Hello. I've been a long time lurker on the boards and am curious to know if a certain case ever initiated any resolution. I am a LONG time fan of UM. I'm 29 now but remember faithfully tuning in back when it was on NBC on (thursday?) nights. I really love how they handled a variety of topics, even asking bold questions in some questions in which government cover-up / illegal activity was alleged or suspected.

Anyway, while have lots of particularly memorable episodes to think of, there was one I am particularly interested in as it seems just so Bizarre....well more than usual for UM anyway.

It was the case in which a man lived with his son in a house - in San Antonio, TX I think (I could be wrong)...

A man calls the local police department and says go to such-and-such address and search the backyard, there are bones out there. So the police do a light check, talk to the owner, and the owner seemed totally confused and had no idea what they were talking about.

The caller then places another call to the police and says that they didn't search hard enough and to go back and check the backyard. The police do so and to their amazement find tons of shredded human bone fragments. In a major shocker, DNA analysis reveals it's of at least 3 separate people.

If I'm not mistaken one of the remains were determined to be from a woman who had went missing whom I think lived there. She just up and walked out of work one day leaving her purse and all.

I'm dying to know if any resolution was found on this and if there are any threads regarding it. I would find it unbelievable the house residents didn't know anything.

I'm not too sure, but could it be the Monica Rizzo case?

That name sounds familiar...

Yep, that was definitely it, just checked the episode guide sticky.

Yep. The Monica Rizzo case. However, as time progressed, it turned out that the bones in the backyard were only from one person: Monica Rizzo.

...and didn't UM used to be on Wednesday nights at 7pm? :)

Yes, I think you're correct, it was home on Wednesday's line-up for a long time. Although, I think I seem to remember them moving it to Thursdays before it's move to CBS Friday's....?

I've read all I can online about this case and I'm rather upset that there hasn't been any resolution to it, despite the disposition of facts as they are known now.

People have been indicted on much less. I don't believe that police department's premature declaration that the remains were those of 4 persons should hinder future prosecution. Yes, it was an error of significant magnitude especially when one considers that it would likely be the centerpiece of the Leonard Rizzo's defense (i.e. if they can't properly conduct DNA analysis, who's to say it's Monica at all). This can easily be explained that those comments had been made before mitochondrial DNA testing had been performed, which is more specific. It's ridiculous 10 years have passed with no atoning for this crime.

And what of the mysterious caller? Was it really the neighbor who found the dog nawing at an over-bited jawbone as one of the earlier press accounts indicate? Or was it one of the sons? Could it have been the son that mysteriously died shortly after his mother's disappearance? Was that looked into? It seems rather convenient for Mr. Rizzo that a potential witness turns up dead...just like his wife.....

One of the court judges declared that there was reason to believe she was dead, and very likely so, he added. Was this followed up with an official declaration of death? Does anyone really suppose an otherwise normal woman would go so long without communicating with certain family members, including her mother and father that she was close to? In most jurisdictions 7 years is all that is needed to declare death; in this particular criminal case, the DA could move forward using the declaration as evidence. Also, what are the odds that someone goes missing, is likely dead, and they have fragmented bone parts found in their backyard? I don't understand the police' insistence that it wasn't enough bone to determine that she was dead....WHAT??? Do YOU normally leave bone fragments all over the place? when you're living? Is this a bad joke?

Also, as if one didn't already notice, but this police department has a history of botched and lazy investigations. In press accounts, policemen reveal that Leonard wanted to make a deal and said words to the effect that "I will tell you everything that happened". OK...so why wasn't this recorded? Don't they have enough common sense to know that any verbal communication with a potential criminal ought to be audio recorded? Now, all that policeman' claim is his word against Leonard's. A huge piece of evidence lost right there into thin air.

Maybe we can start a petition to get them to reopen this case because as it is now, Leonard Rizzo is living the high life likely assuming he'll never go to jail for murdering his wife.

Yeah, I understand your frustrations for sure. Even though they were able to find conclusively that only one person's bones were in the backyard, you'd still think that they'd have filed charges or something.

I remember commenting on this case a long time ago. My only reason for thinking they haven't pressed charges on Leonard Rizzo is because they don't have enough evidence to conclusively tie him to Monica's death. Sure, the police can prove the bones were in his backyard, but they weren't found anywhere else in the home. ANYONE could have placed those bones in the backyard. Also, did Leonard Rizzo have a motive that we know of? I don't remember off-hand.

Also, WHAT is in your avatar? Is that a screenshot of the dude at the ATM with Matthew Chase?

Maybe we can start a petition to get them to reopen this case because as it is now, Leonard Rizzo is living the high life likely assuming he'll never go to jail for murdering his wife.

Keep in mind, that the case is a cold case. I don't know how cime is in San Antonio these days, but wouldn't you rather have the police spend their resources solving current cases than old ones? Unless you have new evidence or a lead on another suspect to give them I wouldn;t bother them with a petition.

To LooksLikeCRicci:
Yeah, that's where it's from. Damn you're good!

Keep in mind, that the case is a cold case. I don't know how cime is in San Antonio these days, but wouldn't you rather have the police spend their resources solving current cases than old ones? Unless you have new evidence or a lead on another suspect to give them I wouldn;t bother them with a petition.

I guess you're right. It's just that I've been going through some old UM cases to check to see if they've been resolved, and I've been finding quite a bit that have still had no action taken. It just really bothers me that someone can be murdered and / or go missing and it seems as thought people have forgotten about the person, with the police in the background sitting on their fat lazy asses eating donuts saying 'we've done all we can do on this case'.

This includes several cases where it's VERY VERY obvious the husband is the murderer - or at least the person who benefited the most from the wife's death (i.e. quickly re-marrying, insurance pay-out, abusive relationship, etc).
Not that I would want America to start becoming gestapo-like and arrest anyone merely because they're suspicious; I just feel very certain many police departments simply don't put enough manpower and research into cases in which most people would look at as a no-brainer. Studies have shown just how often police don't even do the most BASIC investigative work in some cases. People have a set idea of how local police departments work from watching NYPD Blue and CSIS and all the rest of them; many times even basic questioning of witnesses isn't even done and once they get tunnel vision on something, it's all over.

murdered and / or go missing and it seems as thought people have forgotten about the person, with the police in the background sitting on their fat lazy asses eating donuts saying 'we've done all we can do on this case'.

1.Homicide officers have clearance rates that they are judged by. Too many unsolved cases will have you or your superiors transferred.

In a case like this where a middle class white person has been killed, that's hardly a case that your seargent's going to overlook as opposed to a dead black drug dealer in the projects.

I can assure you that the detective in control of the case, spent many sleepless nights and days without eating trying to close Monica Rizzo's case.

2. This case hasn't been closed not for a lack of effort IMHO, but for a lack of evidence. If someone needs to be blamed it's probably the district attorney who feels there isn't enough evidence to prosecute Rizzo.