An alert runner and a McDonald’s cup may have helped Wisconsin police solve a 2020 homicide case.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Cassandra Hult was charged with first-degree reckless homicide in Milwaukee County court on Monday, June 10, in connection with her husband, Jose Santiago’s, 2020 death.
Santiago was discovered dead in March 2020 after a jogger who frequented St. Adalbert Cemetery in Milwaukee alerted officials after observing the same car outside the cemetery two days in a row, according to the Journal Sentinel, citing a police report.
When officers arrived, they discovered Santiago, 27, dead from two gunshot wounds to the back of his skull.
Authorities questioned Hult in 2020, who claimed she was in Santiago’s car on the morning of his death on March 22, 2020, and they had battled over texts she saw on his phone before he forced her out, according to the complaint. She later claimed to have gone to a family member’s house, according to the lawsuit.
According to the complaint, Hult said that she left the automobile at about 10 a.m. Authorities discovered a McDonald’s receipt in the car from 12:29 p.m. that day, according to ABC station WISN 12. Detective Jake Puschnig said in court on June 10 that forensic testing and DNA on a cup revealed that Hult had used it, which officials said contradicted Hult’s timeframe.
According to the Journal Sentinel, police claim Hult never mentioned going to McDonald’s.
The criminal complaint against Hult also claims that she fled Wisconsin after Santiago’s death and allegedly confessed to murdering him to two different witnesses.
People were unable to reach Hult’s attorney immediately. It is unclear whether she has filed a plea to the allegations against her.