A grisly interaction between a rideshare driver and a passenger is just one of many clues that Minnesota authorities will use to prosecute an early-morning knife attack in Minneapolis that left one man dead and a teenage boy seriously injured, according to police and court records.
The encounter, during which the passenger, Jonathon Michael Kaupa, 31, allegedly told the driver his phone was covered in “fish guts,” happened on the morning of Jan. 10, 2026. The driver also noticed he was carrying a bag containing a rope and what appeared to be blood-soaked clothing. Alarmed by his behavior and appearance, the driver alerted the police after the ride concluded, providing a critical link between the suspect and the crime scene, per local news outlet KSTP.
One man dead, a teenage boy injured
Police spoke with the driver after officers were dispatched to the Equinox Apartments in the 2800 block of Silver Lane Northeast after reports of a stabbing in a third-floor hallway. Responding officers discovered a 44-year-old maintenance worker in the building, identified as John Ramon Tongson, with significant neck and upper-body stab wounds. Authorities pronounced Tongson dead at the scene.
Nearby in a unit, a 15-year-old boy was found with multiple stab wounds to his chest, neck, head, and arms. EMTs rushed the teen to Hennepin County Medical Center in serious condition.
The teenage victim later said that he was awakened by a loud sawing noise outside his door just before the attack. He and the adult maintenance worker had stepped into the hallway to investigate, only to be confronted by the alleged assailant, Kaupa. A violent struggle ensued, with the teen describing being stabbed repeatedly before retreating and calling 911.
The rideshare driver arrives at the scene
While investigators were still processing the apartment complex, a rideshare driver approached them, saying she had picked up a passenger shortly after 5:30 a.m. near a park just north of the complex, lying in a snowbank.
The man, later identified as Kaupa, asked to charge his phone during the ride and apologized that it was covered in what he said were “fish guts.” The driver became alarmed and returned to alert the police.
Investigators found a rope secured to a wall stud in Kaupa’s third-floor unit, hanging out over the balcony, indicating he had rappelled down the side of the building to avoid police. His father told police that his son suffered from longstanding mental health issues and had been hospitalized multiple times in recent years.
Kaupa had purportedly sent his parents a text message reading “sorry” around 6 a.m. and later showed up at their home, where he borrowed his father’s Mercedes-Benz before departing the area.
Later that morning, law enforcement in St. Louis County located the borrowed Mercedes-Benz near Duluth. Kaupa fled from deputies during a traffic stop, crashing the vehicle in the Hinckley area and attempting to escape on foot before being taken into custody.
On Jan. 10, Kaupa was formally charged in Ramsey County District Court with one count of second-degree murder and one count of attempted second-degree murder. He is being held at the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center on a $5 million bail and made his first court appearance on Jan. 12. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison for the murder count and up to 20 years for attempted murder.
Published: Jan 15, 2026 01:17 pm