death of his 30-year-old sister, Bethany Ann Israel, according to court records filed Tuesday in Dakota County District Court Sample.
The murder reportedly took place on May 23 at Ball’s home in Lakeville, about 20 miles south of Minneapolis, according to the Lakeview Police Department.
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Mom discovers ‘substantial amount of blood,’ court documents say
According to a five-page criminal complaint, police responded to Ball’s home around 11 p.m. after the brothers’ mother called 911 and reported that she believed her daughter had been murdered inside the residence.
The mother told arriving officers that her daughter visited her son’s house for dinner earlier in the evening and when she didn’t hear from her, she went to the house to check on him.
She told police that when she arrived, her son “ran out of the house” and when she entered, court documents show, she saw “a substantial amount of blood” and called for help.
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His brother’s diary reveals anger over his sister’s pregnancy
Officers entered the home and found large amounts of blood in the kitchen and discovered a “bloody saw, an ax and large, bloody knives,” the complaint states. They also reportedly found “several dismembered body parts” in the house and another bloody knife on the living room floor.
At the home, the complaint continues, police found diaries and handwritten notes from Ball expressing her anger that Israel was pregnant and “no longer innocent.”
A body part on the front porch.
While searching for the suspect, police received a 911 call from a resident in Rosemount, a community about 11 miles northeast, reporting that they observed a man via their Ring security system place a body part on their front porch. .
Arriving officers located a dismembered body part believed to belong to Israel and during a search of the area around the home, they found Ball near a shed in a neighboring backyard. He was covered in blood and had a “self-inflicted knife wound to his throat.”
A further search of the area, the affidavit continues, found additional body parts belonging to the victim.
An autopsy revealed that Israel died as a result of “complex homicidal violence” and that she was approximately 18 weeks pregnant when she was murdered.
Ball was arrested and remained jailed without bail Thursday, records show.
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GoFundMe describes the woman as “a beloved wife, daughter and sister”
According to an online fundraiser created by Kylie Contreras, Israel was “a beloved wife, daughter, sister and mother-to-be, but also a beloved figure in the volleyball community.”
“Bethany’s radiant spirit and unwavering kindness touched the lives of all who had the privilege of knowing her,” reads the fundraiser created to help raise money for funeral arrangements and for her husband, Josh Israel, who is experiencing financial difficulties.
As of Thursday, it had raised more than $34,000 since its inception on Tuesday.
KeynoteUSA has contacted Contreras.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for KeynoteUSA. Contact her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
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