Minnesota man DENIES beating LA model to death and stuffing her body inside fridge as he makes first appearance since murder arrest
A Minnesota man arrested in connection with the murder of a Los Angeles model has pleaded not guilty after she was found dead, bound and gagged in her refrigerator.
Magnus Daniel Humphrey, 41, made his first appearance in a California courtroom on Thursday where he denied charges of murder and torture against Malessa Mooney.
Humphrey was arrested at his home in Minneapolis on November 3 on an unrelated federal warrant and extradited to California. He had been on federal probation for narcotics charges.
Mooney, 31, was a model and also worked as a real estate agent at the Beverly Hills-based agency Nest Seekers. She had only moved into her new apartment for a month before she was found dead on September 12 last year, her family said.
Mooney’s family raised the alarm when they stopped hearing from her and officers entered her home to find blood under the refrigerator with her body inside, tied up with electrical cords and clothing, according to a coroner’s report.
The Minnesota man arrested in connection with the murder of Los Angeles model Malessa Mooney has pleaded not guilty to the crime
Mooney, 31, was a model and also worked as a real estate agent at the Beverly Hills-based agency Nest Seekers. She had only moved into her new apartment for a month before she was found dead on September 12 last year, her family said
Her body showed serious injuries and lacerations and the cause of death was determined as ‘homicidal violence’.
The family reacted when they were finally able to identify a suspect in Malessa’s brutal murder.
“We’re full of so many different emotions, but we’re very grateful and grateful that he was caught,” Heather Hammock, Mooney’s aunt, said. KTL Thursday.
“Please continue to pray for our family. We just want justice for my niece.”
Family members added that they had never met or heard of Humphrey and that they do not know how he knew Malessa.
“She was a wonderful, beautiful princess and we miss her very much,” said her sister Jourdin Pauline ABC7. “She loved her family.”
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has also not revealed whether they know of the connection between the two.
“I extend my deepest condolences to Ms. Mooney’s family and loved ones as they cope with this unimaginable loss,” District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement Thursday.
Magnus Daniel Humphrey, 41, made his first appearance in a California courtroom Thursday where he denied Mooney’s murder and torture charges.
Heather Hammock (pictured left), Mooney’s aunt, said the family is “very thankful and grateful that he was caught.”
‘Mrs. Mooney opened her home to this person with confidence, but was repaid with torture and murder. Ms Mooney’s horrific disregard for life will not go unpunished. Justice is being sought and he will be held accountable,” he added.
Humphrey is being held in a county jail without the possibility of bail. His next hearing is scheduled for March 7.
The coroner’s report states that her blunt force injuries were not in themselves serious enough to have caused her death, but suggests that “she was likely involved in a violent physical altercation prior to her death.”
The report suggests she may have been asphyxiated, although no obvious signs of strangulation were observed.
The arrest comes five months after Mooney’s family informed police of their concerns.
Her family raised the alarm when their iPhone text conversations with Mooney turned from blue to green, indicating a change in Wi-Fi and data services.
Bailey Babb, Mooney’s cousin, told KTLA that the family requested a welfare check when she stopped answering her calls: “When a week went by, we just knew something was wrong.
“Her messages weren’t getting through and we knew something was going on because we all have a special relationship with Maleesa.”
Tributes poured in for model Maleesa Mooney, 31
The building has a resort-style pool and sundeck and a central courtyard, as well as community barbecue grills, tennis courts and a dog park.
Mooney (right) worked as a real estate agent at Beverly Hills-based agency Nest Seekers and had moved into her new home just a month before her death, her family said
Police entered her Skye apartment on Bunker Hill on September 12, just before 4pm, and found her body. She was last seen alive on CCTV on September 6.
According to the police report, on September 7, a man was seen on CCTV using her key fob to enter the elevator to her apartment with plastic bags.
Pauline, her pop star sister who has 1.3 million followers on Instagram, said: ‘Maleesa has always been someone who is a peacemaker in our family, someone who has always been the backbone and made everyone come together and love each other .
“So this is a very big part of us that’s gone now.”
She wrote in a heartfelt tribute on social media: ‘Never in a million years did I think I would have to make this post and get justice for my only sister, my heart is crushed.
“I can’t believe you won’t be here with us anymore. You were so loving and so kind to everyone. You made sure everyone around you was too. You opened your arms to people who didn’t deserve you as a friend. you are the best thing that could happen to the lives of almost everyone you touched!’
Mooney pictured with a friend
Jourdin Pauline, her pop star sister who has 1.3 million followers on Instagram, said: “Maleesa has always been someone who is a peacemaker in our family, someone who has always been the backbone and makes everyone come together and love each other ‘
She added: ‘This feels so surreal I keep waking up crying and thinking I’m in a bad dream. We will get justice for you, my sister. I promise you won’t be gone for nothing!’
Pauline said her sister’s iCloud had an alert that she was still online, leading her to believe her killer was trying to steal and sell her iPhone and MacBook.
The condo complex has a resort-style pool and sundeck and a central courtyard, as well as community barbecue grills, tennis courts and a dog park.