The suspect allegedly hid his ex’s body with the help of a new girlfriend

A Missouri man and his girlfriend are facing charges more than a month after he allegedly attacked his ex-girlfriend, tied her to a wheelchair and fatally shot her.

Tony Lawrence Charboneau and his girlfriend, Brandi Luffy, were charged with a number of crimes, including murder and kidnapping, in the death of Charboneau’s ex-girlfriend Amy Hogue, the… The Washington County Prosecutor’s Office announced this on Monday.

Houge, 43, had been reported missing in June. Prosecutors said Charboneau had previously been charged with two counts of domestic violence against Houge before she was killed.

Washington County authorities said Charboneau and Luffy got into a verbal argument with Houge on June 20, which eventually escalated to Charboneau “hitting and stomping” the victim, a police spokesperson said. application for a warrant.

Houge was at her ex’s home at the time of the alleged incident. Washington County Sheriff Zach Jacobsen said the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that “she tried to leave.”

“She was just getting ready to leave the home, and that’s when the brutal attack occurred,” Jacobsen said.

According to the warrant, the couple placed Houge in a wheelchair and restrained her hands and feet with straps. Authorities said the two placed shovels, tarp, a pickaxe and a gun in Charboneau’s vehicle before driving Houge to a wooded area near his home. She was reportedly tied to the wheelchair during the incident.

Charboneau began digging a shallow grave on a wooded hill in the area before removing Houge from the wheelchair and shooting her, according to the warrant. He then burned Houge’s remains and covered the grave with large rocks and tree branches while his girlfriend stood guard in his car, authorities said. The two allegedly tried to cover up the murder by burning the straps and tarpaulin and throwing Houge’s bag into the river.

Her bag was recovered in mid-July, at which point authorities believed she was dead, Jacobsen told the Post-Dispatch.

Charboneau was initially arrested on July 18 on domestic violence charges after police responded to a arrest warrant charges him of physically assaulting Houge in May 2023, according to the Post-Dispatch. He has been in custody since then.

During an interview with police, Luffy reportedly confessed to acting as a lookout while Charboneau killed and buried Houge and gave detectives the location of the grave, according to the warrant. Houge’s remains were found partially decomposed, with a gunshot wound to her head.

“This case is horrific in every respect, and my office will not rest until the victim’s killers are brought to justice,” prosecutor John Jones said in the news release.

Charboneau has now been charged with first-degree murder, domestic violence, kidnapping, abandonment of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence in the prosecution of a crime and conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Luffy is charged with murder, kidnapping, abandonment of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence in the prosecution of a crime, and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

The public defender’s office did not immediately respond to JS’s request for comment.

Taylor Crider, Houge’s daughter-in-law, said in a GoFundMe launched to offset the cremation costs Houge “in no way deserved what happened to her.”

Crider said Houge was taken from her family too soon.

“No one deserves to go the way she went,” she said. “She leaves behind a family who loved her dearly.”

Need help? In the US, call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.