Charge: Woman reported her fears to police, was later killed in ex's Fridley apartment

Last August, Linda Pa Vue told police she was afraid of her boyfriend, who was threatening her. Five months later, she was dead.

Vue's badly beaten body was left for hours Tuesday in an SUV with the engine running 12 blocks from the murder scene in Fridley, according to charges filed Thursday.

Fue Her, 34, was charged in Anoka County District Court with second-degree murder in connection with the death Monday of Vue, 29. Her appeared in court Thursday, was denied a public defender and remains jailed ahead of a Jan. 16 court appearance.

Her was stopped by officers early Tuesday night in a vehicle in traffic on westbound Interstate 694 near East River Road, not far from where the killing occurred.

His brother was also arrested during the stop and is accused of aiding an offender after the fact. The brother has yet to be charged, and the Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects before charges.

Vue contacted police in St. Paul on Aug. 2 and "reported that her ex-boyfriend [Her] was threatening her," according to the criminal complaint. "[She] said she does not feel safe and wanted police to respond to her residence." Police have not immediately responded to an inquiry on how police dealt with the call.

According to the criminal complaint:

Officers spotted Vue's body in the backseat. She was barefoot and wearing a black dress.

An autopsy revealed evidence of extreme violence against her: many blows to her head and face, bleeding on the brain, bruises on her arms and left thigh, injuries to her neck and throat including "damage to the cartilage in her neck," the charging document read. Her liver was lacerated, sending blood into her abdomen.

Evidence of who the culprit might be was quickly and easily found. A large men's coat covering Vue had a Brooklyn Center hotel receipt in it from a few days earlier. Her's name was on that slip.

After Her left that hotel Saturday, he called Vue at 10:33 p.m. that night, and again at 12:35 and 12:52 a.m., with the last call putting his cellphone near Vue's home.

By 2:44 a.m., Vue and Her were seen on video surveillance entering his apartment building. The same surveillance showed Her walking down the stairs about 4 a.m. "carrying a limp, lifeless female body over his shoulder," the complaint continued.

Fue Her's brother Fong Her, 33, was charged Friday with aiding an offender after the fact. He made his first court appearance Friday morning. Judge Kristin Larson set Fong Her's bail at $100,000. His next court hearing is scheduled for Jan. 17.

Another brother who was initially arrested, was released from jail and is not being charged in connection to the killing at this time.