Missing Woman Was Allegedly Killed By Ex-Boyfriend As His New Girlfriend Kept Watch

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

Tony Lawrence Charboneau and his girlfriend, Brandi Luffy, were charged with a number of felonies, including murder and kidnapping, in the death of Charboneau’s ex-girlfriend Amy Hogue, the Washington County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

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

Washington County authorities said Charboneau and Luffy had gotten into a verbal argument with Houge on June 20, which eventually escalated to Charboneau “punching and stomping” the victim, according to awarrant application.

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

“She was just ready to leave the residence, and that’s when the brutal assault took place,” Jacobsen said.

According to the warrant application, the couple placed Houge into a wheelchair and restrained her hands and feet with ratchet straps. Authorities said the two placed shovels, tarps, a pickax and a gun into Charboneau’s vehicle before driving Houge to a wooded area near his home. She was allegedly tied to the wheelchair throughout the incident.

Charboneau began digging a shallow grave down a wooded hill in the area before taking Houge out of the wheelchair and shooting her, according to the warrant. He then burned Houge’s remains and covered the grave with large rocks and tree limbs while his girlfriend remained in his car, keeping