Prosecutors in Minnesota have secured a conviction against the fourth and final defendant involved in the brutal 2019 plot to kidnap and murder real estate agent Monique Baugh, bringing a six-year legal saga to a close.
A Hennepin County jury on Monday found 40-year-old Lyndon Wiggins guilty of multiple charges, including aiding and abetting first-degree murder, attempted murder, and kidnapping resulting in great bodily harm. Wiggins was accused of orchestrating the plan to lure 28-year-old Baugh to a fake house showing on New Year’s Eve 2019, where she was kidnapped, bound, and later shot to death in a Minneapolis alley.
This marks the second conviction for Wiggins after the Minnesota Supreme Court ordered a retrial due to an error in jury instructions during the initial proceedings.
According to prosecutors, Wiggins and his girlfriend, Elsa Segura, enlisted two men — Cedric Berry and Berry Davis — to carry out the crime. Segura, a former probation officer, posed as a potential homebuyer named “Lisa Powalski” to lure Baugh to a property showing. Once there, Baugh was ambushed by Berry and Davis, who duct-taped her hands and neck before forcing her into the back of a U-Haul van.
The assailants then drove to Baugh’s home, where they shot her boyfriend — identified in court documents as J.M.-M. — several times while he was caring for the couple’s two young children. He survived his injuries. Hours later, the kidnappers executed Baugh in an alley, leaving her body in the freezing cold.
Prosecutors said the attack stemmed from a personal feud between Wiggins and Baugh’s boyfriend, who had previously worked together at a record label.
Berry and Davis were convicted in 2021 and sentenced to life in prison. Segura later pleaded guilty to kidnapping resulting in great bodily harm and received a 20-year prison sentence, a deal that angered Baugh’s family.
“She sits in there and figures out how to get shorter time,” said Lucille Baugh, the victim’s aunt, in an interview with KMSP-TV. “She should feel that for the rest of her life. Her family should feel it for the rest of her life. Not one time did she apologize.”
With Monday’s verdict, all four defendants connected to Baugh’s killing have now been convicted.
“Monique Baugh’s family has waited nearly six years for the cases against all defendants to conclude,” said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty in a statement. “Mr. Wiggins played a primary role in Monique’s death, and he is being held accountable.”
Wiggins is scheduled to be sentenced to life in prison on November 13.
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