The Murder of Justin Michael
For this case I watched an another episode of A Time to Kill. It’s season 1 episode 7, titled ‘Murder On His Mind.’ I’ve only watched two episodes now of this show, but it’s definitely becoming one of my favorites.
A 30 year old man is murdered by someone who was jealous of him and his relationship.
Background
Justin Michael and his family. Justin is at the top in the dark green shirt.
Justin
Justin Michael was a 3o year old man, who lived with his fiance Angie, in Grimes, Iowa. Grimes, Iowa is a small town just a few miles away from Des Moines. It’s described as a “if you blink, you’ll miss it” town, surrounded by farmland, as most midwest towns are.
Justin worked at Wells Fargo. He was described as a good looking and bright person. He was also known as such a nice person, that no one had anything bad to say about him. Justin and Angie were close to getting married, and his mom was actually visiting on the night of his murder, to plan the wedding as well.
The Murder
On May 8, 2014, a 911 call came in to the police from Angie Ver Huel, Justin’s fiance. She said her fiance had been shot, and that he was dead.
Detective Robin Bartholomew arrived at the scene. She found Justin dead in his bed, he had been shot four times. It appeared that he had been shot from a downward angle, while he slept. A rare type of bullet was found called Tul Ammo, a Russian manufactured ammo. The rare type of bullet was found in Justin’s bed, behind the pillow and one was even found outside having gone through the wall.
Angie hadn’t been harmed, she didn’t even have any blood on her. The police were suspicious, but they asked her if she saw anything. Angie gave a very vague description of the killer. She said the man had been wearing dark clothes. There was also another witness, Justin’s mom Marie, she had been staying with the couple. Marie said she she didn’t see much, but that the killer had gone into the guest room first and woke her up with the laser that was on the end of the gun.
The police also searched the rest of the house, and determined that robbery wasn’t the motive, but the house had been staged. There was electronic equipment that was pulled out and all over the floor. The police also found a construction yellow sweatshirt that was on the floor, that didn’t belong to Justin or Angie.
The time of death was around 3:20am, and the 911 call was placed at 3:22am.
Suspects
The police were very suspicious of Angie, she didn’t have blood on her and she didn’t seem emotional. They wanted to know more, so she was brought in for questioning.
Justin and Angie
Some of Angie’s interrogation was played on the episode, and I agree she did seem unemotional. Angie was asked what she and Justin did in the last 24 hours. Angie said she and Justin went to Justin’s sister house for dinner, and to discuss the wedding. She said they stayed there until about 10pm, and went to bed at 11pm.
Angie was then asked if she knew of anyone who had problems with Justin. At first Angie said no, until the police asked her if she had any exes that were jealous. Angie brought up two names, the first was Andy Wegner, she had dated him for three years. The next name was David Moffitt, who Angie said wasn’t a serious relationship, but he was VERY pissed about their breakup and even sent her threatening text messages. Angie also didn’t remember his last name, until the police had asked her several times.
Angie also said her car had been vandalized awhile back. She said the windshield and windows had been broken, and her car had been keyed. She had no idea who did it.
Angie gave one more interesting detail before she left, she said Dave had also worked at Wells Fargo, and had been transferred into the same department as Justin. The police needed to find David, and also to speak to Andy.
The Mysterious Car Accident
The police decided to do some digging into Andy and David. They wanted to see if either one had criminal history, or had weapons permits.
The police discovered that David had gotten into a car accident on the night of the murder at 3:45am, just five miles from Angie and Justin’s house. David had also lived around twenty miles away, so it was an odd time to be out driving.
Deputy Jason Tart responded to the car accident. He said it was around 4am when he arrived. It was on a dirt road, and a red Taurus had hit a telephone pole and the front end was smashed. The car was registered to David, but he was no where near the car when the deputy arrived. Then suddenly, David appeared from the ditch, and was sweating.
Deputy Tart said David had become defensive, and said he was just out for a joyride. He didn’t have any insurance in the car, so the car was impounded.
Deputy Tart told his colleagues he had a strange feeling about David.
