A Missouri man suspected of domestic violence is accused of killing his ex-wife after tying her to a wheelchair and forcing her to watch him and his new lover dig her grave, investigators said.
Washington County Prosecutor John Jones announced last week that Tony Charbonneau, 36, has been charged with the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Amy Hogue, 43, who disappeared June 20, as well as other charges in connection to her death.
According to an arrest affidavit, Charbonneau allegedly got into an argument with Hogue and punched and stomped him as he tried to leave his home on the day he disappeared.
Police said Charbonneau and his current girlfriend, Brandi Luffy, then allegedly forced Hogue into a manual wheelchair and bound her arms and legs with ratchet straps.
Luffy, 40, and Charbonneau left the wheelchair-bound Hogue behind to gather “shovels, tarps and pickaxes.” [sic]and also had a firearm,” the officer said.
The couple allegedly placed the items and Hogue in the back seat of Charbonneau’s car and drove from Charbonneau’s home in Sullivan to a wooded area.
Once the pair found a secluded spot, Hogue could only watch as Charbonneau dug a shallow grave, authorities said.
Charbonneau then allegedly dragged Hogue from his wheelchair and shot him to death.
He said, “The rest of the day [sic] “They buried her in a grave and covered her with large stones and tree branches,” the affidavit states.
Luffy is said to have remained in the car to keep an eye on passersby.
Police said Charbonneau and Ruffy left Hogue’s body in a makeshift grave, then burned the ratchet straps and a tarp, and dumped the victim’s purse in a river in nearby Jefferson County.
Hogue, who has three children who are not related to Charbonneau, had been reported missing by her family around the time of the attack.
She appeared to be leaving Charnow’s residence when she was attacked, according to Washington County Sheriff Zach Jacobsen. He told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“She had just been leaving the house and that’s when the brutal assault took place,” he explained.
Hogue’s purse was found by authorities in mid-July, “and that’s when we realized she was probably deceased,” Jacobsen added.
Jacobsen said Charbonneau quickly became a suspect because of his history of allegedly abusing Hogue, including an incident in May 2023 when he punched her from behind so hard that she lost consciousness.
At the time of Hogue’s disappearance, another case from October 2023 was also pending. Law and Crime Reporting.
After police found Hogue’s handbag, they sought an arrest warrant based on the May 2023 incident and arrested Charbonneau on suspicion of murder.
Despite the arrest of a prime suspect, the investigation initially struggled to make headway due to rural constraints, Jacobsen told the Post-Dispatch.
“We’re trying to sort this out with no cell service, so it’s hard to answer the phone,” Jacobsen said.
“So it’s old-fashioned police work: knocking on doors, questioning everyone you meet, executing search warrants. Literally officers with their feet on the ground. There’s no technology in God’s own country. There’s no cell service, so there’s no digital footprint.”
According to the affidavit, on Aug. 2, Ruffy admitted to helping Charbonneau kill Hogue and dispose of the body.
When investigators exhumed Hogue’s body, they found it “partially decomposed and with an apparent gunshot wound to the head,” the document added.
In addition to first-degree murder, Charbonneau was charged with domestic violence, kidnapping, abandoning a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and conspiracy to kidnap, according to prosecutors.
Luffy was charged with second-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, abandoning a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and conspiracy to kidnap.
Both men remain in custody on $1 million cash bail.
“This crime is heinous and senseless,” Jacobsen said. He told KDSK about Hogue’s murder..
“The fact that she finally lost it and was trying to get away from the situation and was killed for doing so makes it even worse.”
He added that isolated neighborhoods make it even harder for Hogue and other victims of domestic violence to seek help.
“There’s barely any mobile phone reception here, so if you need help it’s pretty hard to get it. There were a lot of things that could have been done differently in this situation,” he said.
Washington County Prosecutor John I. Jones IV said in a statement that the prosecution “will not rest” until the suspects are brought to justice.
Hogue is remembered by her family as a loving mother and new grandmother.
Hogue disappeared just four days after her first grandchild was born, her daughter-in-law wrote on the family’s GoFundMe page.
Hogue was not able to see her baby before he was killed because his son and his family live in Louisiana, the grieving relative added.
“She was a mother and my best friend and she should never have had to go through this,” Hogue’s son, Corbin Crider, wrote in a tribute on Facebook.
“There really are monsters in the world we live in,” he added.
As of Tuesday, the GoFundMe had raised $2,500 of its $5,000 goal.
