Missing Woman’s Bone Fragments Found In Her Backyard

Monika Louise Rizzo was a 44-year-old woman originally from Bremen, Germany. For 26 years she had been married to Leonard Rizzo. She worked at a San Antonio, Texas, Department of Human Resources.

Alarmingly, co-workers had noticed that Monika was losing a dangerous amount of weight and even showed up at work with visible bruises.

On one occasion, when co-workers noticed bruises on her neck and face, they called authorities for a wellness check.

When police spoke to Monika and Leonard at their door, she claimed to have fell while he denied being abusive.

On May 5, 1997, during her shift at the department, Rizzo unexpectedly left her office — leaving behind her purse and not saying goodbye to her co-workers. She didn’t return to work that day or the next few days.

Her manager called her to see what was going on. Rizzo said she was sick but would be at work the following week.

Sometime during those days, Monika disappeared. Her husband Leonard claimed that she had come home on the afternoon of May 5. But a few days later, he woke up and she was gone. He didn’t report his wife missing.

On June 5, the police received a tip from an anonymous caller.

They said that Lenard had killed his wife Monika and that her bones were scattered around their backyard.

Authorities promptly went to the Rizzos’ property. When they arrived, Leonard was having convulsions and was taken to the hospital where he would recover. In the meantime, one of Monika and Leonard’s sons granted police permission to search their property. The son also said he was just visiting and hadn’t seen his mother in a week.

Inside the house were Monika’s clothes and all of her possessions. Her car was also in the garage. Interestingly, police found evidence of a struggle — broken drywall and blood splatter. Leonard claimed it was from him taking his frustrations out on the house.

In the yard, bone fragments were found, although authorities came to the conclusion that they were animal bones.

On July 5, police received yet again a call from the anonymous person. They repeated that Monika was killed by Leonard, but now specified that bones were in the backyard, under the tires.

Police returned to the Rizzos’ property and searched under the tires. They found bones fragments and a garbage bag with human flesh. Moreover, there were hair and body fluids throughout the backyard and barbecue pit.

It took archaeologists from the University of Texas 8 days to collect a total of 200 bone fragments. Given that the fragments had a greasy film on them, they were estimated to be from the last few weeks or months. It was also believed to be from multiple people.

The lead archaeologist also stated that the fragments seemed to have been put through some sort of wood chipper, as the majority of the pieces were less than 3 inches long.

Leonard claimed to not know how the bag of bones and fragments got to his yard.

After fours years, it was determined that the fragments were not from various people and belonged to Monika.

The anonymous caller was later identified as Robert Hakala. Hakala had called the police because he’d not only noticed a foul odor coming from the backyard but he’d seen a dog playing with a jawbone –he noticed its lower teeth were crooked like Monika’s.

Since she had recently gone missing, he was alarmed.

In 1999, Leonard had a fight with his girlfriend Susan in his trailer. When they had first met, Leonard had been very open about him missing Monika and had no issue being known as the man who had his wife’s bones in his yard. Although he always claimed to be innocent in her death.

The fight apparently broke out because Susan claimed to have run into Monika on various occasions — although Susan later denied ever saying this.

Police found Susan running away from the trailer, bleeding from a stab wound — Susan claims he stabbed her, but Leonard claims she stabbed herself. Leonard was arrested and charged with bodily injury. Six hours after, he was freed after a friend paid his $3500 bond.

Later that night, another fight ensued. This time she walked to the convenience store and called the police. She said he threatened to “kill her, chop her up, put her in a garbage bag and bury her”.

Susan wanted to return to the trailer to pick up her stuff so an officer escorted her. When he knocked on the door, Leonard opened it while brandishing a gun.

The officer retreated with Susan and cleared the surrounding homes. A four-hour standoff with a SWAT team commenced. Rizzo stood on his porch, laughing at the police while pointing his derringer at his head and drinking coke.

The confrontation ended when Rizzo fired a round and then pointed the gun at a cop. The officer quickly shot him in the abdomen. He recovered in the hospital and was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, and drug possession (meth was found in his pocket). He denied that he said he was going to chop his girlfriend up in pieces.

No one has ever been charged with the murder of Monika Rizzo. There was never enough evidence to charge her husband Leonard.

In 1998, one of their sons, Leonardo Anthony Rizzo, died of Leukaemia and was buried in Mission Burial Park. After the bone fragments were positively identified as Monika’s, she was placed to rest in a box under her son's headstone.