A person has been charged with homicide within the 2015 killing of his spouse, greater than a decade after investigators in California had concluded she died by suicide, in line with prosecutors and media studies.
Michael Anthony Leon, of Antioch, is accused of fatally taking pictures his spouse, Brenda Joyce Leon, within the head and faking her suicide be aware, in addition to a suicide scene, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing prosecutors and courtroom information. Brenda was 52 when she died.
Michael, 66, was arrested on a homicide cost at his dwelling in connection together with her demise on Thursday, January 22, the Contra Costa County District Legal professional’s Workplace mentioned in a Friday, January 23, information launch.
He’s additionally charged with the non-public use of a firearm inflicting demise, in line with prosecutors.
Michael’s arrest comes after his daughters, Michelle Wonders and Monica Tagas, beforehand alleged their mom was killed in an August 2021 wrongful demise lawsuit, in line with the San Francisco Chronicle.
Within the submitting reviewed by the newspaper, the Leons’ daughters wrote {that a} “John Doe” had “deliberately shot” Brenda and “solid a suicide be aware and in any other case falsified proof on the scene of the killing to offer the impression that (their mom) had killed herself.”
“Brenda Joyce’s household by no means misplaced religion that the reality would come to gentle,” Contra Costa District Legal professional Diana Becton mentioned in a press release.
After the Contra Costa District Legal professional’s Chilly Case Unit revisited Brenda’s September 28, 2015, demise, investigators concluded her demise was really a murder, in line with prosecutors.
Authorities had initially decided her demise was a suicide after they discovered her physique at her dwelling, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The revived investigation “uncovered beforehand unknown digital proof and new factual particulars that had been central to the choice to file costs,” the district lawyer’s workplace mentioned of the case towards Michael.
Info on Michael’s authorized illustration was not instantly accessible.
Michael beforehand ran for mayor of Antioch whereas he labored for an HVAC firm three years earlier than Brenda died, SFGATE reported. He obtained greater than 1,700 votes however was not elected.
Legal professional Matthew Guichard, who represents Michael’s daughters, mentioned that the ladies filed a brand new wrongful demise lawsuit towards their father on January 23, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
“The household is ecstatic,” Guichard instructed the newspaper. “The household first reached out to me in 2017… It’s been an extended, exhausting highway.”
Michael and Brenda had been married for 33 years, in line with her on-line obituary, which describes him as her “loving husband.”
Brenda “lived life as a buddy to all and carried the qualities of loyalty, selflessness, and unconditional love together with her all through her time on this Earth,” reads her obituary. “Household and mates would describe her as a loving and proud mom who discovered true happiness in watching her household develop.”
The obituary says Brenda’s “biggest pleasure and supreme solace” got here from caring for her grandchildren: Audrey, who was 4 when she died, and Elliot, who was 1 on the time.
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“Her fixed love for her household quietly taught everybody who knew her that salvation may very well be discovered within the robust bonds shaped within the hearts round you,” the obituary states.
Michael is due in courtroom for an arraignment at 1:30 p.m. native time.
If he’s discovered responsible in Brenda’s demise, he would face 50 years to life in jail, in line with the district lawyer’s workplace.
