Murder of Cristina Prodan by Joseph Porter spotlighted on See No Evil

See No Evil is investigating the murder of Cristina Prodan, who was strangled by her boyfriend, Joseph Porter, at her apartment in Edina, a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Porter then stuffed his girlfriend’s body into a suitcase, which he drove across the country before dumping the remains in a shipping container in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Prodan and Porter originally met on Facebook and soon began a tumultuous three-month relationship. Porter moved from his native Arkansas to live with Prodan despite him being married to a man in his home state.

Neighbors said they could hear loud fighting coming from the apartment. Family members, including Cristina’s mother, Livia Prodan, had already spoken with the authorities about her concern for her daughter’s safety.

By January 2018, Prodan had forbidden Porter from staying at her apartment, but he still regularly forced his way in. On January 4, the pair got into an altercation, which led to Porter strangling 27-year-old Prodan.

Porter stuck the body in a suitcase and threw it onto his car’s backseat. He drove to a junkyard in New Orleans, where he put Prodan into a shipping container under some tires and threw gasoline on top before setting everything on fire. He was badly burned during the process.

Cops found Joseph Porter in Arkansas after Cristina Prodan murder

The detectives later learned that Porter had actually been pulled over on January 4 in Green County, Missouri, as he drove to New Orleans with the body. The state trooper had pulled him over because the vehicle’s registration had expired.

At the time, the officer noticed the suitcase and a shovel, but Porter told him he was moving back to Arkansas from Minnesota.

On January 9, Prodan’s cellphone pinged in Cabot, Arkansas. The investigators learned that the phone was pawned in a Walmart in the town, and there was surveillance footage of the transaction, which revealed Porter and his estranged husband.

Porter was arrested a short time later at his husband’s home.

Joseph Porter confessed to killing Cristina Prodan

In January 2019, Porter agreed to plead guilty to second-degree unintentional murder, and he was sentenced to over 20 years. Under Minnesota law, he might have only received 15 years, but the prosecution pushed for a higher sentence because of the cruelty the killer showed by covering up his crime and disposing of Prodan’s remains.

At the sentencing, Martha Holton Dimick told the killer, “When I read the criminal complaint, I thought I was watching a television movie of atrocious actions of a horrible person. I couldn’t believe how you treated this lady. I couldn’t believe your age.”

See No Evil airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery.