Jessica Armstrong [BODY FOUND] Msg July 2007 Boyfriend confesses to her murder

[annalyzer]

http://www.katu.com/news/local/40009527.html

Man's cold case confession leads to woman's body


http://media.katu.com/images/090220_glenn_riccio2.jpg

Published: Feb 20, 2009 at 7:11 PM PST

TACOMA, Wash. - Police digging outside a home in Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood found a body believed to be that of a woman who disappeared more than a year ago.

Detective Thomas Williams said the woman's former boyfriend confessed Thursday night to killing her and dumping her body at the home at 1902 Sheridan Street.

Williams said there was nothing suspicious about the woman's disappearance in July 2007, and the matter was listed as a missing person case.

A detective reviewing cold cases decided to re-interview the boyfriend, which led to the alleged confession and Friday's search outside the home.

The boyfriend, Glenn Riccio, was booked into the Pierce County Jail for investigation of first-degree murder, and his bail was set Friday at $1 million.

According to a statement of probable cause filed in Pierce County Superior Court, Riccio told detectives that he shot Jessica Armstrong in the head, wrapped her body in plastic and buried her outside his home.

Police searching the area Friday found what appeared to be human remains in a plastic bag sealed with duct tape about two feet below the ground.

The bag was not opened, but officials said it appeared to contain human remains, and they believe it to be Armstrong's body.

According to court documents, Riccio claimed during his confession that Armstrong was mentally ill and "asked to be euthanized and wanted to be with her dead uncle."

http://media.katu.com/images/090220_jessica_armstrong_sm.jpg

Riccio said he pulled out his gun, put it to her forehead, and asked if she was sure. When she said 'Yes,' he pulled the trigger, according to police.

Investigators found Riccio's gun at the location he specified inside the house.

"It's crazy, really crazy," said Rob Miesse, Armstrong's neighbor.

Miesse said he remembers the woman who was renting the house next door.

"Then the guy that owns the house asked me if I'd seen her around. I said I had no idea, and he thought it was weird that she didn't take anything, never contacted him to take any of her stuff," he said.

Williams said investigators will likely need to verify the identity of the remains with DNA samples.

Prosecutors plan to formally charge Riccio next week.

[grammybears]

Does this man have delusions of self righteousness or something. I do not believe for one moment that this woman would want to be where her deceased uncle is. This poor woman. This is so sad. May he be found guilty and locked away for ever. Even if a person thinks they want to be where a dead relative is, it does not give him the right to end her life.
My prayers go out to her family.

jmoo

[annalyzer]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29305685/

Boyfriend leads police to missing woman's body


By CHRIS INGALLS / KING 5 News
updated 2:46 a.m. ET, Sat., Feb. 21, 2009

TACOMA, Wash. – Police say a man has confessed to killing his girlfriend and burying her at his home in 2007.

http://www.king5.com/msnbc/stories/M_IMAGE.11f5fb26346.93.88.fa.d0.35cc0de2.jpg

Tacoma Police say they made the gruesome discovery next to the home in the 1900 block of S. Sheridan Avenue Friday afternoon. It was a large plastic bag sealed with duct tape with what appeared to be a body inside. It's believed to be that of Jessica Armstrong.

Armstrong disappeared in June of 2007 but wasn’t reported missing until July. When Armstrong vanished, police questioned neighbors in what they thought was a missing person’s case.

“When she went missing, I felt bad for her kids. I wondered what happened to her. Where did she go? Now we know,” said neighbor Rob Miessy.

Police say Riccio confessed Thursday night to killing her while he was being interviewed by detectives.

Court documents say Riccio described Armstrong as mentally sick and said that she asked to be euthanized and wanted to be with her dead uncle. Riccio said he pulled out his gun and put it to her forehead. Riccio said he asked Armstrong if she was sure and she said ‘yes.’ Riccio said he pulled the trigger.

Police say Riccio also told them where to find the murder weapon, a .357 magnum.

Riccio was booked into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder. He was ordered held on $1 million bond Friday afternoon.

Riccio’s next door neighbor says the construction worker and part-time musician built the home with his own hands and was a good neighbor.

“Whenever I needed help, he was always there to help,” said Autumn Noel.

[sarahhod]

Woman shares details about missing friend

BRIAN EVERSTINE; brian.everstine@thenewstribune.com
Published: 02/22/09 12:05 am


Police are continuing to investigate the disappearance of Jessica Armstrong, whose remains were likely found in an ex-boyfriend’s Tacoma yard Friday afternoon, and a friend has emerged to tell of the woman she knew.
Jennifer Watson told The News Tribune late Saturday that Armstrong was her closest friend. The two stayed together through hard times, right up until Armstrong’s disappearance in 2007.
“I was her only friend,” Watson said. “I have been looking for her since she’s been missing.”
Glenn D. Riccio, 39, was arrested Friday for investigation of first-degree murder after he told officers that Armstong asked to be “euthanized” in July 2007.
Riccio first told officers that he had not seen Armstrong after dropping her off at her house in 2007, but police said late last week that he changed his story and told officers where to find her remains. Armstrong was depressed about having her children taken away by Child Protective Services, Riccio told them, and wanted to be “euthanized.”
Watson said she met Armstrong when the two worked at the Best Western Tacoma Dome Inn in 2006. Watson was at the front desk while Armstrong worked at the bar. They became friends immediately, Watson said.
“We would always be together,” she said.
Watson said Armstrong loved her children, and was excited when Watson became pregnant. But Armstrong disappeared before the two women’s children were able to play together.
“We loved to have fun. She worked hard, and she had kids, and I had one coming,” Watson said. “She was really excited about it. She would always tell me I was the only girl in Tacoma she liked, that she didn’t have any other friends.”

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/crime/story/634629.html

[Faith]

Woman asked to be 'euthanized,' suspect says

Published: 02/20/09 9:53 am | Updated: 02/21/09 11:59 am

Police arrest a 39-year-old Tacoma man in the July 2007 disappearance of his girlfriend. Glenn D. Riccio reportedly said he killed Jessica Armstrong and buried her at his Hilltop home.

...

When Jessica Armstrong disappeared nearly two years ago, her boyfriend told Tacoma police she was depressed about having her children taken away.

Glenn D. Riccio said he hadn’t seen Armstrong since dropping her off at her house one night in July 2007.

This week, Riccio told investigators a different, more disturbing story.

Interviewed again by detectives about Armstrong’s disappearance, Riccio said Thursday that he’d shot her to death after she asked to be “euthanized,” then buried her body in the side yard of his Hilltop home, according to court documents.

Police arrested the 39-year-old Riccio for investigation of first-degree murder after that admission.

On Friday, working from a hand-drawn map provided by Riccio, they began searching for Armstrong’s remains outside a home Riccio owns in the 1900 block of South Sheridan Avenue.

Just before noon, investigators found a bag buried in the yard. Its contents “appear consistent with a body” but police did not open it, according to the court documents.

Detective Thomas Williams said police removed the bag late Friday afternoon and sent it to the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office for further examination.

Also Friday afternoon, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Brian Tollefson ordered Riccio jailed until at least Tuesday in lieu of $1 million bail.

Deputy prosecutor Ed Murphy told Tollefson that police need more time to investigate the case before any charges could be filed against Riccio. Public defender Dixie Krieg did not argue the bail amount.

The News Tribune is publishing Riccio’s name even though he hasn’t been charged with a crime because the judge found probable cause to hold him.

Police first talked to Riccio about Armstrong after her mother reported the 30-year-old woman missing July 14, 2007, court documents state.

Armstrong last had been seen a month before after getting out of the Pierce County Jail, where she’d been booked on suspicion of assaulting her daughter, the documents state.

Officers who talked to Riccio as part of that domestic violence case found he was carrying a handgun, according to court records. Police let him keep the gun after learning he had a concealed pistol license and determining it wasn’t used in the domestic violence situation, the documents state.

Riccio told investigators he bailed Armstrong out of jail late that night and the two drove around for a while and drank some wine on the waterfront before he took her home.

Armstrong seemed depressed and “ ‘lost it’ when he told her that her children had been placed into foster homes by Child Protective Services,” court documents state. Riccio said he took her to her home and never saw her again.

Detectives interviewed others in her disappearance but found no signs that raised suspicion, police spokesman Mark Fulghum said Friday. There had been no reports of domestic violence between the woman and Riccio.

“There was no reason at that point to suspect foul play,” Fulghum said.

The case went cold until recently when a detective, prompted by fresh information provided by Armstrong’s mother, decided to take another look at the case, Fulghum said.

Investigators re-interviewed Riccio on Wednesday and Thursday and asked him to submit to a polygraph test. He initially denied knowing where Armstrong was but later admitted he’d killed her, Fulghum said.

Riccio told detectives that after driving to the waterfront he and Armstrong went back to his house. He said she was “mentally ‘sick’ and said that she asked to be ‘euthanized’ and wanted to be with her dead uncle,” the court documents state.

Riccio told detectives he pulled out a gun, pointed it at her forehead and asked if she was sure she wanted him to kill her. She said yes, court documents state. “Riccio said he pulled the trigger,” the documents state.

He told investigators he wrapped Armstrong’s body in plastic and buried her 2 to 3 feet in the ground between the garage and a storage container, the documents state. He also told them where to find the gun, which police recovered Thursday night.

Stacey Mulick: 253-597-8268 blogs.thenewstribune.com/crime

Staff writer Adam Lynn contributed to this report.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/292/story/633044.html


http://media.thenewstribune.com/smedia/2009/02/21/01/3-21HILLTOP_P.standalone.prod_affiliate.5.jpg
Tacoma Police and forensic investigators sift through buckets of soil behind a home at 1902 Sheridan Ave. Friday afternoon on the Hilltop, searching for clues, and the possible remains, of a 30 year old woman who went missing in the Summer of 2007. Police arrested the woman's boy friend on Thursday after he confessed to killing her. photos taken Friday February 20th, 2009 by Dean J. Koepfler / The News Tribune

http://media.thenewstribune.com/smedia/2009/02/20/14/434-Missing.standalone.prod_affiliate.5.jpg
Tacoma Police and forensic investigators gather evidence behind a home near South 19th Street and Sheridan Avenue in Tacoma on Friday.

http://media.thenewstribune.com/smedia/2009/02/20/09/965-scene.standalone.prod_affiliate.5.jpg
Tacoma Police investigate a scene in an alley near 19th Street and S. Sheridan in Tacoma Friday morning, February 20, 2009.

[Faith]

TACOMA POLICE FIND BAG, APPARENT BODY BURIED IN YARD

Tacoma police investigators working with a map drawn by a missing woman's boyfriend have found a duct-taped plastic bag, believed to contain a body, after digging in the yard of the man's home. Jessica Armstrong was 30 years old when she disappeared in the summer of 2007. At the time, her boyfriend Glenn Riccio told police she'd been depressed. But according to court documents, when Riccio was interviewed again last week, he said he'd fatally shot Armstrong when she asked to be "euthanized," then buried her body. In court papers, police say the contents of the bag found Friday "appear consistent with a body." The 39-year-old Riccio has been arrested for investigation of first-degree murder. He's been ordered held on $1 million bond.

http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1897/smid/3468/ArticleID/6456/reftab/1632/Default.aspx

[Faith]

Tacoma police find bag, apparent body in yard (http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct=us/4-0&fp=49a11eb0070dbe74&ei=6cuhSfvHBIvcMdvvlAc&url=http%3A//www.tdn.com/articles/2009/02/21/ap-state-wa/d96fqnt00.txt&cid=0&sig2=fN9beAB-YVUlKoh0xy0iiw&usg=AFQjCNE8kFfqQBvSvMkVgujb0VTY39NwwA)
Longview Daily News, WA - Feb 21, 2009
Jessica Armstrong was 30 years old when she disappeared in the summer of 2007. At the time, her boyfriend Glenn Riccio told police she'd been depressed. ...

Link no longer works.

[Faith]

I pray this family has closure. :1222423:

[sarahhod]

Autopsy Conducted On Body Found In Yard

Monday, February 23, 2009 – updated: 4:03 pm PST February 23, 2009

TACOMA, Wash. -- An autopsy was under way Monday on a body that police found wrapped in plastic in a Hilltop area yard.

http://www.kirotv.com/2009/0223/18778965_240X135.jpg (http://www.kirotv.com/news/18779402/detail.html#)
Police told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Kevin McCarty that they hope to positively identify the remains as those of Jessica Armstrong, who was reported missing in July 2007. Her boyfriend at the time, Glenn Douglass Riccio, is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder in the case.Riccio is scheduled for arraignment on Tuesday, pending the outcome of the autopsy.According to a probable cause affidavit filed in Superior Court, Riccio admitted during a recent police interview and polygraph test to killing Armstrong.Riccio said that on June 14, 2007, he and Armstrong, his girlfriend, had been drinking heavily. Riccio told detectives Armstrong was depressed because she lost custody of her children and asked to be “euthanized.”

http://www.kirotv.com/2009/0221/18763607_240X135.jpg (http://www.kirotv.com/news/18779402/detail.html#)Glenn Douglas Riccio

Riccio told police he placed a .357 caliber handgun to Armstrong’s head and asked if she was sure. Police said when Armstrong said "yes," Riccio pulled the trigger, killing her. He told detectives he wrapped her in plastic and buried her behind his home on south Sheridan Avenue.Police had considered Riccio a possible suspect in Armstrong’s disappearance after she was reported missing by family members a month after her alleged slaying. Police spokesman Officer Mark Fulghum said although Riccio denied involvement for nearly two years, he confessed after police conducted a lie detector test and re-interviewed him.Police began digging around his home Friday morning and found a body several hours later.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/18779402/detail.html#-

[Faith]

Will autopsy link remains to missing woman?

