Details emerge in death of model found in fridge

Magnus Humphrey had known Maleesa Mooney only for a few days, but the Minnesota man had already become “obsessive” about the model, who lived in a downtown L.A. apartment.

- By JAMES QUEALLY

JOHN ANTCZAK Associated Press

A STREET-SIDE memorial for Maleesa Mooney, who was found dead in her apartment, is displayed in 2023.

“That’s my girl, that’s my woman,” he would say about Mooney during the five days they spent together in September 2023, according to her friend Kiersten Dossett.

The two were rarely “more than one foot apart,” she said. Humphrey made comments about marrying Mooney, 31, who joined him at a family barbecue during their weeklong relationship.

Despite Humphrey’s romantic pronouncements, their union — the exact nature of which remains unclear — lasted less than a week. It ended in horror, prosecutors said.

More than two years have passed since Mooney’s body was found bound and gagged inside her refrigerator, but law enforcement officials have revealed few details about the killing or how Mooney knew her alleged murderer.

A clearer picture of Mooney’s final days emerged over the last week in a downtown L.A. courtroom, where prosecutors displayed a series of gruesome images and put forth witnesses who suggested that confusion about the nature of her and Humphrey’s brief relationship may have played a role in her killing.

A judge ruled Thursday there was enough evidence for Humphrey, 43, to stand trial in the torture and murder of Mooney, who was two months pregnant when her body was found. Humphrey is eligible for the death penalty, but the district attorney’s office has not made a decision about whether to seek capital punishment.

Although Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman announced in March that prosecutors could once again seek the death penalty against certain defendants, the office has yet to do so under his leadership. The committee that approves such decisions has reviewed 48 cases this year and decided to seek life without parole in 45 of them, according to a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office.