Hoffman Was Allegedly Trying To Change Out Dyed Money At Mystic

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- New details have been released in the Ty Hoffman case.

Hoffman has been charged with second degree intentional murder for killing his former boyfriend Kelly Phillips at an Arden Hills gas station on Aug. 11.

Police searched for Hoffman for a month before he was arrested outside an Arby's in Shakopee, Minn.

Friday, there is new information on where Hoffman was while he fled police.

The manhunt went from Arden Hills, to Blaine, to Mystic Lake Casino and finally to an arrest in Shakopee.

The latest criminal complaint shows that Hoffman was desperate and was close to being caught several times.

For a month there were close encounters and clues.

Just before 5:00 a.m. on the day of the shooting, surveillance video showed Hoffman leaving the condo he was staying in with a water bottle and walking in the direction of Phillips' condo. Police later found a similar water bottle in Phillips' bathroom.

Three weeks after the murder, surveillance video showed Hoffman walking into a TCF Bank in Blaine.

He pointed a Glock semiautomatic handgun at the teller and demanded money.

The teller put cash and a red dye pack in Hoffman's backpack.

The dye exploded as soon as he left the bank.

The complaint said witnesses later saw Hoffman walking shirtless with red stains on his back.

On Sept. 1, surveillance video again showed Hoffman entering a Target store in Richfield where he bought a new backpack and a cell phone.

Later, video showed him getting on a bus to the Mall of America, and hours after that he took a cab to Mystic Lake Casino.

Hoffman walked into the casino around 4:00 p.m. that day and played slots.

He fed dyed money into the machines and got clean money out.

The complaint said Hoffman also gambled at Little Six Casino.

That night, casino surveillance video showed Hoffman going in and out of the woods before getting into a cab, which he took to a McDonald's.

Red dyed money was found at a business near that location.

Finally, on Sept. 11, Hoffman was arrested outside an Arby's in Shakopee.

He first told police his name was "Mark Lamar Royce," but once in handcuffs, he admitted that he was Ty Hoffman.

Police found over $3,000 in dye stained money on Hoffman, along with a beard trimmer, mirror and claim slip from the backpack he left at Mystic Lake.

When arrested, police say Hoffman had burns and red marks on his back consistent with the red dye pack that went off in his backpack.

And investigators said they learned more about his relationship with Kelly Phillips.

The two had been in a relationship for about 15 years.

That ended five years ago, and Phillips fired Hoffman from the bar he owned after he discovered that cash deposits were lower than they should have been and business records were missing.

Phillips also evicted Hoffman from a residential property he had been staying in.