Updated: 02/24/09 12:20 am

An autopsy was completed Monday on human remains found Friday afternoon at a Hilltop home, but no results were released.

Tacoma police investigators uncovered a bag last week that they believe contains the remains of Jessica Armstrong, 30.

Armstrong was last seen June 14, 2007. Her mother reported her missing a month later. Armstrong was investigated as a missing person but no signs of foul play came to light at the time.

Last week, Tacoma police again interviewed her boyfriend at the time, Glenn Riccio.

After several hours, Riccio confessed he’d killed Jessica and buried her body in a bag alongside of his home in the 1900 block of South Sheridan Avenue, police said.

Riccio made a court appearance Friday and a judge found probable cause to hold him in jail for investigation of first-degree murder. He’s scheduled to be arraigned today.

Police found a plastic bag buried in the area where Riccio told investigators he hid Jessica’s body. The bag’s contents were believed to be human remains.

Tovah Bailey was Armstrong’s friend for about 10 years, experiencing the ups and downs of life with her. Armstrong had hit a rough patch in her life when she disappeared, but Bailey wants to make sure she is remembered for the person she was.

“She was a wonderful person, honestly,” she said. “She could take over your heart.”

Bailey said she is monitoring the investigation for Armstrong’s mother, who is in California and can’t make it for court appearances.

Bailey said she won’t let up now that Riccio is in custody.

Barbara Decker was a corrections officer at the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Purdy when Armstrong was an inmate there. Decker said she was at the hospital when Armstrong gave birth to her son.

“She was doing so well,” Decker said Monday. “She had just changed her whole outlook on life.”

Armstrong had been in jail for convictions of drug possession, robbery and forgery, but friends say she turned her life around. Armstrong and her newborn son lived in a special unit within the prison that allows mothers to stay with and raise their babies.

“He was the world to her,” Decker said of the baby boy. “She was always very polite and very respectful.”
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/crime/story/636319.html

[Faith]

Woman shares details on missing friend

Published February 23, 2009

TACOMA - Police are continuing to investigate the disappearance of Jessica Armstrong, whose remains were likely found in an ex-boyfriend's Tacoma yard Friday afternoon, and a friend has emerged to tell of the woman she knew.

Jennifer Watson told The News Tribune late Saturday that Armstrong was her closest friend. The two stayed together through hard times, right up until Armstrong's disappearance in 2007.

"I was her only friend," Watson said. "I have been looking for her since she's been missing."

Glenn D. Riccio, 39, was arrested Friday for investigation of first-degree murder after he told officers that Armstong asked to be "euthanized" in July 2007.

Riccio first told officers that he had not seen Armstrong after dropping her off at her house in 2007, but police said late last week that he changed his story and told officers where to find her remains. Armstrong was depressed about having her children taken away by Child Protective Services, Riccio told them, and wanted to be "euthanized."

Watson said she met Armstrong when the two worked at the Best Western Tacoma Dome Inn in 2006. Watson was at the front desk while Armstrong worked at the bar. They became friends immediately, Watson said.

"We would always be together," she said.

Watson said Armstrong loved her children, and was excited when Watson became pregnant. But Armstrong disappeared before the two women's children were able to play together.

"We loved to have fun. She worked hard, and she had kids, and I had one coming," Watson said. "She was really excited about it. She would always tell me I was the only girl in Tacoma she liked, that she didn't have any other friends."

http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/767092.html

[Nut44x4]

Bailed out, killed and buried; boyfriend charged
Police say a Tacoma man has admitted killing and burying his girlfriend shortly after bailing her out of jail.

TACOMA, Wash. —
Police say a Tacoma man has admitted killing and burying his girlfriend shortly after bailing her out of jail.

An innocent plea was entered Tuesday on behalf of 39-year-old Glenn D. Riccio. He's charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of 30-year-old Jessica Louise Armstrong and is being held on $1 million bail.

Armstrong was reported missing by her mother in July 2007. On Friday investigators used a map drawn by Riccio to find her remains buried outside a house he owns in the Hilltop area of Tacoma.

Prosecutors write that Riccio says Armstrong was mentally ill and asked to be put to death.

