Inset: Lena Deoliveira (Cass County Jail). Background: The 700 block of College Street North in Fargo, N.D., where Lena Deoliveira allegedly attempted to kill her boyfriend Jonathan Granados on Sept. 5, 2025 (Google Maps).
A North Dakota woman is accused of using a hatchet to try and kill her boyfriend while he was sleeping, with a witness saying it sounded like she was “splitting wood” as the girlfriend hacked “through” her lover”s skull, according to cops.
Lena Deoliveira, 23, is charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault in Cass County for the Sept. 5 attack on her romantic partner Jonathan Granados, local NBC affiliate KVLYÂ reports. A man who was staying with the couple inside of a detached north Fargo garage, with all three of them being homeless, allegedly told investigators that Granados woke up screaming during the incident.
“[The witness] looked and saw Lena swing down with the hatchet,” Deoliveira’s charging documents say, according to The Forum of Fargo-Moorehead. “[The witness] couldn’t see the point of the strike due to obstructions but heard it sound like splitting wood, initially thinking she hit the headrest or headboard,” the documents allege.
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Fargo Police say the man who was in the garage — located near the 700 block of College Street North — told investigators that there were at least two strikes delivered to Granados’ head because when he approached it “looked like one or two of Johnny’s fingers were missing or ‘kind of hanging,'” according to the charging documents.
“He saw blood and a mark through Johnny’s skull,” police allege.
Deoliveira fled the garage after the attack and was later found “during the course of the investigation” after police were called to the scene. Granados was treated at a local medical facility for his injuries, which included severe lacerations to his hands and head, which was reported to have a “large slice in it,” per the charging documents.
Deoliveira was arrested later that Sunday without incident in Moorhead. She was being held on a $500,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 16 for her next hearing, The Forum reports.
