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A teenager was tortured and cut up in front of another woman so she would be frightened into cooperating with a human trafficking ring, police said.
Jimmy Lee Massey, 33, was arrested over the first-degree murder of Carina Saunders, 19, whose dismembered body was found stuffed in a duffel bag. The young woman had been beheaded and dumped on October 13 behind a grocery store.
A 20-year-old woman came forward as a witness to say she had been kidnapped by Massey and forced to watch Miss Saunders painful death in Bethany, Oklahoma. Her identity has not been released because of concerns for her safety.
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Tortured: Carina Saunders, 19, was known to have run with a rough crowd who used drugs but the choice to kill her was 'random', said police
Miss Saunders was known to use drugs but not thought to be involved in criminal activity. The choice of her was 'random', according to police.
Massey was already being held in the Oklahoma County jail on drug charges and he remains held without bond. Court documents do not list an attorney for him, Police Chief Phil Cole said.
A second man, 31-year-old Francisco Gomez was also arrested in connection with Miss Saunders' murder along with charges of drug trafficking and failure to pay child support.
Massey told investigators he kidnapped the 20-year-old woman and forced her to watch others kill Saunders. He also provided details of Saunders' torture, killing and dismemberment and disposal of the body.
Chief Cole said there was no evidence the witness knew Miss Saunders but both women knew Massey separately.
Brutal: Jimmy Lee Massey has been arrested over the torture and dismemberment of 19-year-old Carina Saunders in Bethany, Oklahoma
Police said the kidnapping and brutal killing were meant to send a message that the witness and her friends faced the same fate unless they cooperated with a human trafficking and drug ring.
The police chief said: 'Evidence in our investigation has led us to believe that she had been expected to provide certain things to this trafficking group and that she had not been performing to their satisfaction.
'We believe there were other people there and they're now the focus of our investigation.'
Oklahoma County Assistant District Attorney Scott Rowland said a decision on charges would be made in January.
Suspected trafficker: Francisco Gomez was also picked up in connection with the teenager's murder
Rowland declined to discuss whether the drug charges that Massey was being held on were related to the killing.
'We're at a delicate point in the case and I want to be really careful about what I say,' he told a news conference.
Chief Cole said there was no evidence that Miss Saunders was involved in criminal activity.
He said: 'Our information right now leads us to believe she was a random choice, as sad as that is.
In tribute: A memorial to Carina Saunders sits near a parking lot behind a grocery store in Bethany, Oklahoma
'She had relationships within these loosely associated people, and I think that she was a victim of opportunity.'
He said investigators met with the young woman's family at the weekend.
He added: 'They are encouraged by this. They're hoping this is just one of many more that will be held to answer for their daughter's murder.'
Miss Saunders, who graduated from Mustang High School last year, was known to use methamphetamine, marijuana and Ecstasy.
Police have been unable to determine whether she had a job or where she was living at the time of her death.
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CARINA SAUNDERS |