Benjamin Beale booked with murder of dismembered woman found frozen at his Ninth Ward home; bond increased to $1.4 million

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Benjamin Beale, the man arrested after a woman’s headless torso was found in a freezer on his Ninth Ward property, was booked with second-degree murder, New Orleans police said Friday (Jan. 14).

Beale was arrested Tuesday (Jan. 11), after the gruesome discovery was made by police executing a search warrant related to the disappearance of 36-year-old Julia Dardar. The Orleans Parish Coroner’s office has not revealed the identity of the dismembered woman, whose partial remains were found in a deep freezer kept powered in a bus parked in the back yard of Beale’s home in the 2300 block of Pauline Street.

Police said a clandestine methamphetamine lab also was found in Beale’s kitchen. When the 34-year-old Beale refused to answer questions about the corpse, he was booked Tuesday with obstruction of justice in a death investigation, illegal carrying of a weapon in the presence of controlled dangerous substances, distribution of methamphetamine, possession with the intent to distribute marijuana, and two counts of creating/operating a clandestine drug lab, according to court records.

Beale’s bond initially was set at $400,000. An additional bond of $1 million was added Saturday after the NOPD filed its murder allegation Friday night.

CONTINUING COVERAGE:

Headless torso in freezer, bloody power saw found at home of Ninth Ward man, NOPD says in court documents

Human remains found on Ninth Ward man’s property; arrest made

Chilling ‘Dexter’ profile pic paints grim picture of man who owned bus with headless torso in it

‘Gruesome, beyond belief’: Slidell man certain dismembered woman is his missing wife

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