Man charged in 2023 death of 18-year-old, burning body

Tacoma man charged in 2023 death of 18-year-old, burning body

Prosecutors believe Anthony Millspaugh killed 18-year-old Chloee Moore and set a suitcase on fire with her body inside it.

TACOMA, Wash. - Following a near year-long investigation, Pierce County prosecutors filed charges of first-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter against Anthony Marcell Millspaugh. The 40-year-old is suspected of setting a suitcase on fire that contained the body of 18-year-old Chloee Moore.

Millspaugh is charged in connection to the Sept. 3, 2023 death of Moore in Tacoma. Millspaugh was arrested on Tuesday and booked into the Pierce County Jail.

In a social media post, Chloee’s mom, Nicole reacted to the arrest, calling Millspaugh "a joke."

"I honestly thought it would somehow ease my pain, maybe give me a moment of relief, let me catch my breath, but it didn't. I don't get her back. She's not coming home. She's really gone," she wrote.

A plea of not guilty was entered on Millspaugh’s behalf during his arraignment Thursday afternoon. His bond was set at $2 million.

During his arraignment, prosecutors cited concerns about any reduction of bail.

"He has a significant criminal history that is of concern. Specifically, he has a prior murder in the second-degree. He served approximately a 20-year sentence," said the prosecution.

The lawyer went on to tell the judge how the defendant worked to destroy evidence in this current case.

REVIEWING CHARGING DOCUMENTS:

Millspaugh was identified as a suspect through phone records, text messages and video surveillance, according to court documents.

On Sept. 3, 2023, Tacoma police officers were dispatched to the 2900 block of Upper Park Street for a death investigation. Tacoma Fire Department personnel had initially responded to extinguish a brush fire. Fire personnel noticed another fire nearby, according to charging documents.

Fire personnel believed it was a small trash pile that had been lit on fire. When they extinguished the fire, they discovered a body. The body was inside a suitcase when it was set on fire and the remains were later identified as Moore.

Documents state Moore was severely burned and fire investigators noticed an odor of accelerants. Video surveillance showed a vehicle pulling up in the area where two "shadowed figures" were seen exiting the vehicle. The driver was identified as Millspaugh and the second figure was his 17-year-old nephew, according to prosecutors.

Millspaugh allegedly dragged a suitcase from the trunk of the sedan while his nephew acted as a lookout. The suitcase was taken to the wooded area where Moore’s body was found. A flash of fire was also seen soon after.

The medical examiner found that Moore had fentanyl and bromazolam (similar to Xanax) in her system. The medical examiner said Moore may have died from a drug overdose prior to being placed in the suitcase and burned, but that it was also possible Moore was alive when her body was in the suitcase.

Phone records from Moore showed her last location at an apartment complex on M.L.K. Jr. Way in Tacoma. Millspaugh was later confirmed to reside at the complex, according to documents.

Moore exchanged multiple text messages Millspaugh prior to her death.

On September 1, Millspaugh asked Moore if she wanted to come to his apartment. She declined, but then agreed because she was presumably going through drug withdrawals, prosecutors wrote.

Video surveillance from the apartment complex showed Millspaugh and Moore walking together about 2:09 a.m.

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Millspaugh was later seen at 2:27 a.m. carrying Moore across M.L.K Way, and she appeared to be unconscious. He then carried her to an alley in the area where his apartment was located, prosecutors wrote. Moore was also seen unconscious through video footage inside Millspaugh’s apartment building. Millspaugh allegedly kept Moore in his apartment until later in the day on Sept. 2, 2023, where he was seen on surveillance dragging a suitcase out of his apartment.

Detectives interviewed Millspaugh’s nephew, who admitted helping his uncle take the suitcase from the apartment and driving it to Upper Park, but he denied knowing Moore’s body was in it. However, he told investigators it was heavy and an odor of Clorox wipes came from it.

Further along in the investigation, Millspaugh told detectives he knew Moore, but not well. He later admitted she was his friend. Millspaugh allegedly admitted to being with her when she overdosed, prosecutors wrote.

Millspaugh told police detectives that Moore’s "nose was bleeding" and so he carried her across the street to his apartment, as shown in surveillance footage. Millspaugh told detectives that she was "squatted down" in the shower and he tried to perform CPR on her, prosecutors wrote.

It wasn’t only until after multiple attempts at getting the truth that Millspaugh told detectives he put Moore's body in the suitcase. He also said that she died in his apartment.

Millspaugh told investigators he did not call 911 for her help because he would go back to jail.

Documents concluded with him telling investigators that he did not set Moore or the suitcase on fire and that neither did his nephew.