Iowa Woman Found With Body Near Eyota Makes First Court Appearance on Murder Charges

Minneapolis, MN (KROC-AM News)- The Iowa woman found with a body in her crashed vehicle near Eyota last month has made her first court appearance on murder charges. 

Read More: Iowa Woman Found With Body Following Crash Near Eyota Now Charged With Murder

32-year-old Margot Lewis was arraigned on two counts of second-degree murder in Hennepin County Court in Minneapolis on Monday. She was charged in connection to the death of 35-year-old Liaria Tsai last week. 

The criminal complaint says law enforcement found a bloody scene at Tsai’s Minneapolis apartment on the night of June 22 during a search conducted after an Olmsted County Sheriff’s deputy found Tsai’s body in the back of Lewis’s crashed vehicle. 

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The charges also indicate a knife was missing from the home. An autopsy found Tsai died of multiple sharp-force injuries, according to court documents. 

Security camera footage outside of Tsai’s apartment shows a woman who appears to be Lewis driving Tsai’s vehicle on the morning of June 22, just over two hours before the crash on Interstate 90 at the Eyota exit, the murder complaint says. 

Investigators learned Lewis and Tsai were previously in a relationship and that Lewis had flown to Minneapolis from Boston to visit Tsai on June 21, the court document says. 

Lewis's bail was set at $1.5 million and she remains in custody in Hennepin County and her next court hearing in the murder case is set for July 30. 

Lewis was charged in Olmsted County with a count of interference with a dead body last week. She’s due back in Olmsted County Court in that case on Friday.

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