MARION COUNTY, Fla. – Marion County detectives have arrested a 43-year-old man in Texas, who they say murdered and dismembered his friend and business partner then dumped part of her remains in the Ocala National Forest.
On June 11, Marion County Sheriff's Office officials said a woman's torso was found in the Ocala National Forest near East State Road 40 and 115th Avenue. A few days later, detectives said they had identified the victim as 63-year-old Robin Lee Upson.
Detectives spoke with Upson's mother, Lena Upson, who lives on the same block as her daughter. She was the last person to speak with Robin Upson on June 5, according to the report.
The victim's mother told detectives she suspected Christopher Takhvar, 43, who had come to Florida from Hawaii in May to help Robin as a handyman around the house, had something to do with her daughter's disappearance.
Officials with the Sheriff's Office said Takhvar had been Robin Upson's business partner and friend of 20 years.
The last night Robin Upson was seen alive, Takhvar went to Lena Upson's home and said he and the victim had argued and she had left in her Ford truck. He asked to borrow Lena Upson's van to run errands, Lena Upson told detectives. Takhvar took the van and never returned, she told detectives. The stolen van was later found in Orlando.
After searching Robin Upson's home, investigators said they found evidence she had been murdered, decapitated and dismembered in the home, according to the report. Her DNA and Takhvar's DNA were found on a reciprocating saw in the garage.
Takhvar was arrested in Jefferson, Texas, on Aug. 15 a warrant for the theft of Lena Upson's van, and Marion County detectives traveled there to interview him.
Detectives said Takhvar confessed to stealing the van and killing the victim, saying it had been self-defense.
Takhvar told investigators Upson "came at him with a knife while he was holding an electric chainsaw," and he "accidentally turned the chainsaw on," causing fatal wounds to Upson, according to the report.
The suspect also said the rest of Upson's remains were buried in her backyard. On Aug. 23, Marion County crime scene investigators found them there.
Detectives said there is no evidence that Takhvar's claim of self-defense is true. Detectives learned he was trying to save money to return to Hawaii when he was arrested in Texas by U.S. marshals.
Takhvar is charged with second-degree murder and grand theft and is being held without bail in the Marion County Jail.