'Ahwatukee Sue' tells radio show she killed man

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'Ahwatukee Sue' tells radio show she killed man
Officials: Woman ID'd who told radio show she killed man
by Lindsey Collom - Aug. 8, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Tortsen Rockwood had been dead five years when "Ahwatukee Sue" broke her
silence.

The father of her son hadn't killed himself in the kitchen of their Phoenix
apartment in February 2001, she claimed.

In fact, she was the one who took his 9mm pistol, aimed at his heart and
pulled the trigger. She did so because he wouldn't pay child support.

At least, that's the story Ahwatukee Sue gave to a nationally syndicated
radio show in late 2006.

Authorities say they have identified and are seeking charges against the
woman behind Ahwatukee Sue, a moniker familiar to Tom Leykis Show fans since
the call aired.

Police have not released her name, but court records identify her as Megan
Suzanne Vice, 30, of El Mirage.

Phoenix police this week submitted the case to the Maricopa County
Attorney's Office. Suggested charges include first-degree murder and
obstruction of a criminal investigation.

Investigators have known about Vice for more than a year. Her name came up
after the Leykis show turned over thousands of phone numbers from people who
called the show the day of the alleged confession.

Police's first encounter with Vice was in 2001, after she called 911 to
report that her live-in boyfriend committed suicide. She told police that
Rockwood had threatened to kill himself in the past, and he made a similar
threat that day after they fought about red marks on their son's back, court
records show. Vice said she and the 2-year-old were watching TV in the
living room when the shot rang out.

An autopsy determined the cause of death was suicide.

Fast-forward to Nov. 3, 2006, the day a woman who identified herself as Sue
from Ahwatukee called the Tom Leykis Show. Court records show that before
her call was aired, she asked a producer if there was a way to trace the
call or learn her identity. She said Sue was her middle name and that she
killed her ex-boyfriend over child support. She said she received survivor
benefits.

An MP3 file of the conversation posted on the show's Web site,
www.blowmeuptom.com, reveals the woman telling Leykis she had a one-night
stand that produced a child. She said they were nurses at the same hospital,
and he quit his job to avoid child-support payments.

"I went over and tried to talk to him just about doing some under-the-table
money," the woman said. "He wouldn't listen, so I shot him."

"You shot him?" Leykis said.

"Oh yes, I did," she said.

"You shot him dead?"

"I did."

The woman said she hadn't been arrested because she lied to police.

"When the cops show up and you're a blubbering, crying woman saying that,
'Oh he was yelling and screaming . . . and he pulled put his gun and shot
himself,' and I'll be darned if they were OK with that."

She hung up when Leykis warned that he would give her number to authorities.

Police said Vice filed a burglary report the following day. She claimed
someone broke into her vehicle when she stopped at a park Nov. 3. Several
items were missing from her purse, including her cellphone.

Police say that's the phone Vice used to call the Leykis show. Vice admitted
to placing the call when confronted by cold-case investigators, but she
denied killing Rockwood, according to Sgt. Joel Tranter, a Phoenix police
spokesman.

Tranter said part of the case against Vice includes specific knowledge she
had about the death. Tranter conceded that she could have gleaned that
information in the years since.

Attempts to reach Vice at her El Mirage home were unsuccessful. A current
phone number for Rockwood's family in Colorado was not available.

Dr. Erin Spiers, a forensic psychologist in Scottsdale, said there are
"myriad reasons" why somebody would place that call, such as guilt or a need
to "get that off her chest."

"In the alternative, people often brag about offenses they have perpetuated
out of narcissism or grandiosity," Spiers said. "That bravado . . . is how
people are often brought to justice in the long run."

Leykis believes the latter. In an interview Thursday, Leykis said he felt
Ahwatukee Sue was "very proud" of what she claimed to have done. He thinks
she was telling the truth, despite criticism from listeners that the call
was a hoax.

"They can admit to taking a trip on the moon," Leykis said. "But when
someone calls in and says, 'I killed my child's father,' we're no longer in
the realm of entertainment.

"I think it's important for people to know my show is a safe place if you
want to confess any peccadillo, but if you call and confess to killing
somebody, I will cooperate with the police every time."

'Ahwatukee Sue' tells radio show she killed man
Officials: Woman ID'd who told radio show she killed man
by Lindsey Collom - Aug. 8, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
"I went over and tried to talk to him just about doing some
under-the-table money," the woman said. "He wouldn't listen, so I shot
him."

"You shot him?" Leykis said.

"Oh yes, I did," she said.

"You shot him dead?"

"I did."

The woman said she hadn't been arrested because she lied to police.

"In the alternative, people often brag about offenses they have
perpetuated out of narcissism or grandiosity," Spiers said. "That bravado
. . . is how people are often brought to justice in the long run."

She can brag about it because it's perfectly legal in America for a woman to
shoot a man in cold blood for just about any reason. Mean are all abusive
*******s that need to be shoot, right?