Jack Moore, 84, is accused of killing his roommate and her dog, then using her credit cards to make plans to leave the country.
Police have accused an elderly man of the brutal murder of his roommate, along with her dog, who then tried leaving the country with her credit cards.
On November 18, shortly before 2:00 p.m., Austin Police Department officers were called to a residence for a deceased person.
Officers found a woman inside the house later identified as Linda Mlsna, 83—and a deceased dog. According to court documents that FOX 7 Austin was able to obtain, Mlsna had not been reached for six days.
In a news briefing on Nov. 21, APD Homicide Det. Israel Pena said a neighbour had been to the house and observed an “odor consistent with decomposition and fly activity or insect activity in the windows of the residence.”
Court records show a local relative reportedly said she entered the house and found Mlsna in a downstairs closet with a dead dog lying on top of her.
Pena said proof of a shattered piece of furniture and other signs of a commotion when Austin police entered the house supported investigators’ suspicion her death was a homicide.
Preliminary investigation showed that the roommate of Mlsna, 84-year-old Jack Moore, was also missing from the house, and nobody knew where he had gone. Investigators later found out, though, that Moore allegedly used Mlsna’s credit cards to make fraudulent purchases after she died.
Eventually, officers found Moore and arrested him on a separate warrant.
Moore allegedly confessed to killing Mlsna and her dog, and stealing her credit cards during interrogation by a detective, besides plotting her escape.
Moore reportedly told the investigators that he knew Mlsna intended to stay in the house until she passed away and that he was concerned her family would send her to a nursing facility because she was of senior age. According to the criminal affidavit obtained by FOX 7, he further admitted that he killed her dog because he wanted him to stay with her forever.
The report said a search warrant on the house resulted in blood in several locations and Mlsna’s cell phone, which had several text message notifications from various banks about suspicious purchases made with several of her credit cards over eight days at the same store.
Mlsna’s family told police that Moore had been stealing money from her.
After getting security footage of numerous purchases from the business linked to the crime, police discovered that Moore had allegedly made 36 gift card purchases in 21 transactions. Of those transactions, several were made at a time when Mlsna was believed to be dead, according to police.
Following a carjacking at an apartment approximately three and a half miles from Mlsna’s residence, Moore was detained by US Marshals on a parole violation.
According to the affidavit, a search of the flat where Moore was detained turned up more than thirty gift cards and receipts, credit cards belonging to Mlsna, and jewellery for ladies. It was also found during the investigation that Moore had a lengthy criminal history involving prison sentences and bank robberies.
Moore was arrested based on suspicion of first-degree murder and felony carjacking parole violations. He is currently in Travis County Jail on bond for $1 million. The police say that this is being investigated as Austin’s 63rd homicide of 2024.
