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- <text id=91TT0742>
- <title>
- Apr. 08, 1991: American Notes:Detroit
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1991
- Apr. 08, 1991 The Simple Life
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- NATION, Page 33
- American Notes
- DETROIT
- Homicidal Homecoming
- </hdr><body>
- <p> 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.
- </p>
- <p> 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."
- </p>
- <p> 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.
- </p>
-
- </body></article>
- </text>
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