American Notes

Before moving out with his unit to Saudi Arabia last September, Army Specialist Anthony Riggs took out a $50,000 life-insurance policy with the military and another policy for an undisclosed amount with a private firm. Two weeks ago, Riggs returned to Detroit on leave. As he was loading his wife's belongings into his Nissan Sentra, Riggs was fatally shot by someone who then proceeded to steal the car.

At first the incident appeared to be just another case of mindless violence. But last week the police charged Riggs' wife Toni, 22, and her brother Michael Cato, 19, with murdering the Desert Storm vet. Reportedly, the motive was to obtain the payoff from Riggs' life-insurance policies. "I'm not shocked," said Anthony's mother Lessie Riggs. "It's something I suspected from the first. I always knew ((Toni)) was selfish. She wanted money without having to work for it."

While Anthony was in the gulf, Toni reportedly spent all his paychecks and drained their $8,000 in savings; the day of his return, she demanded a divorce ^ and $500 a month in alimony. Suspicious from the beginning, Detroit homicide cops found Riggs' car and eventually traced the murder weapon back to Cato. After intensive questioning, Cato confessed to killing Riggs with Toni's help.