A man has been accused of murdering his girlfriend after he became involved in what prosecutors have called a ‘problematic love triangle’.
William Chase Hargrove, 29, is currently on trial for the 2017 murder of 27-year-old Anna Repkina, whose body was found in a remote area of woodland in Alsea, Oregon, after the young woman was apparently shot in the head.
The 29-year-old is accused of luring the young Russian woman from her home country with the promise of marriage, before killing her when it became clear his other girlfriend – a married woman – wasn’t happy with the situation.
Hargrove had been renting a room in Michelle Chavez’s home before Repkina arrived in the state, and the man had started an affair with Chavez, the The Washington Post reports. However, when Repkina came over to meet Hargrove, he began renting another place for the new couple straight away.
Prosecutors said a jealous Chavez allegedly ‘gave the defendant an ultimatum,’ and asked Hargrove to choose between her and the victim. ‘The defendant decided,’ they added.
Chavez told Hargrove to ‘get rid of her’, and even apparently threatened to do it herself, by saying she would ‘build a snowman’ – a ‘family joke’ about killing someone and hiding the body in a snowman in a place where it wouldn’t melt.
Instead, prosecutors claim Hargrove told Chavez he would ‘have this solved permanently’ the day after she gave him the ultimatum.
Prosecutor Amie Matusko told the judge:
He took the victim out to a very remote logging location and she was found shot dead in the back of her head, execution style.
Now, in a trial expected to last through most of November, prosecutors reportedly plan to present evidence showing the shotgun allegedly used to kill Repkina was discovered in Hargrove’s vehicle, and cellphone data that claims to place him at the scene of the crime.
However, Hargrove’s defence insists he is innocent, instead pointing the finger of blame at another person who was involved in the love triangle – Michelle Chavez.
Defence attorney Mike Flinn said in a statement last night:
Mr Hargrove has always maintained that he did not kill his fiancee. The evidence at trial will clearly show that Michelle Chavez murdered Anna Repkina.
Chavez is not charged with any crime, and denied any involvement in the murder from the witness stand last week, according to the Gazette-Times. Explaining their relationship during cross-examination, Chavez said Hargrove ‘knew when I met him that I’m not into monogamy.’
Although police initially had no leads in the murder, they began to look at Hargrove as a suspect after a receipt from a KFC restaurant was found close to Repkina’s body, which contained the name of one of the man’s friends, Kevin Thomas.
During a subsequent chat, Thomas told police Hargrove had asked to borrow his shotgun several days before Repkina’s murder and had not yet given it back.
Hargrove’s trial is ongoing.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).