MINNEAPOLIS, MN – On a winter afternoon nearly five years ago, Monique Baugh left for what she thought was a routine house showing. The 28-year-old real estate agent and mother never returned home. This week, the man accused of masterminding her abduction and murder was finally convicted, ending a complex and heart-wrenching investigation.
The criminal saga reached its conclusion Monday as a Hennepin County jury found Lyndon Wiggins, 40, guilty of multiple charges, including aiding and abetting first-degree murder and kidnapping. The decision closes the curtain on a plot that began with a single, deceptive phone call and spiraled into one of Minnesota’s most shocking recent homicides.
Baugh’s ordeal began with a call from “Lisa Powalski,” a name carefully chosen to conceal the true nature of the trap. The person behind the voice was actually Elsa Segura, using a burner phone to arrange a house viewing under false pretenses at Wiggins’ request. Baugh, unaware of any danger, traveled to the property on December 31, 2019. There, instead of meeting a prospective buyer, she faced Cedric Berry and Berry Davis. Within moments, her hands and neck were bound in duct tape, and she was forced into a waiting U-Haul.
For the next several hours, Baugh was held captive as the kidnappers’ plan unfolded. The men drove to her home, targeting her boyfriend in what authorities described as a targeted act of revenge. He was shot multiple times but ultimately survived. Hours later, the ordeal ended tragically for Baugh: she was taken to an alley in Minneapolis and fatally shot.
Investigators later learned that the violence traced back to a falling out between Wiggins and Baugh’s boyfriend during their time working together at a record label. Prosecutors alleged Wiggins harbored a grudge that ultimately set the kidnapping and murder in motion.
Cedric Berry and Berry Davis were both tried and sentenced to life behind bars in previous court proceedings. Segura, who once worked as a probation officer, pleaded guilty last year to kidnapping resulting in great bodily harm and accepted a 20-year sentence. That deal drew dismay from Baugh’s family, who believed the punishment did not fully reflect the seriousness of her involvement.
Wiggins was first convicted in 2021, but a Supreme Court ruling on faulty jury instructions forced a retrial for both him and Segura. Monday’s verdict returns Wiggins to the reality of a life sentence, with formal sentencing set for November 13.
The end of the latest trial marks a milestone for Baugh’s loved ones, who have waited nearly six years to see every suspect brought to justice. Emotions have run high throughout the process, and Baugh’s family has not hidden their heartbreak or frustration over plea bargains, stating that nothing can heal the void left by Monique’s death.
Authorities have described Wiggins as the orchestrator, someone who assembled the other participants and set every piece of the plan in motion. The calculated nature of the crime—using a fake caller, a rental van, and a web of accomplices—left a chilling mark in the community.
As the legal proceedings now draw to a close, the focus turns to Wiggins’s sentencing. While the conviction marks the conclusion of the criminal case, Monique Baugh’s story continues to resonate with the city she served and the family she left behind.