In January 2014, the same month he left Wells Fargo, Moffitt told a therapist that he was having thoughts about killing a person, and he was put on an anti-psychotic drug for a short time, Rigg said. "Something about this triggered something that he couldn't get out of his head," he said. Moffitt had a history of depression and news of the engagement led him to have "persistent thoughts" and become withdrawn, he said. In his 13-minute opening, Rigg said Moffitt began a downhill slide on the day he learned about the engagement, even though there was no outward animosity between he and Michael. "What happened here, for lack of a better term, is crazy," he said during the trial.
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But was Moffitt insane when he committed the crime?Ī defense lawyer during Moffitt’s trial said it was mental illness and the side effects of antidepressant medications that caused him to shoot Michael.įor reasons Moffitt couldn't explain, he developed "homicidal ideations" that ended in Michael's death in May 2014, defense lawyer J. Jurors convicted Moffitt of the murder charge and he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Notes found at Moffitt's house suggested he did surveillance on Michael's house on Southeast Jacob Street in Grimes, complete with information about neighbors' activities and potential entrances. Moffitt had taken a job at Wells Fargo around two months after his breakup with Ver Huel, and ended up working in a department alongside Michael.Īssistant Polk County Attorney Steve Foritano said Moffitt was agitated by news in September 2013 of the couple's engagement. Prosecutors argued that Moffitt killed Michael after months of boiling anger over the relationship between Michael and Ver Huel. Testimony in Moffitt's trial began on June 23 2015, with prosecutors claiming that Michael's killing was carefully planned in an attempt by Moffitt to elude suspicion. Moffitt was charged with first-degree murder and burglary on May 9, 2014.
Moffitt bought the firearm used in the killing from a seller in Sigourney using Wegener's name. A cab was called to take Moffitt home to Pleasant Hill.Ī search of the crash site the following day found two magazines with ammunition that matched the brand of shell casings found at the shooting scene, as well as a pair of earmuffs and a receipt containing the name Andrew Wegener, another former boyfriend who dated Ver Huel shortly before her relationship with Moffitt began.Ī search at Moffitt's house found evidence that he'd made a fake ID using Wegener's name. Moffitt, the vehicle's driver, identified himself to a deputy who arrived at the scene.
She told deputies an intruder wearing dark clothing came into her room that night and shined a red laser light on her before leaving. Michael's mother, Marie Michael, was visiting and sleeping in another bedroom that night, court documents show. Investigators found an unhooked DVD player on the living room floor, which prosecutors would later suggest was an effort to stage the scene as a burglary. He was sleeping on his back next to his fiancee, Angie Ver Huel. Investigators believe David Moffitt broke into Michael's Grimes home and shot him with an assault-style rifle. He was found with gunshot wounds to his neck, face and temple. The crimeĭeputies found Michael's body after responding to a call about a shooting in his Grimes house around 3:30 a.m. Court documents later showed that Michael, 30, was shot four times while sleeping on his back next to his fiancee, Angie Ver Huel.īelow are details about the case from Register archives.
Polk County deputies found Justin Michael's body on May 8, 2014, after responding to a call about a shooting in his Grimes house. A Grimes homicide that ended in a first-degree murder conviction continues to be a high-profile case gripping the nation’s attention.
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