Tamorian Taye Moore allegedly murdered his elderly neighbor Leonard Foster. (Image: Austin Police Department)
Murder defendant Tamorian Taye Moore, 23, allegedly said the devil was responsible for the killing of his elderly neighbor. In spite of that, however, police in Austin, Texas, claim he was indeed the person who killed 81-year-old Leonard Foster.
This past Feb. 18 was the victim’s 81st birthday, according to cops in an affidavit obtained by the Austin American-Statesman. Police, who announced the case on Wednesday, said that they got a call for a welfare check. Foster’s relatives called cops on the 18th after finding the front door of his apartment unlocked, officers said. He was not there.
“The caller stated they had been waiting to hear from Leonard Foster for several days,” police wrote on Facebook.
Then, a caller told officers almost an hour later that Foster’s truck was back at his apartment complex, which is on Royal Crest Drive. But he wasn’t driving. Another man, later identified as Moore, was allegedly operating it.
Another caller said that Moore, wearing latex gloves, was putting black trash bags in the vehicle, according to police.
Cops said they arrived about two hours after the original call. They found Moore carrying a black trash bag over his shoulder. He allegedly ran when they spoke to him, and he even took off his pants to get away.
Cops detained him, they said, and discovered he had a handgun in his pants pocket. He also had a door key, they said.
Moore’s shoes had a strong odor of cleaning products and were drenched, officers said. Blood stained a pillow and paper towels in the trash bag he possessed, according to the affidavit. There were allegedly jugs of bleach in an apartment he had been leaving.
Though he said he lived in the apartment complex, he did not say which unit, according to cops. He allegedly claimed to live “across from a pedophile” who had been “watching him since he moved in.” He asserted this neighbor attempted to “seduce” and “rape ” him. Police believe this was supposed to be Foster.
Moore allegedly claimed not to know the whereabouts of Foster’s body and denied killing him.
“Lucifer did,” he said in the affidavit.
When asked how the devil did it, Moore allegedly claimed to have “blacked out.”
Officers had knocked on the door to an apartment across from Foster’s. No one answered though there was loud music inside. Police said they tried the key they had discovered on Moore. It worked. This was his apartment. Inside, they found Foster dead, body wrapped in blankets, his feet bound, and his head sticking out, they claim.
The Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the victim died of blunt force trauma, officers said. He also had cuts on his body.
Moore remains at the Travis County Jail on a $1 million bond, records show.
From police:
Anyone with any information should contact the Austin Police Department at 512-974-TIPS. You may submit your tip anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-472-8477.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
