Larry Moore

I think I mentioned a while back that I have been binge watching Forensic Files on Netflix lately. While my list of cases was surely not lacking names already, watching the show, one after another, has added several. That is always a good thing because I never know how I will feel when it comes time to sit down and do a case and many of these that I am seeing now are ones I have never heard of before so it keeps things “fresh.” This case was featured on the show and originally aired in May of 2004. While I really enjoy the show there is absolutely no way that they can touch on every issue in a case on a television show, especially one that is only twenty-five minutes long.

Larry Moore and Brad Brisbin were said to be friends and hunting partners. Brisbin was a former county sheriff's deputy in their area of West Yellowstone Montana but by 1990 he owned a restaurant and was teaching part time. So many articles about his death refer to him being a former deputy but nothing indicated as to why he had left that profession. However, there was possibly one little hint in one of the articles I read that mention that along with being friends Moore and Brisbin were also both members of Alcoholic Anonymous (AA).

Larry Moore and his wife Michelle were experiencing marriage issues in 1990 and had separated. In October of that year Larry suffered a nervous breakdown and it was said that he was convinced that Michelle was having an affair with his friend, Brad Brisbin. Later that month Michelle went as far as obtaining a restraining order against Larry after she claimed he attempted to strangle her. There were little tidbits throughout my research that indicated that Brad and his wife, Rene, may have also been experiencing a rough patch in their marriage but to be fair I am unsure how true this was.

On November 9, 1990 Larry Moore called Brad Brisbin and asked him to meet him at a truck stop and give him a ride because he had just sold his truck and camper. Apparently Brad thought it was odd that Larry asked him not to tell anyone about the meeting and he told his wife anyway. Brad would never return home and Rene would contact the authorities.

This would be the first case in Montana in which not only was a conviction obtained without a body but it was the first case in which DNA was used in a criminal trial. And, while of course considering I found the case on Forensic Files, the forensics were interesting to me I have to say that was not the part that “entertained” me the most. It is not unusual for a suspect to lie to law enforcement, heck it is almost more of a shock to have someone readily confess to a crime than it is to have them tell stories that are not true. We also see cases every day where a perpetrator attempts to clean up the crime scene and hides evidence. From time to time you will hear of a case in which the perpetrator actually “invents” or creates “evidence” in order to divert attention from them or make the story that they told investigators seem to be plausible. But, this case had all of those things to the extent that for me it was almost comical.

When Larry Moore was first interviewed by law enforcement about the disappearance of Brad Brisbin he told them that despite the fact that Brisbin's wife, Rene, told them that he had set up the meeting it was Brad who had set up the meeting. Moore claimed that Brad had said he was “fed up” with his life and he was just basically leaving. He stated he watched as Brad got into a red sports car with another woman and all but drove off into the sunset. Moore had to change this story when investigators searched his camper and found blood, and even human tissue inside. At that point he claimed that he had found Brad Brisbin in his camper with a gun and that they struggled and the gun discharged, hitting Brisbin. But wait, he then said that he did not call the police because Brisbin had told him if he did so he would shoot himself. He said he went out to get water and when he returned Brad Brisbin was gone.

So lets just take a moment and think this one over. His first story was that Brad Brisbin had set up the meeting between the two of them and had simply decided to pretty much escape his life and presumably start over somewhere else. That theory could have maybe quite possibly worked if it were not for two things considering there did appear to be evidence that the Brisbin's may have been having marriage problems and several people later stated that he was not happy at the time of his disappearance. But, first was the issue that Brisbin had told his wife that it was Moore who set up the meeting and had strangely asked him not to tell anyone. Then there was the issue that not only did Moore elaborate on what occurred at the meeting by claiming to see Brad Brisbin get into a car with another woman but he apparently wrote several letters that claimed to have come from Brisbin and sent them to the local sheriff, an attorney, and even Brisbin's wife. Simple handwriting analysis disproved that it was not Brad Brisbin who had written the letters, but in addition to that that analysis was not even needed as the writer spelled Rene Brisbin's name incorrectly in the letters. It became pretty apparent, pretty quickly that the letters were fake and Rene Brisbin would even testify to this at Larry Moore's bail hearing in December of 1990. Even still almost a year after the murder in October of 1991, while Larry Moore was awaiting trial a newspaper publisher received yet another letter. This letter was not from “Brad Brisbin” himself but allegedly from a man named “Doug” who claimed to be in Mexico and stated that Brad Brisbin was alive and well. The letter went on to say that Brisbin wanted to return to his family by Christmas but that he wanted to be certain that he would not face any charges for leaving and that Moore would not sue him. The letter writer claimed that Brisbin had stated that he had left evidence in Moore's camper to implicate him. Let me be clear here... the evidence found in Moore's camper consisted of brain tissue that by the time the “Doug” letter was written had been conclusively identified as belonging to Brad Brisbin.

