Minnesota man arrested for murder of LA model found stuffed in refrigerator

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A Minnesota man has been arrested in the murder of a 31-year-old model who was beaten, bound and stuffed inside the refrigerator of her downtown Los Angeles apartment, police announced Wednesday.

Magnus Daniel Humphrey, 41, who is on probation for federal narcotics offenses, was arrested at his home in Minnesota on an unrelated federal warrant, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Humphrey has agreed to be extradited to Los Angeles to face murder and torture charges stemming from the killing of Maleesa Mooney, police said.

Mooney was found in her apartment on Sept. 12 after her family hadn't heard from her and asked the LAPD to conduct a welfare check. Officers used a key from the building manager to enter her unit and found her body inside the refrigerator, according to a Los Angeles County coroner's report released in October.

Blood was pooling under the refrigerator and her body was found inside, bound with electric cords and clothing. A gag made from clothing was stuffed in her mouth and other items were covering her head.

Blunt force injuries as well as lacerations, abrasions and contusions were found on her face, head, back and upper left arm, according to the report. One rib was fractured.

The report says the blunt force injuries by themselves were not severe enough to have caused her death on their own but they suggest "she was likely involved in violent physical altercation prior to her death."

Her cause of death was determined "homicidal violence" and the report suggests she may have been asphyxiated, although no direct marks from strangulation were observed.

No details were immediately released on what led investigators to Humphrey.

City News Service contributed to this report.