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Maleesa Mooney murder: Minnesota felon arrested in death of LA model who was found beaten and bound inside refrigerator
The suspect, Magnus Daniel Humphrey, had been convicted of several felonies, including gun charges, assaults, sexual assaults, and false imprisonment
A convicted felon from Minnesota has been arrested in connection with the murder of Los Angeles-based model Maleesa Mooney. Mooney was found beaten with her wrists and ankles bound inside a refrigerator. The cause of death was listed as “homicidal violence.” She was discovered dead on September 12 last year.
Months after her murder, 41-year-old Magnus Daniel Humphrey was arrested by police at his Hopkins home on an unrelated warrant. He was identified as the “suspect responsible” for Mooney’s murder.
“Humphrey was arrested at his home in Minnesota on an unrelated federal warrant. Humphrey is on federal probation for narcotics offence,” the LAPD said in a statement.
“The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office filed murder charges against Humphrey. Humphrey waived extradition and will be transported back to Los Angeles to face charges,” the statement added.
FOX 11 LA reported that the murder charge also includes a special allegation of murder during the commission of torture, as per court records. It is unclear what relationship Mooney and Humphrey had between them.
Humphrey had been convicted of several felonies in Minnesota and Illinois – gun charges, assaults, sexual assaults, and false imprisonment, as per court records viewed by New York Post.
What did the autopsy reveal?
Mooney was last seen on video surveillance at her apartment on September 6. On September 12, officials went to visit her apartment after her mother requested a welfare check, where they found her dead.
An autopsy revealed that blunt force trauma was also found on her body. A toxicology report revealed that Mooney had benzoylecgonine in her system along with a mix of cocaethylene and ethanol.
"The blunt force traumatic injuries observed at autopsy are generally not considered acutely life threatening on their own," the medical examiner wrote in the autopsy report. "However, based on the circumstances of how Ms. Mooney was found, these injuries suggest she was likely involved in violence physical altercation prior to her death." The report added that it is “uncertain” what role the alcohol or drugs played in her tragic death.
