Magnus Daniel Humphrey Charged in Maleesa Mooney’s Murder

The Maleesa Mooney murder case centers on the September 2023 killing of a 31-year-old Los Angeles model and real estate agent whose bound body was found inside the refrigerator of her downtown apartment. Magnus Daniel Humphrey, a Minnesota man prosecutors say had been staying with Mooney in the days before her death, is charged with murder and torture. After a preliminary hearing in October 2025, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled there was enough evidence for him to stand trial. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.¹

Who Maleesa Mooney Was

Mooney worked as a model and as a real estate agent with the Beverly Hills-based agency Nest Seekers, and California licensing records showed she had been a registered agent for close to two years when she died.² She had moved into her unit at the Skye at Bunker Hill luxury apartments about a month before her death.³ She was two months pregnant.⁴ Her sister is the singer Jourdin Pauline.

How She Was Found

Mooney was last seen on building surveillance video on the afternoon of September 6, 2023.⁵ When she missed a planned meeting on September 9, her family grew worried. Jourdin Pauline asked for a welfare check on September 10, but LAPD officers knocked, got no answer, and left without going inside.⁶

Two days later, on September 12, 2023, Mooney’s mother reached the building manager, who called police. Officers used the manager’s key to enter the apartment on the 200 block of South Figueroa Street.⁷ Inside, an officer saw a puddle of blood on the floor and found Mooney’s body stuffed inside the refrigerator.⁴ Her arms and legs had been bound behind her back with electric cords and clothing, a gag made from clothing was in her mouth, and items covered her head.⁸

Cause of Death

The Los Angeles County coroner ruled the manner of death “homicidal violence” and concluded that Mooney was likely killed by asphyxiation, though no direct strangulation marks were found. The autopsy documented blunt force injuries, lacerations, abrasions, contusions, and a fractured rib, and toxicology detected cocaine in her system. The coroner noted that the blunt force injuries alone were not fatal but indicated a “violent physical altercation prior to her death.”⁵ Medical examiner Brice Hunt later testified that the asphyxiation was likely caused by the rag in her mouth or by being left unconscious inside the refrigerator.⁹

The Accused and How He Was Identified

Surveillance footage from September 7, 2023 showed a man using Mooney’s key fob to enter the building and carry plastic bags into her unit.⁵ More footage showed Humphrey leaving the apartment on September 8 and disposing of a black garbage bag.⁹ The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Humphrey had been “staying with Mooney in her apartment at the time of her murder.”¹⁰

Humphrey was arrested on November 3, 2023 at his home in Minneapolis on an unrelated federal warrant. He had been on probation for federal narcotics offenses.¹¹ He waived extradition and was brought to Los Angeles, where prosecutors charged him with one count of murder and one count of torture. The murder count carries a special-circumstance allegation involving the infliction of torture. He was formally charged on December 7, 2023, and has been held without bail since. On February 22, 2024, he pleaded not guilty to both counts.¹²

What Prosecutors Say Happened

At the preliminary hearing, prosecutors described a brief romantic involvement of roughly five days before Mooney’s death. Her friend Kiersten Dossett testified that the two were “obsessing over each other” after meeting but that Humphrey quickly became “obsessive” and “territorial,” calling Mooney “my woman” and once forcefully throwing his arm around her.⁴

Prosecutors pointed to money as a possible trigger. Detective David Marcinek testified that Mooney had wanted to ask Humphrey for money but didn’t know how. Dossett said she suggested Mooney ask for a $500 Best Buy gift card, and Mooney texted back: “He doesn’t have it.” On September 7, the day after Mooney was last seen on camera, she sent Humphrey Amazon links for pots, pans, and what appeared to be a toaster oven.⁹

To support the torture charge, prosecutors called a former partner of Humphrey’s identified as A.B. She described a 2009 incident in which Humphrey allegedly beat her for three hours, whipped her with a charging cable, pulled out her hair, and confined her to a closet. Deputy District Attorney Antonella Nistorescu called the 2009 assault an “almost mirror image” of what was done to Mooney and described the killing as “a cold, calculated, premeditated act of violence.” Crime scene photographs shown at the hearing included clumps of hair ripped from Mooney’s head and severe bruising consistent with whipping. Investigators also recovered a duffel bag of blood-soaked rags and a blood-stained pillow from a bedroom closet.⁴

The Defense Position

Public defender Michael Lambrose moved to dismiss the charges at the close of the hearing, calling the case “too thin to survive.” He argued there was “zero evidence of premeditation and deliberation” and no evidence Humphrey intended to make Mooney suffer, which he said would be required to sustain the torture charge. Lambrose called the killing “more indicative of an emotional outburst” than a planned act, and acknowledged that DNA placed Humphrey at the scene while arguing that nothing directly showed premeditation.¹ Earlier in the hearing, Lambrose had characterized the relationship as “transactional” and cited what he called a “history of prostitution” on Mooney’s part.¹³

Judge Drew Edwards denied the motion, ruling that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence to hold Humphrey for trial on both charges.⁹

Where the Case Stands

Humphrey remains in custody without bail, awaiting trial on murder and torture. The torture special-circumstance allegation makes him eligible for the death penalty, though the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has not said whether it will seek capital punishment.¹ If convicted as charged, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.² No trial date has been publicly announced.

The Nichole Coats Question

Readers who followed the story in 2023 often ask whether Mooney’s death was linked to that of Nichole Coats, a 32-year-old model found dead in a downtown Los Angeles apartment on South Grand Avenue on September 10, 2023, roughly a mile away.¹⁴ The LAPD said there was “no evidence to suggest” the two deaths were connected, and only Mooney’s case was investigated as a homicide.¹⁵ The coroner later ruled Coats’ death accidental, caused by cocaine and ethanol toxicity.¹⁶

1
Fox LA. Man Pleads Not Guilty to Death of LA Model Found Stuffed Inside Refrigerator
2
CNN. Man Arrested in the Killing of a Los Angeles Model and Real Estate Agent
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New York Post. LA Model Maleesa Mooney Opened Her Home to Alleged Killer
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Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Model Murder Preliminary Hearing
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ABC11. Maleesa Mooney Autopsy Report
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E! Online. The Chilling Maleesa Mooney Homicide
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LAPD. Homicide Victim: Mooney, Maleesa
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ABC News. Man Arrested in Grisly Murder of Aspiring Model in Los Angeles
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Courthouse News Service. Minnesota Man Will Stand Trial in Murder of Woman Stuffed in Refrigerator
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KTLA. Officials Release Photo of Alleged Killer of Los Angeles Model
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ABC7. Maleesa Mooney LA Model Murdered, Arrest Made
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Daily News. Suspect in Downtown LA Model’s Killing Pleads Not Guilty
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Courthouse News Service. Prosecutors Outline Case Against Man Charged With Torturing, Killing Woman Found in Refrigerator
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NBC News. Two Models Found Dead in Los Angeles Apartments Just Days Apart
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People. Models Found Dead in Los Angeles, Deaths Not Related
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ABC7. Model Nichole Coats Downtown LA Death Ruled Accidental