Relationship of drug dealer, ex-Hennepin County probation officer takes center stage in murder trial

Changed out of her prison clothes and into a smart gray dress shirt and black jacket, Elsa Segura took the witness stand Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court in downtown Minneapolis.

Segura’s former boyfriend, Lyndon Wiggins, sat 15 feet away. He is in the midst of a lengthy trial, accused of being the mastermind behind the kidnapping and execution of real estate agent Monique Baugh and the attempted murder of Baugh’s boyfriend, Jon Mitchell-Momoh.

It was Segura, 33, who made the phone call to Baugh, setting up a fake real estate showing in Maple Grove on New Year’s Eve 2019 that ended with Baugh in the back of a U-Haul being pressed for the whereabouts of Momoh, who was caring for their two children. The kidnappers, Cedric Berry and Berry Davis, got a house key from Baugh, broke in, shot Momoh in front of his children, fled, and then executed Baugh before dumping her body in a north Minneapolis alley.

Segura, a former Hennepin County probation officer, is serving 20 years at the women’s prison in Shakopee after pleading guilty last year to aggravated kidnapping for her role in the crime. Her previous conviction for aiding and abetting first-degree murder had been overturned by the Minnesota Supreme Court.

“I’m here to say my truth,” Segura said on the witness stand.

It marked the first time she had testified against her former lover.

Judge Mark Kappelhoff compelled Segura to testify on behalf of the state after she invoked her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Paige Starkey got a letter from U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen granting Segura immunity for her testimony. She took the stand over the course of two days.

“This was a man I was in love with at the time,” she said. “I didn’t ask questions.”

As Starkey grilled Segura about what she knew of Wiggins’ alleged plan, Segura’s answers repeatedly trailed off, leading the court reporter to ask her to speak up.

“How did you get the number to call [Baugh]?” Starkey asked.

“From L.A.,” Segura said, using Wiggins’ nickname.

“What did he tell you to do?” Starkey continued.

Segura testified that she did as she was told, but also said Wiggins never told her he intended to kidnap Baugh to get Momoh’s address and kill him.

The prosecution faces a complex challenge in the trial. They are seeking to prove Wiggins was the orchestrator of a kidnapping and execution stemming from a dispute between Wiggins and Momoh about rap music contracts and drug dealing, a dispute that Baugh had nothing to do with.

The 28-year-old was a mother of two young children known for her vivacious personality.

Police and prosecutors allege Wiggins is the only person connected to the kidnappers and shooters, Berry and Davis, and Segura, who set the plan in motion. They have cellphone data showing Wiggins and Segura calling each other before and after the shootings on Dec. 31, 2019. They also have cell tower location pings from Wiggins’ phone that place him near a Metro PCS store when Davis purchased the cellphone that Segura used to set up the real estate showing. But prosecutors never recovered phones for the shooters, and in mountains of evidence from what Minneapolis police have called one of the most sprawling murder cases in department history, they have no evidence placing Wiggins at the crime scenes or paying anyone for the crime.

Segura’s testimony provided the most solid evidence that Wiggins set the plan in motion.

“You made some mistakes over the course of these events,” Starkey said.

“Yes,” Segura said.

“Bad choices?” asked Starkey.

“Yes,” Segura said.

Wiggins’ attorney, Sarah Gad, painted Segura as a compromised witness. Throughout 2019, Wiggins and Segura had been under a federal drug dealing investigation. Two months before Baugh was killed, Wiggins was arrested by federal law enforcement and Segura had her house raided in a narcotics search. Gad noted that Segura, Davis and Berry were all charged with the kidnapping and shooting soon after the crimes, while it took more than 10 months for Wiggins to be charged. Gad said Wiggins was charged only after Segura met with federal and state prosecutors to potentially make a deal for her testimony. That deal was never completed, but Wiggins was charged shortly after the meeting.

“It’s upsetting, but I can’t do anything about it,” Segura said.

Later, Starkey asked Segura if she had made any statements in the case because she was mad at Wiggins over the other woman.

“No,” Segura said.

Segura testified that she had never met the shooters in her life, despite cellphone location data showing them near her home on the day of the shooting.

“That’s what the cell location says,” Segura said.

On cross-examination, Segura told Gad that she did not kidnap Baugh, and that the only reason she admitted to it last year under oath was to get a plea deal from state prosecutors. That plea deal led to Segura’s murder charge — and a potential life sentence — being dropped. With credit for time served, she is set to be released from prison to probation in eight years.

At trial, both attorneys and a Minneapolis homicide investigator said Segura’s honesty has been questioned throughout the process. The information she gave federal prosecutors was accepted only after several other interview sessions were cut short because investigators felt Segura was lying.

“Why should we believe anything you have to say now?” Gad asked.

“I don’t know,” Segura replied.

It might not be the last time the jury in this case has to consider the truthfulness of those convicted for their role in this crime.