ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) – A 23-year-old man has been charged with murdering an 18-year-old woman whose body was found inside a car in an impound lot last month.
Twenty-three-year-old Alberto Palmer, of Woodbury, was arrested on Wednesday after an investigation led police to his family’s home in Woodbury. He has been charged with second-degree murder.
Police say Palmer, who has several outstanding warrants from Georgia for felony assault and kidnapping, met 18-year-old Brittany Clardy after responding to ads posted to backpage.com. Police say Clardy was working as a prostitute.
Clardy’s body was found on Feb. 21, eight days after her mother’s car was towed from Brooklyn Park. Authorities say the towing company did not see her body in the car. The vehicle was taken to a Columbia Heights impound lot.
The criminal complaint says Palmer admitted to police that the two fought after having sex, and he beat her in the head with a hammer.
Investigators think Palmer killed Clardy roughly a week and a half before authorities found her body.
“From all the evidence in the complaint, Palmer appears to be a very dangerous man,” Anoka County Attorney Tony Palumbo said. “It is a sad day for Brittany’s family and we will seek justice for her.”
Police say investigators were able to use the backpage ad information and work backwards, in order to find cell phone numbers and other information that led them to Palmer. Two search warrants were issued in Woodbury and Brooklyn Park.
One warrant was at a home on the 8400 block of Kentucky in Brooklyn Park, the other at the 8000 block of Quarry Ridge Lane in Woodbury.
Investigators say Palmer knew people at both homes and the crime was committed at the home in Brooklyn Park.
Evidence gathered gave police enough cause to arrest Palmer in connection with Clardy’s death.
It wasn’t immediately clear Friday if Palmer had an attorney. He was held in the county jail in Anoka on $2 million bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 10.
