State of Ohio v. Matheau Moore

A man allegedly murdered his wife and made it look like a suicide. Matheau Moore, 51, stands trial in Delaware County, Ohio.

Wife Emily Noble, 52, was last seen on her birthday: May 24, 2020. She was reported missing the next day. Her body turned up in tragic and grisly fashion the following Sept. 16. She was found hanging from a tree in a wooded area near her home. There was reportedly a 20-inch USB cord around her neck. There were multiple injuries to her head and neck. Authorities determined that this was homicide.

Noble was so badly decomposed authorities had to use dental records to identify her.

Prosecutors argue Moore killed her and staged the hanging. He faces charges of murder and felonious assault.

Moore’s previous wife Lisa Pedersen told WBNS in a June 2021 report that he once choked her when she was pregnant with their first son. It was New Year’s Day 2001, she said. They had been married three months.

“He came over, and he did, for some reason, he ended up, yeah, putting his hands around my neck,” she reportedly said. “And he started to choke me.”

It was the only time he put a hand on her, and they kept in touch throughout the years, Pedersen said. Though they maintained contact, she noted that he, contrary to contemporaneous media reports, claimed to be participating in the search for Noble.

“Once the details were made clear to me, I started to lean toward his guilt,” she said.

Both of their sons are now dead, according to WBNS. One of the children reportedly died at 17 by hanging in a park the summer before Noble’s disappearance.