The Husband Did It

Monika Rizzo, age 44, was last seen alive on May 5, 1997, when she went out of the government office she served at in San Antonio, Texas. She missed her purse but did not come back to work for 8 days. When her boss was eventually able to talk to her by phone, she noted not feeling good. Her spouse, Leonard noted waking up a few days after this, and she vanished. He never told the police about her disappearance.

It should be noticed that before her disappearance, her colleagues had seen she had been losing weight and had scrapes on her arms. They were so upset about her, that they had called the police for a good check on her. When a police officer joined with her, he noted that she had bruises on her face. Still, she declared that she was ok and that she had just fallen.

On June 5, the San Antonio police got an unidentified call from a man who declared that Monika had been killed by Leonard and that her bones were in the backyard. Authority did not discover any human remains when they dug through the yard but confirmed Monika had not been discovered for about a week. On July 5, the unidentified tipster phoned the police again, but this time exactly noted that her remains were under a pile of tires. The authority discovered a skull, several bone fragments, and a bag enclosing human flesh. Leonard had no justification for the bones or Monika's missing. He declared that someone was framing him. The unidentified caller was later recognized as Robert Hakala, a family friend. He was at the Rizzo residence when he saw a dog playing with a human jawbone. It had overlapping teeth like Monika's. He is not thought to be a suspect in the case.

Police also discovered proof of a violent struggle inside the home, including several areas of bashed or blood-spattered drywall.

Police sent in a team of archaeologists to uncover the yard, who discovered the entire yard, as well as the barbecue grill, was covered with more than 200 bone fragments. A timber chipper or shredder was thought to have been used to chop up the parts. DNA testing on the remains disclosed that all bone fragments were Monika's (though for some strange reason they were initially believed to come from more than one person).

Amazingly, the spouse was not charged and the DA's office didn't think there was enough evidence to charge him.

In May 1999, Leonard was caught for assaulting his girlfriend; he was shot and wounded by police after a standoff. After his arrest, his girlfriend told the authority that he terrorized to "murder her, chop her up, put her in a trash bag, and bury her." Leonard was sentenced on four criminal counts, including attack with a fatal weapon, abduction, and drug possession.

While he remains the prime suspect in Monika's disappearance and murder, officials state they still do not have sufficient information to file charges, though a murder detective stated that Leonard told that if he could get a ten-year probationary sentence for Monika's killing, he would admit. Still, investigators were helpless to make such a deal, so he rejected to confess. He claimed that he never made such an announcement. Surprisingly, even after the DNA conclusions, he continued to declare that Monika was still alive.