Further Investigation
The police decided to go back to the scene of David’s car accident. Deputy Tart had told them that David was in the ditch, so they wanted to search for possible evidence. In the area, they found a shoebox that had ear protection, camo makeup, a flashlight and Tul ammo. They also found a receipt for an oil change for a Andy Wegner.
The police brought Andy Wegner in for questioning. He told the police that Angie had ended their three year relationship suddenly, but that he had moved on. He had a new girlfriend, and was staying over at her house at the time of the murder. Andy was also asked if he knew a David Moffitt, and he said no. They asked him about his receipt for an oil change. Andy said he had gotten an oil change, but the receipt was still at his house or in his car. The police let Andy go, but he wasn’t ruled out.
David Moffitt was still the police’s number one suspect, so they obtained a warrant for his house, well actually his parent’s house. David still lived with his parents, and came from a well to do family.
In the basement, the police found a bill of sale for a .9mm gun. The seller was a man named Drew Bahlmann, and the name on the receipt was Andy Wegner. The police were stunned, why did Andy’s name keep popping up?
Tracking a Killer
The police wanted to find Drew Bahlmann. Drew lived in Sigourney, Iowa, an even smaller town near Grimes. Drew was a school teacher, and he was very upset that he sold a gun that was possibly used in a murder.
Drew ended up being VERY helpful. The police said he was a meticulous record keeper. He had a copy of the bill of sale, like the one found in David’s house. He also had the same Tul ammo, and the police were able to determine that the .9mm gun that David had purchased was the murder weapon.
Drew was shown pictures of both Andy and David. The men looked very similar, so Drew pointed to both of them. However, Drew’s rule when selling weapons was that he did it in public places where there were surveillance cameras so that nothing would go wrong. He said the exchange happened at a gas station.
The police went to the gas station, and remembered they also found a receipt from the same gas station at David’s house. It was from May 4, and David had purchased a lemonade and candy bar. The police needed to check the surveillance cameras to be sure it was David and not Andy Wegner. It was in fact David who bought the gun and purchased the items.
One More Search
The police were 100% convinced that David Moffitt killed Justin. They wanted to be sure, so they obtained one more search for David’s house. This time they found a box of Tul ammo, and notes found in the garbage. The notes gave descriptions of Justin’s neighborhood. The notes suggested that David had been watching Justin and Angie’s house for weeks before the crime. There were notes for times when neighbors left and for when lights would go out. CREEPY AF!
The police also found a tote that hadn’t been there the first day. Inside the tote, they found a laptop that had been submerged in water. The laptop was able to be recovered by the lab technicians.
The first file was a forged drivers license, of guess who, Andy Wegner. Well, it was David’s face, but with Andy’s name. David’s search history was also haunting. He had searched how to commit a murder, confessional times at church and the best murdering guide you’ll ever need.
Andy Wegner was ruled out, and David Moffitt was arrested. He showed no emotion and had a blank stare, when he was placed under arrest.
Trial and Conviction
On June 23, 2015, David’s trial started.
The prosecution’s theory was that David had entered Justin and Angie’s through the back door, which was unlocked. He entered the wrong bedroom at first, which was Marie’s, then went to the master bedroom and shot Justin out of jealousy. It’s also believed that David had gotten in his car accident after getting rid of the murder weapon.
David’s defense tried to say he was crazy at the time of the murder, and was overcome with jealousy when he found out Justin and Angie were engaged.
David Moffitt was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Okay, there’s creepy and then there’s this guy. I am SO happy that the police’s investigation was so thorough, because Andy Wegner could easily have been wrongly accused or even convicted, when he had moved on from Angie. David is a MONSTER. There is no question about it, and he seemed to have no emotion about killing someone in their own home. He deserves to rot in prison forever.
I’m a little surprised that he didn’t shoot Angie too, but I guess Justin was the person he wanted revenge on. It’s still a little shocking that Angie didn’t have more emotion about it, and I wonder what her reaction was when she found out it was David. I’m not saying she was involved, because she was ruled out, but her interrogation was a little cold.
Sources
https://2paragraphs.com/2015/09/justin-michael-murdered-by-fiancees-ex-david-moffitt-co-worker/
https://www.kcci.com/article/man-sentenced-in-shooting-death-of-ex-girlfriend-s-fiance/6909987
