Pictured: Lodger whose nose and breasts were sliced off ‘by couple who raped, tortured and killed her’

This is the 36 year-old woman whose nose and breasts were sliced off by a couple after they starved, raped, tortured and killed her, police say. Jennifer Gail Paxton’s dismembered corpse was found at the home of Rebecca Dishman, 22, and Sean Finnegan, 52, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on Wednesday.

News of the couple’s arrest on murder charges broke Thursday, although police initially declined to identify Paxton until her relatives were notified of her death. Dishman and Finnegan, who are said to have confessed their crimes, allegedly lured Paxton to their home in December 2019 with the promise of a place to stay.

After she moved in, the alleged killers are said to have bound and shackled Paxton against her will using a dog collar, chains and cable ties. Dishman and Finnegan reportedly starved Paxton, and tortured her with a baseball bat, before raping her.

Finnegan allegedly strangled Paxton with a ligature, then dismembered her body with a sharp object, and broke several of her bones and ligaments to fit her remains into a stand-up freezer.

It is unclear when Paxton was killed, but Finnegan is said to have removed her from the freezer recently and moved her corpse under his bed in a bid to clear up forensic evidence of her brutal murder.

Oak Ridge Police Department said Finnegan ‘physically mistreated a corpse in such a way as to be shocking and offensive,’ according to WVLT.

SWAT teams stormed the Dishman and Finnegan’s house of horrors on Wednesday, although investigators have yet to say how they knew Paxton had been killed, or share a possible motive for the crime.

WATE reported that the alleged killer couple admitted to the torture and murder while being interviewed under caution. Dishman was arraigned by videolink Friday, but Finnegan proved uncooperative ahead of his planned appearance, so his court date was put back until Monday morning.

The pair face charges including murder and abuse of a corpse, and are being held without bond.

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