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A Texas man admitted killing and dismembering his longtime business partner and friend before burying her remains in a national forest, authorities said.
Christopher Lee Takhvar, 43, of Jefferson, is facing charges of second-degree murder in the death of Robin Lee Upson, a 62-year-old woman whose chopped-up remains were found by a hiker in Florida’s Ocala National Forest in June, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
Upson’s remains were identified by authorities based on a tattoo of a bird — a robin — found on the torso discovered in the forest north of Orlando. Deputies contacted Upson’s relatives in Florida and were told that Takhvar had recently borrowed her van but never returned it.
The vehicle was later located in Orlando and detectives found evidence that Takhvar — Upson’s friend and business partner of two decades — was the sole occupant of the van and used it to transport and dispose of the woman’s remains. Evidence found at Upson’s home in Belleview, Florida, indicated that she had been killed and dismembered there, authorities said.
Takhvar was later arrested in Jefferson, Texas, on a warrant for the theft of Upson’s van on Aug. 15. He then admitted to detectives that he stole Upson’s van before killing her, but maintained it was in self-defense, claiming she attacked him with a knife as he held a chainsaw, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Takhvar further admitted dismembering and mutilating Upson’s body before dumping her torso in the 387,000-acre national forest. He also told detectives he buried Upson’s head, arms and legs in her back yard. Forensic technicians later recovered the buried body parts, authorities said.
After reviewing evidence in the case, a detective refuted Takhvar’s claim of self-defense and transported him from Texas to Florida’s Marion County, where he was charged with murder and grand theft of a motor vehicle.
Takhvar remained held without bail in the Marion County Jail, authorities said.
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