Suspect in sex cult murder recants confession - Dallas News | myFOXdfw.com

The twisted story of an Arlington woman's death took another major twist. The attorney for the man accused of first-degree murder said there was no murder.

Earlier this month 23-year-old Micah Moore confessed to killing is roommate, 27-year-old Bethany Deaton.

But Moore's attorney told a judge on Wednesday he is innocent. He said there's no evidence he committed the crime.

"The facts suggest Bethany Deaton's death was an unfortunate suicide and Micah Moore had nothing to do with that suicide. Driven to the police stations by representatives of his church community, Micah told a fictional account that was bizarre, nonsensical and most importantly, untrue," said Attorney Morgan Pilate.

Deaton's body was found in a van at a Kansas City lake on October 30. There was a plastic bag over her head and court records show a suicide note that she allegedly wrote was found nearby.

It wasn't until Moore's confession two weeks later that police started investigating the case as a homicide.

Deaton and her husband Tyler moved to Missouri from Arlington in 2009 for internships at the International House of Prayer or IHOP.

In his confession, Moore told police he killed her because he and other men living in their communal home were raping her and they thought she'd tell.

According to court affidavits, he accused her husband of being the leader of their sexually-oriented religious group and ordering the hit.

Moore's attorney now claims he was pressured by Tyler Deaton to give the fictional account to police.

"They were the statements of a distraught and confused young man under extreme psychological pressure as a result of his friend Bethany's untimely suicide and the sudden removal of his spiritual leader, Tyler Deaton, from their extremely close-knit religious community," Pilate said.

Moore's family members from Texas attended the hearing and maintain his innocence.