Roberto Colon Boynton Beach Florida man charged w/ murder after missing wife, Mary Stella Gomez-Mullet’s body found in the backyard. Coupe had married in January.
A Florida man has been accused of killing his wife and burying her remains in his backyard according to reports. The man’s arrest follows the suspect previously daring authorities to ‘find the body’ at his Boynton Beach home.
Roberto Colon, 66, was arrested Saturday and charged with first-degree murder and two counts of marijuana possession, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office online booking records. He remains in the Palm Beach County Jail without bail.
Mary Stella Gomez-Mullet, 45, was reported missing on Feb. 20, the Sun-Sentinel reported. According to an arrest affidavit, a friend told police she last heard from Gomez-Mullet during a telephone call on Feb. 18 as she arrived at Colon’s home in Boynton Beach, the Sentinel reported.
The friend said Gomez-Mullet was yelling, ‘No, no, no, Roberto!’ on the phone before the call ended. She attempted to redial, but the call went straight to voicemail, investigators said.
That same day, police received a report of a bloody handbag located less than a mile from Colon’s home. Family members later confirmed the items, including a crucifix strung on a white rosary chain, belonged to Gomez-Mullet. According to the police report, ‘all family members and friends were adamant that something must have happened to Gomez.’
Green Card quid pro quid deal gone wrong
Boynton Beach police first announced Gomez-Mullet’s disappearance in a Feb. 25 tweet. Police spokesperson Stephanie Slater said Friday night that human remains were found at a home in the southeastern part of the city, WPTV reported.
Palm Beach County court records show that a marriage certificate for the couple was issued in January, according to WPEC. According to the arrest report, Colon had married Gomez-Mullet so she could obtain U.S. citizenship. In exchange, Mullet-Gomez would care for Colon’s mother, who had dementia.
According to the arrest report, Colon said he had an argument with his wife on Feb. 20, WPEC reported. Colon said he fired Gomez-Mullett as his mother’s caretaker, accusing her of defrauding his mother out of thousands of dollars. Colon told police he went to a doctor’s appointment and that his wife was gone when he returned.
Police searched Colon’s home on Feb. 26 and found bloodstains on the front door, in the garage and in his workshop, the Sun-Sentinel reported. According to the arrest report, Colon called his workshop an ‘abattoir,‘ or slaughterhouse, kiro7.com reported.
‘find the body, find the body,’
When Colon was asked to explain the blood, he told detectives to ‘find the body, find the body,’ according to the arrest report. As they left his home, Colon allegedly said, ‘Well, at least you didn’t find a body at my house.’
Acting on a tip, detectives returned to Colon’s home on Friday to search his backyard, WPTV reported. Fingerprints confirmed a recovered body being that of missing woman, Gomez-Mullet.
According to the arrest report, detectives gathering evidence at the home overheard Colon telling a friend, ‘There’s one thing they can’t do, they can’t put what’s his name, Humpty Dumpty, back together again,’ and ‘There’s really nothing that they can take from my house, you know. It’s no use to them in prosecution.’
Boynton Beach police Chief Michael Gregory expressed the department’s condolences to Gomez-Mullet’s family and said the investigation is ongoing.
‘We remain dedicated to this ongoing investigation and bringing justice to her family,’ Gregory said in a statement.
