Posted on 08/07/2008 7:02:55 PM PDT by Signalman
Phoenix police on Thursday formally presented the Maricopa County Attorney’s office with the investigation into the death seven years ago of an Ahwatukee Foothills man whose girlfriend, they believe, called a national talk radio show and bragged that she got away with murder.
Phoenix police Sgt. Joel Tranter also officially named the girlfriend, Megan Suzanne Vice of El Mirage, as the suspect in the case. He said while police won’t arrest the 30-year-old Vice, they are seeking charges of first-degree murder and obstructing a criminal investigation for filing a false police report.
Two years ago, a woman claiming to be the dead man’s girlfriend said on a national radio talk show that she killed him but had convinced police it was a suicide.
Detectives continued to work on the case that drew attention on Nov. 3, 2006, when nationally syndicated radio talk-show host Tom Leykis took a call on his live show from a woman claiming she got away with murder. Police have linked the call to the March 2001 death of Tortsen Rockwood.
In May, Phoenix police filed a “reasonable cause statement” showing that they believe Vice shot and killed Rockwood, her live-in boyfriend, in March 2001. Their 2-year-old son reportedly was in another room. The court record shows that Vice told police the couple argued about Rockwood hitting her son and that she thought Rockwood shot himself.
Vice could not be reached for comment.
Records show that last May 29, police had Vice read a transcript over the telephone of what the caller said on Leykis’ show. The idea was to compare her voice with that of the woman who called “The Tom Leykis Show” in 2006.
During the call, the woman said she was a nurse at the same hospital where she and her ex-boyfriend worked, and that they had a child when she was 19. She told Leykis that she tried to talk to her ex-boyfriend about why he wasn’t paying child support and was told he quit his job so he wouldn’t have to.
The woman said on the radio program that her former boyfriend wouldn’t listen to her, so she shot him. She said she had been “a blubbering crying woman” when talking with police, that she was a nurse and knew where to aim, and claimed to have used his 9 mm gun to shoot him in the heart.
Before going on radio, the caller spoke with an associate producer and asked if there was a way the call could be traced or if they could find out who she was. The associate producer told her he hoped she was not going to threaten the president. She said no and told him her story. She told him she receives survivor benefits.
Court records indicate the Leykis show sent a list of 1,440 call-in numbers to Phoenix police.
An MP3 file posted on the show’s Web site, www.blowmeuptom.com, has the woman telling Leykis that she had a one-night stand that produced a child. The father would not pay child support, she said. Leykis said she identified herself only by her middle name of “Sue” or “Susan.”
“I went over and tried to talk to him just about doing some under-the-table money,” the woman said on the air. “He wouldn’t listen, so I shot him.”
“You shot him?” Leykis said.
“Oh yes, I did.”
“You shot him dead?”
“I did.”
The woman told Leykis that she wasn’t arrested because she had lied to police. Leykis told her he would use her phone number to turn her in.
“They’ve got your confession on tape,” Leykis said. “You just confessed.”
The woman replied: “But people call up and make up stories all the time, Tom.”
Seconds later, the line went dead.
Tranter said the woman faces charges of first-degree murder and obstructing a criminal investigation, the latter for filing a false police report. He said that the woman won’t be arrested because of circumstantial evidence and admissions the woman made to police.
“This is an extremely unusual case,” Tranter said. “It’s not unusual, however, not to book someone but seek charges. We’ve determined that this woman is not a flight risk.”
Gary Zabransky, executive producer of the Leykis show, said last week that he and Leykis have cooperated with Phoenix police. Zabransky added that police asked that they not discuss the case on the air.
“I’ve been here 11 years and, by far, this is the most talked-about call we’ve ever had,” Zabransky said. “Callers still want to know about it. This is one that’s not going away. We don’t want it to go away. Ultimately, we want to see an arrest and prosecution. And, we want to talk about it.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9P_vHZmS5E
Unbelievable! She got away with it and just had to brag. I feel very sorry for the child.
Wow..I”m surprised Tom Leykis did the right thing. And by the way, WHAT SURVIVOR BENEFITS does she get when someone commits suicide???
The mindbenders over at the Bureau would probably say that this woman was acting out on guilt and a desire to get caught.
“...police had Vice read a transcript over the telephone of what the caller said on Leykis’ show. The idea was to compare her voice with that of the woman who called “The Tom Leykis Show”
Officer, how many Constitutional Amendments are there that say I don’t have to do that?
Social Security Survivor Benefits for the child.
She would not get benefits directly - however, her child would get social security (which she would have control over) until the child turned 18. (Social Security benefits are not tied to how a person dies - only that they have enough “credits”.)
Assuming that there are no other death benefits to be had by the state.
Maybe the kid gets social security death benefits?
It would be a crappy burden to carry.
Why would she be getting survivor benefits when they were not married? Must be for the child is my guess.
I knew of a man who got away with murder, though everyone knew he did it, and they also knew a jury couldn’t convict him.
He married a wealthy old woman, then developed a passion for hunting. He knew she was jealous, so invited her to come with him. He even bought her a fur coat with her money, so she wouldn’t be cold.
He sat her down on a stump in a clearing, with some magazines to read, flipping white pages to attract the eye. Then he went in search of some other hunters, with his never before fired rifle. When he found some, he pulled out a big bottle of Scotch and passed it around with his new friends.
Within minutes, his wife was shot by person unknown. Died instantly.
When he heard the shot, he said that his wife was over there, and that they had better check on her, bringing his intoxicated friends. Weeping and wailing, he stayed with the group, while one of the hunters went to get the police.
They checked all their rifles, and discovered that he had not only forgotten to bring ammunition, but had left the rifle bolt in the company safe, where it could not be recovered until the following Monday, being on a time lock.
Everybody knew that he had killed her, but they couldn’t arrest him, much less try him in those days. He spent the rest of his life living off her considerable wealth, never remarried, but fooled around a lot.
And he never went hunting again. Too dangerous. He died in bed, of old age.
That’s a hell of a story. Would make a good Lifetime made for TV movie, what I call the Manhater Channel.
Idiot. If she’d done this in Tennessee, she’d just get a few months in jail and then be set free.
Social Security for the child.
Your tax dollars at work.
Social Security survivor benefits for the child, and a check for herself as the child’s caregiver until the child reaches a certain age- I think mom’s check stops when child is 14 or so and the child’s check continues until it turns 18. I think it is about $1200 a month combined- very likely more than she would have been awarded as child support.
Forget about his blood left at the scene from a huge cut on his finger, tracking blood in his Bruno Magli shoes, a witness saw him leave the crime scene in the Bronco, their blood found in his Bronco, one of the bloody gloves found on his property, his socks with their bloody spatter on them found in his bedroom.
No it was all a whitey conspiracy.
Actually, it might have been his second murder. His original trade was as a chiropractor, and he had been arguing with his first wife before “adjusting” her spine, and he “accidentally” broke her neck. That one did result in a jury trial, but he was acquitted.
He received a fairly substantial life insurance settlement, but his chiropractic business was ruined. Yet it was within six months that he married the much older rich woman.
All of this happened in the late 1940s, in Illinois.
Now while this may sound kind of anti-man Lifetime channel-ish, let me assure you that I mentioned it only in reference to his technique, and that in that time and place, he got away with it.
Today, while he still probably could not be directly charged with her murder, he could still face any number of accessory charges, such as reckless endangerment and reckless indifference. And the insurer as well as a court assigned executor of her estate might very well decide that he was not entitled to either her insurance or her estate.
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