Prosecutors are revealing more information regarding Maleesa Mooney’s murder and the relationship she had with her alleged murderer.
During a Los Angeles court hearing on Thursday, Oct. 16, prosecutors said that Magnus Humphrey, 43, and Mooney, 31, were romantically linked for five days before her murder in September 2023, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Attorneys alleged Humphrey’s estranged brother introduced the two. Mooney’s friend, Kiersten Dossett, said at the court that, despite only knowing each other for a few days, Humphrey had become “obsessive.”
“That’s my girl, that’s my woman,” Humphrey would say about Mooney, her companion testified, adding that in the five days they were together, they rarely were “more than one foot apart.” Humphrey allegedly discussed marrying the model, who joined him for a family cookout.
Magnus Daniel Humphrey is accused of murdering Maleesa Mooney, a model found in a refrigerator after a weeklong relationship.
During the hearing, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) forensic analysts and detectives testified that Mooney’s body was discovered in a refrigerator. She was shackled with electrical cables and dress fabric, and a piece of clothing was pushed three inches into her mouth, according to the Times.
Additional evidence produced in court on Thursday revealed that Mooney had clumps of hair pulled off her head, as well as bruising on her body indicating that she had been whipped and abused.
According to Brice Hunt, a medical examiner with the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, Mooney died as a result of “homicidal violence,” most likely asphyxia. Investigators have not confirmed if Mooney was alive when she was placed in the refrigerator.
Deputy District Attorney Antonella Nistorescu stated at the hearing that the murder was “a cold, calculated, premeditated act of violence,” according to the Times.
Although no cause has been suggested, Nistorescu speculated that Mooney and Humphrey may have been at odds over money.
Humphrey’s public attorney, Michael Lambrose, contended that the proof against his client is “thin,” claiming that no one witnessed the killing and that no one who knew the two saw Humphrey’s animosity toward Mooney.
Furthermore, Lambrose maintained that while DNA evidence revealed Humphrey was at the crime scene and had sex with Mooney, it did not prove he murdered her.
“All of the evidence we have to his mental state is that he cared very deeply about this person … that they talked about getting married,” said Lambrose, according to the Times.
By the end of Thursday’s session, a judge concluded that Humphrey had enough evidence to face trial for Mooney’s torture and murder. The Times said that Humphrey is eligible for the death penalty, but the Los Angeles district attorney’s office has not decided whether to pursue it.
In an earlier news release, the LAPD stated that officers responded to a welfare check for Mooney at her Los Angeles apartment on September 12, 2023, at 3:54 p.m. local time. Officers arrived at the site and discovered Mooney, 31, deceased inside his flat.
An autopsy revealed that she was battered and shackled before being placed inside her own refrigerator.
The model was last spotted on video surveillance in her residence on September 6. On September 12, law enforcement officers entered the home after the model’s mother asked for a welfare check.
Jourdin Pauline, the victim’s sister, said Mooney was two months pregnant.
In a February 2024 news release, the LAPD announced that detectives had identified Humphrey, of Hopkins, Minn., as a suspect in Mooney’s death.
Humphrey was detained at his residence on an unrelated federal narcotics warrant and transported to California.
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