Violent Minnesota felon arrested in brutal murder of Los Angeles model who was found tortured, stuffed inside refrigerator
A Minnesota man — with a lengthy and violent criminal record — has been arrested in connection with the brutal murder of a California model who was found tortured and stuffed inside the refrigerator at her Los Angeles apartment.
Magnus Daniel Humphrey, 41, was arrested on Wednesday on an unrelated federal warrant at his home in Hopkins, Minnesota. Police said Humphrey is the "suspect responsible" for the grisly murder of 31-year-old Maleesa Mooney.
At the time of his arrest, Humphrey was on federal probation for narcotics offenses after being released from prison on Feb. 7, according to Justice Department records.
Humphrey has been convicted of multiple felonies in Minnesota and Illinois, including gun charges, assaults, sexual assaults, and false imprisonment, according to the New York Post.
The Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement that Humphrey has agreed to be extradited to Los Angeles.
Humphrey was charged with murder as well as a special allegation of murder during the commission of torture, according to KTTV.
The suspect is being held without bail.
Police did not reveal what led investigators to suspect the Minnesota felon to be involved in the murder of the Los Angeles model or a possible motive.
As Blaze News previously reported, Mooney was found dead at her luxury apartment in Los Angeles around 4:00 p.m. on Sept. 12, 2023. LAPD officers conducting a welfare check found Mooney's mutilated body inside the refrigerator at her apartment. There was allegedly a pool of blood under the refrigerator.
Mooney reportedly had her wrists and ankles bound with electrical cords, and her mouth was gagged with clothing. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office listed her cause of death as "homicidal violence."
The coroner's office said the model suffered blunt force injuries, lacerations, abrasions, contusions, and a fractured rib. The coroner's report noted that the blunt force injuries by themselves were likely not severe enough to have caused her death, and that "she was likely involved in a violent physical altercation prior to her death."
Mooney worked as a model and a real estate agent. She had only moved into her apartment a month before her death.
Mooney's sister, Jourdin Pauline, previously said that the slain woman was two months pregnant when she was murdered.
"She was super excited and I know she really wanted a kid, and it's something that she has always talked about," Pauline stated.
LAPD is urging anyone with information regarding the case to contact Detective Pierce or Detective Marcinek at 213-486-8700.
Arrest made in Los Angeles model’s gruesome slaying www.youtube.com
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