In late summer 2007, officers in Flagstaff, Arizona, responded to a welfare check after Rusty Riggins’s mother reported not hearing from him. On August 7, police found Rusty deceased at the house he was house-sitting, shot in the back with a .22 caliber handgun.

Investigators focused on Rusty’s estranged wife, Jessica Riggins. She disappeared soon after the shooting, taking a car borrowed from Rusty’s mother, and was traced to California before crossing into Mexico. About a week later she was apprehended attempting to re-enter the United States and arrested in connection with the killing.

At the February 2009 trial prosecutors said the killing was planned and motivated by money, noting Jessica had bought the handgun two days before the shooting and that a divorce hearing was scheduled that week. The defense described a history of domestic violence and said the shooting was an act of self-defense or accidental during an attack by Rusty; the gunshot wound to his back was a key issue at trial. The jury convicted Jessica Riggins of first-degree murder, auto theft and two counts of credit card theft; the judge acknowledged she had been a long-time victim but imposed life with parole eligibility after 25 years.

If anyone knew Rusty or has information about the days before August 7, 2007, please share what you know.