The felon accused of murdering a Los Angeles model whose body was stuffed in her refrigerator was staying at her apartment, but she “trusted” him and opened the room to him, but ” “He was retaliated with torture and murder,” prosecutors said.
Magnus Daniel Humphrey was living with Marisa Mooney, 31, in a luxury apartment in downtown Los Angeles at the time of his murder in September 2023, but it is unclear what their relationship was. It’s unclear whether or not the defendant will be arrested, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement Thursday.
“MS. Mooney trusted this man and opened his home to him, but his reward was torture and murder. This heinous disregard for Mr. Mooney’s life will not go unpunished,” Gascón said in a statement to Humphrey. he said while announcing the indictment.
“Justice is required and he will be held accountable,” he added.
Humphrey made his first court appearance on Thursday and pleaded not guilty to one count of murder and one count of torture.
He was ordered to remain held without bail until his next court appearance on March 7.
Mooney, who was the younger sister of Guyanese pop star Jourdain Paulin, was found dead when LAPD conducted a welfare check at her luxury apartment.
Police arrested Humphrey on an unrelated warrant at his home in Hopkins, Minnesota, and he was identified as the “suspect responsible” for Mooney’s brutal murder.
“We’re so happy that an arrest has been made,” Mooney’s aunt Heather Hammock said outside the courthouse Thursday, ABC 7 reported.
“We are filled with a variety of emotions. We are so grateful and grateful that he was caught. Please continue to pray for our family. We just hope justice is served for our niece.” “I hope so,” she added.
Authorities have not released a possible motive or what led to Humphrey. Humphrey allegedly forced Mooney’s body into a refrigerator while he gagged her and bound his wrists and ankles.
Humphrey has prior convictions in Minnesota and Illinois for felonies including use of a firearm, assault, sexual assault and false imprisonment, according to court records reviewed by the newspaper.
Mooney’s family said they did not know Humphrey and had no information about how the two met.
Mooney suffered blunt force injuries to her face, head, back and left upper arm, according to the coroner’s report.
“The blunt force trauma observed at autopsy is generally not considered acutely life-threatening in and of itself,” officials said.
“However, based on the circumstances in which Ms. Mooney was found, these injuries suggest that she was likely involved in a violent physical altercation before her death. Given this, “The role, if any, of alcohol and alcohol in Mr. Mooney’s death is unknown,” the report states.
According to the toxicology report, the model’s body contained benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, along with a mixture of cocaethylene and ethanol.
Mooney’s death came just two days after another model, Nicole “Nicki” Coates, was found dead inside her Grand Avenue apartment in LA.
Mooney, who worked as a real estate agent for the Beverly Hills-based agency Nest Seeker, had just moved into an apartment at the Sky at Bunker Hill a month before she was killed.
At the time, Mooney’s sister told KTLA that Mooney was two months pregnant when she died and had always wanted to be a mother.
Mooney’s family requests privacy and prayers.
“She was an amazing, beautiful princess. We will miss her so much,” her sister Jourdain Paulin told reporters, ABC 7 reported. “She loved her family.”
