A decade after a California woman was found dead with a gunshot wound and a suicide note beside her body, her husband is accused of her murder and staging the crime scene to make it look like she committed suicide.
Contra Costa County prosecutors announced Friday that Michael Anthony Leon, 66, has been arrested and charged with murdering his wife, Brenda Joyce Leon, and staging her death to appear as suicide in 2015.
Police Ruled Brenda's Death a Suicide with Self-Inflicted Gunshot After Finding a Suicide Note Next to Her Body
Brenda Leon, 52, was found dead inside her Antioch home on September 28, 2015. Police located a suicide note at the scene and initially ruled her death a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Now, investigators believe her husband, Michael, staged the scene before police arrived. Leon, who had run for mayor of Antioch three years earlier, finished fourth. His campaign platform focused on small business growth, opposing tax increases and using neighborhood watch programs to fight crime.
Brenda's Daughters Doubted the Suicide Ruling, Spent Years Pressing Authorities to Reopen the Case
Brenda's two adult daughters, Michelle Wonders and Monica Tagas, questioned the ruling from the start and spent years pressing authorities to reopen the case, according to the San Francisco Chronicle and SFGate.
In August 2021, the sisters filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that a John Doe suspect had "intentionally shot" their mother and "forged a suicide note and otherwise falsified evidence at the scene of the killing to give the impression that [their mother] had killed herself," the Chronicle reported.
New Digital Evidence, Factual Details Led to Michael's Arrest
The Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office later assigned the case to its cold-case unit. In a statement Friday, prosecutors said the renewed investigation "uncovered previously unknown digital evidence and new factual details that were central to the decision to file charges." Those details have not been made public.
Court records obtained by the Chronicle show investigators reopened the case and obtained a search warrant in 2024 that led to the discovery of new digital evidence.
Leon was arrested on January 22 at his home in Antioch. He is charged with first-degree murder, with an enhancement for the personal use of a firearm causing death. He is being held on $1 million bail and is set to be arraigned in court Monday. If convicted, Leon faces a maximum sentence of 50 years to life in prison.
"Today's filing in Contra Costa Superior Court honors that perseverance and demonstrates that cold cases are never forgotten, regardless of how much time has passed," Becton said. The civil wrongful death lawsuit remains ongoing. The next case management conference is scheduled for April.
