Blood trail on Franklin Avenue leads to man who stabbed woman in heart in 2014, murder charge says

Police tracked down the man locked up in a state prison hundreds miles away 10 years after he allegedly killed a woman on a Minneapolis street more than a decade ago, a criminal complaint says.

Laru Curls, 49, was charged Thursday in Hennepin County District Court with second-degree murder in connection with the stabbing of Nanette M. Haghi, 46, on Aug. 16, 2014, along E. Franklin Avenue between 4th and 5th avenues.

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Curls, who is serving time in New York state for attempted murder while in the commission of a hate crime.

“The charges today are a testament to the hard work and dedication of our investigators, and show that the victim was not forgotten,” said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara. “I hope that this can help bring some sense of justice and closure for the family.”

County Attorney Mary Moriarty said, “It has been more than a decade since Nanette Haghi was killed on the Franklin Avenue Bridge, but the pursuit of justice must continue whenever and wherever possible.”

Haghi lived a challenging life on the city’s streets, having been arrested many dozens of times for prostitution, loitering and drug offenses.

Curtis Harper, a man who recalled Haghi while at the Peace House Community house on Portland Avenue S., told the Minnesota Star Tribune a few months afer Haghi’s death that despite her criminal history, she had “ a good heart. She would bring food to the people in the streets because she knew how it was.”

According to the complaint:

Two people in a vehicle told police they saw a man and a woman, later identified as Curls and Haghi, walking about 2:20 a.m. in the middle of Franklin Avenue above Interstate 35W. The two began to tussle for a bag Haghi was carrying.

Curls then “made a stabbing/jabbing motion,” the complaint read. Haghi fell to the pavement while Curls fled on foot.

The people in the vehicle called 911 and came to Haghi’s aid until emergency responders arrived. Haghi was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where she died about 90 minutes later. A stab wound more than 2 inches deep pierced her heart, according to an autopsy.

A blood trail was left in the same direction that Curls ran. “Persons yielding a sharp instrument will accidentally cut themself while attacking another person,” the complaint pointed out.

Investigators collected a sample of the blood as evidence.

In December 2023, the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension learned that DNA from the blood matched a sample in the National DNA Index System from Curls.

The investigators found out that Curls is imprisoned in New York state after a conviction in 2022 for attempted murder, with his earlier possible release date being March 19, 2030, according to prison records.

On May 13, 2025, investigators interviewed Curls in the prison located about 30 miles south of the Canadian border. He said he’s been in New York since 2018. After investigators told him Haghi was killed in 2014, he said, “I’ve been in jail” and cut off questioning.