On December 1, 1990, less than a month after Brad Brisbin had disappeared, Larry Moore was arrested and charged with deliberate homicide and two counts of tampering with evidence. Prosecutors not only did not have a body, they also did not have a murder weapon. But, on December 7^th the judge decided to hold Moore without bail. Evidence of the fake letters and the bloody camper had been presented. By September of 1991 it appears that the brain tissue had already been connected to Brisbin through DNA as samples had been taken from both his father and his children but for whatever reason a judge decided to allow him to have bail. It was also said while out he was even given permission to go Elk hunting with a bow. This just goes to prove that it was not just Moore who was not playing with a full deck at that time.

The following month defense attorney's argued successfully to have his charges of evidence tampering separated from the homicide charges. To be fair I have no idea what ever came of those charges. The defense also tried to have the DNA thrown out. As I stated earlier, DNA had not been used in a Montana criminal case at that point even if it had been used in other states. The judge ruled against the defense and allowed the DNA and it appears they appealed this decision. In April of 1992 the Montana Supreme Court agreed with the trial judge.

Between the delays fighting DNA and a shake up in the prosecutors office Moore finally went on trial in October of 1992, two years after Brad Brisbin had disappeared. Aside from the evidence that Moore set up a meeting with Brisbin and the brain tissue there were also friends of Moore's that testified that he had stated he would kill Brisbin if he found out he was having an affair with his wife. The defense called witnesses who testified that Brisbin had been “unhappy” at the time of his disappearance but of course no one could claim they knew for a fact that he had simply left his life. The prosecutors believed that a .357 caliber Ruger, belonging to Moore had been the murder weapon but as I stated earlier, it had not been found. Moore even testified in his own defense and once again I was left with a chuckle. He would claim that the blood found in the camper was from a deer that he had killed in October and had placed there. Now, to be fair I cannot say for certain that the blood was tested but it still seemed so implausible for him, or his defense attorney's to believe that this was a reasonable argument considering the brain tissue had been found! On November 19, 1992, after deliberating for fourteen hours the jury returned with a guilty verdict. After delays involving an appeal filed Larry Moore was sentenced on June 5, 1993 to sixty years in prison. It is my understanding that Moore had remained out on bail throughout his trial but it is unclear if he was taken into custody upon the verdict or allowed to remain free through the appeals process.

But, neither the story, or Larry Moore's antics end there. Apparently in March of 1995 he had conspired to make a bomb that consisted of an alarm clock, a battery, some wiring and a toothpaste tube stuff with match heads. It was alleged that the bomb was to be placed above or near the office of Mike Mahoney. Some say Mahoney was the warden of the prison in which Moore was located while others indicate that he was the Director of Minnesota prisons. It is unclear who he allegedly conspired with for this crime and soon after this was discovered Moore was “severely” beaten by fellow inmates. Moore would never say who the assailants were but they had beaten him enough that he needed reconstruction surgery.

After a short investigation federal charges were brought against Larry Moore in connection to the bomb. Suddenly Larry Moore had a reason to start talking again about Brad Brisbin. He made a deal to tell investigators where they could find not only Brad Brisbin's body, but the weapon used to kill him in exchange for the federal charges being dropped. It is unclear if he ever told a new story as to how or why the murder occurred but I am unsure it matter since it was widely believed that the murder had obviously occurred in his camper and the motive revolved around his belief that Brisbin was having an affair with his wife. Brad Brisbin's body was found buried in a shallow gravel pit where they discovered he had been shot twice in the head.

Larry Moore was denied parole several times but in May of 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic he was granted parole. Moore was seventy-three years old and it was unclear if the COVID epidemic had played a role in his release. It was stated that he was granted parole but that a date had not been set for his release. It had been stated that after the bombing incident and the beating that he received from inmates he had requested that he be transferred to a prison out of state claiming that he was being mistreated by the guards and it had been granted. The majority of his sentence had been served in a prison in Oregon. A look at the Department of Corrections in both Montana and Oregon did not produce his name. This could mean that he has been released. However it could also mean that he is still in the Oregon prison at this time. Oftentimes when inmates are housed in a separate state than their conviction they are not found on either states inmate list. While they are still considered an inmate of the state of the conviction, they are not in their custody. The receiving state often does not show the inmate because while they have custody of the inmate, they are not considered necessarily to be in charge of the inmate and their care.