Charges: 42-year-old killed man, set his body on fire in Minneapolis in 2020

Criminal charges filed in Hennepin County earlier this month detail how a 42-year-old St. Paul man allegedly killed someone and set his body on fire in 2020.

Richard Handsome Carter Jr. faces one count of second-degree murder and two counts of first-degree arson.

According to the criminal complaint, firefighters responded to a fire on the 1800 block of Central Avenue NE on Feb. 28, 2020. They determined that the fire was coming from the basement.

As they went downstairs, they saw blood spatter on the walls. In the basement, they found the victim face-down and on fire. Court documents state that there were pieces of plywood and other materials on the victim’s body to fuel the fire.

An autopsy later determined that the victim had been killed by blunt force injuries to his head and neck before he was set on fire.

Investigators learned that the victim was a tenant of the building and had been subletting a room in the basement to Carter to use as a recording studio.

In an interview with police, Carter said that the victim had cheated him out of $2,800 of rent money that he had paid to the victim but that the victim had never given to the landlord, court documents state. He claimed to have never set foot in the studio.

Carter denied killing the victim. When asked if he knew how the victim died, he said the victim’s brother called and said he died in a fire and that coincidentally, the victim’s father had previously died in a fire. However, the victim did not have a brother and his father was still alive.

Cell phone data is consistent with Carter being at the scene at the time of the murder, and not at home or with one of his girlfriends, as he had claimed, according to court documents.