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Kavonn Ingram, pictured in the picture, put the body of co-worker Alexander Stengel in a wheeled garbage can and put the remains behind the dumpsters in this area by the Pizza Hut where they worked, police said. (Mug shot: Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office; screenshot: WITI)
In plotting to murder his co-worker over a $7,000 inheritance, a Pizza Hut employee downplayed the possibility of witnesses hearing the gunshot by saying that the victim’s head would act as a silencer, according to court documents out of Milwaukee County, Minnesota.
Cops apparently did not have to look far for who killed Alexander Stengel after Kavonn Ingram, 31, allegedly dumped the body in a garbage can behind the dumpsters, left behind blood evidence in the restaurant, pretended to be the victim in text messages, and was seen leaving the Pizza Hut on a local bus.
The defendant remains locked up on $200,000 bail for first-degree intentional homicide, hiding a corpse, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and robbery with use of force.
Officers said that the victim’s body was found on Feb. 7 in a wheeled garbage can in the dumpster area behind a Pizza Hut on N. Chicago Avenue in the city of South Milwaukee, but they believe Ingram killed him two days before.
As part of their investigation, they determined that Stengel had showed off a large roll of cash to colleagues on Feb. 3. Ingram was allegedly one of the people who knew about his money, which the victim received as part of a $7,000 inheritance.
Cops said that when they later went to the defendant’s home to execute a search warrant, his girlfriend answered and said, “Is this about Alex?” as well as “It’s about Alex, isn’t it?”
She said the defendant told her that he found the victim “with nothing on his person,” a fact unreleased to the public or any witness interviewed by officers, according to documents.
The girlfriend said she suggested that if there was a gunshot, the people from the nearby Taco Bell might hear it.
From the complaint:
And the Defendant stated, “the head works as a silencer. So if you and him are in the back of the store, and you gun is to his head, and you shoot him in the head, it works as a silencer, and no one is gonna hear it.”
Officers said that a trail of dried blood led from the body in the dumpster area all the way over to the back door of the Pizza Hut. In the restaurant, officers found a “portion of the tiled kitchen floor just past the front counter into the kitchen” that was “uncharacteristically clean when compared to the rest of the floor,” which was dirty and greasy.
Blood was also on the door to the utility closet.
“Within the closet was a slop sink on the floor, which appeared to be used for mop buckets,” they wrote. “There were several pieces of what appeared to be coagulated blood/flesh on the bottom of the slop sink. The mop in the closet had what appeared to be bloody handprints on the handle. The light switch for the closet had what appeared to be a blood smear on it. Lastly, the fabric mop head also had blood on it.”
Authorities believe the murder happened in the Pizza Hut kitchen, then Ingram put the victim in two garbage bags, put him in the wheeled garbage can, and wheeled him outside to the dumpster crib area.
Based on surveillance footage, text evidence, and work records, officers believe that Ingram shot Stengel the morning of Feb. 5. Work records showed that the victim clocked in at 9:30 a.m., and prepped the register at 9:56 a.m. But as a Pizza Hut regional manager pointed out, it was unusual for the register to be opened at 10:09 a.m. because there was no sale.
Surveillance footage showed a suspect wheeling the garbage can — believed to be holding the body — at about 10:25 a.m. Work records show that Stengel ostensibly clocked out about 25 minutes later, though police believe it was his body in that can at 10:25.
Police claim that Ingram pretended to be Stengel in texts at 10:28 a.m. and 11:07 a.m., respectively asking the store general manager to the door code and then claiming to be sick.
The latter text by “Stengel,” according to documents:
Been here since 8:30. I’m still feeling nauseous after throwing up 3 times. The last time I even threw up a lil blood. Tried to smoke a cigarette to ease my stomach, but still sweating like a pig. It seems like I keep getting worse so I’m heading out. Already clocked out. Did what I could, but I need to get checked out or something.