Riccio and Armstrong were dating in mid-2007, and he bailed her out of jail shortly before she was killed.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008769077_apwaburiedinyard.html

[Faith]

Man charged with murder after woman's body is found

Published: 02/24/09 9:43 pm

Pierce County prosecutors filed a first-degree murder charge Tuesday against a man who admitted last week to fatally shooting Jessica Louise Armstrong in 2007 and burying her body at a home he owned on Tacoma’s Hilltop.

A not guilty plea was entered on behalf of Glenn D. Riccio, 39. Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson maintained Riccio’s bail at the $1 million set during the defendant’s preliminary appearance last week.

Prosecutors contend in court documents that Riccio told police Thursday that he’d shot the 30-year-old Armstrong at her request in the basement of a house in the 1900 block of South Sheridan Street.

Armstrong was mentally “sick” and asked to be “euthanized,” Riccio told detectives. The two had been dating at the time, and he’d bailed her out of jail shortly before the shooting. He also told investigators he’d buried her body in the yard.

Riccio made his admissions after police talked to him again about Armstrong’s disappearance. Two years ago he denied knowing what had happened to the woman, who was reported missing by her mother in July 2007.

On Friday, investigators found a human body wrapped in plastic buried in the yard on South Sheridan. An autopsy determined the body was Armstrong’s and that she died of a single gunshot wound to the head, according to court records.

A friend of Armstrong’s told The News Tribune earlier this week that the victim had a young son and had been doing well at the time of her death, despite some past difficulties. Riccio is to appear in court for a pre-trial hearing in early April.

Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644 blogs.thenewstribune.com/crime

http://www.thenewstribune.com/updates/story/637477.html

[Amusedtdth]

What a God-awful shame. IMO if Jessica was that "mentally ill" and wanted to take her own life, she could have done it on her own. There was no reason on earth that he had to "help" her just because he said she asked. Just an excause and a poor one at that and did he really think that people would be like...oh, ok she wanted to die, no problem, have a nice day...lame, lame, lame! Something else happened and unfourtuneltly no one will ever know.
I feel for the family, especially her child(ren)?
RIP Jessica, you were a beautiful woman
now your a beautiful angel

[Faith]

http://media.thenewstribune.com/smedia/2009/02/25/02/842-25RICCIO_P.highlight.prod_affiliate.5.jpghttp://media.thenewstribune.com/smedia/2009/02/24/23/938-nws0225_missing_p.highlight.prod_affiliate.5.jpg

Glenn D. Riccio is led Tuesday into Pierce County Superior Court. He's accused of shooting his girlfriend and burying her in his yard.

[sarahhod]

Ceremony planned for slain Hilltop woman

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Published: 02/27/09 12:05 am
Posted by Stacey Mulick at 10 a.m. Thursday


Local clergy will gather today for a brief ceremony for a 30-year-old mother whose body was discovered last week buried near a Hilltop home.
The Moment of Blessing ceremony for Jessica Armstrong will begin at 11 a.m. outside the home at 1902 S. Sheridan Ave.
Armstrong was reported missing July 14, 2007. At the time, Tacoma police investigated her disappearance but found no evidence of foul play. That changed last week when investigators again talked to Armstrong’s boyfriend at the time, Glenn Riccio, 39.
Police said he confessed to shooting Armstrong and burying her body outside the home. Prosecutors Tuesday charged Riccio with first-degree murder.
Associated Ministries performs Moment of Blessing ceremonies at the scenes of all homicides in Pierce County. The gatherings are intended to spiritually cleanse the place where the crime happened and to provide support to the victim’s friends, family and the surrounding neighborhood.
The location of today’s ceremony will be marked by bamboo poles laced with red and purple ribbons. Each ribbon bears the name and date of death of a homicide victim.
The events are open to the public.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/640049.html

[coliee12]

I miss Jessica. She, her kids, and her mother are in my thoughts.

[Nut44x4]

Tacoma man pleads guilty to slaying woman, burying her body in a Hilltop yard
January 22, 2010

Glenn D. Riccio pleaded guilty this morning to second-degree murder in the 2007 death of Jessica Louise Armstrong, who was shot and buried in a Hilltop yard where her body lay undiscovered for two years.

Riccio pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder with a firearm enhancement. He faces a range of 15 years, three months in prison to 23 years, four months in prison when sentenced March 19, deputy prosecutor Steve Penner said.

Riccio had admitted killing Armstrong, but told detectives she asked him to do it.

http://blog.thenewstribune.com/crime/2010/01/22/tacoma-man-pleads-guilty-to-slaying-woman-burying-her-body-in-a-hilltop-yard/

Sounds like a slap on the wrist to me. No Justice here.

[packy]

Such a sad case, and even if she had asked him to do it he didn't have to do it. And why wait then and let time pass before confessing.