Following an almost year-long investigation, Pierce County prosecutors have filed charges of first-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter against a 40-year-old man suspected of setting a suitcase on fire that contained the body of an 18-year-old Tacoma woman.
Anthony Marcel Millspaugh was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter in the Sept. 3, 2023 death of Chloee Moore. Millspaugh was arrested on Tuesday and booked into the Pierce County Jail.
A plea of not guilty was entered on Millspaugh's behalf during his arraignment Thursday afternoon. Pierce County Superior Court Commissioner Philip Thornton set his bail at $2 million.
Millspaugh was convicted in Februrary 2003 for the murder of a man in Spokane County, according a Spokesman-Review report. He was released in December 2021 after serving an almost 20-year sentence.
Charging details
Millspaugh was identified as a suspect through phone records, text messages and video surveillance, records show.
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, prosecutors wrote. The remains were later identified as Moore.
Moore was severely burned and fire investigators noticed an odor of accelerants. Video surveillance showed a vehicle, likely a sedan, pulling up in the area. Two "shadowed figures" were seen exiting the vehicle. The driver was identified as Millspaugh and the second figure was his 17-year-old nephew, prosecutors wrote.
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. Millspaugh and his nephew then went back into the vehicle and drove off, documents show.
The medical examiner found that Moore had fentanyl and bromazalam in her system. The medical examiner said Moore may have died from a drug overdose prior to being placed in the suitcase and burned, prosecutors wrote. The medical examiner said it was also possible Moore was alive when her body was in the suitcase.
Moore's phone records 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, documents show.
Moore exchanged multiple text messages with "Tony," alleged to be Millspaugh, prior to her death. Millspaugh asked Moore on Sept. 1 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 on Sept. 1 at about 2:09 a.m. They then walked into an alcove between two buildings across from Millspaugh's apartment, prosecutors wrote.
Millspaugh was later seen at 2:27 a.m. carrying Moore across M.L.K Way. 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. She was carried down the hallway of the complex and into his apartment at around 2:46 a.m.
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. He was assisted by his nephew, documents show. Charging papers say it appeared to be the same suitcase Moore's body was found in after it was set on fire.
Detectives interviewed Millspaugh's nephew, who admitted helping his uncle take the suitcase from the apartment and driving it to Upper Park. He denied knowing Moore's body was in it, but said it was heavy and an odor of Clorox wipes came from it. He stated that he put everything together after seeing Facebook posts about Moore's body being recovered, prosecutors wrote.
Millspaugh told detectives in an interview that he knew Moore, but not well. He later admitted she was his friend, documents state. 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.
His nephew reportedly came into Millspaugh's apartment and noticed that Moore overdosed. Millspaugh told detectives he put Moore's body in the suitcase after detectives asked him multiple times. He also said that she died in his apartment.
Millspaugh said he could not call the police for her help because he would go back to jail. Millspaugh also denied setting Moore on fire, and said that his nephew did not do it either, prosecutors wrote.
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