Wife Is Charged in Murder of Gulf War Soldier

A woman accused of arranging to kill her husband as he returned from the Persian Gulf War has been charged with his murder for a second time after allegedly bragging about it to undercover agents.

Toni Cato Riggs, 25, was charged with first-degree murder and solicitation of murder for plotting to kill a witness, Wayne County Prosecutor John O’Hair said Wednesday.

Army Spec. Anthony Riggs was killed outside the home of Cato Riggs’ parents on March 18, 1991--less than a day after he returned from the Persian Gulf.

The slaying initially drew nationwide attention because of reports that Riggs had survived six months in a Patriot missile battery only to fall victim to Detroit’s random street crime.

Attention focused on Cato Riggs after prosecutors said she was trying to collect her husband’s life insurance.

Her brother, Michael Cato, told police that he killed Riggs because his sister promised to share the $150,000 settlement with him.

Cato was convicted of first-degree murder, but Cato Riggs was cleared after a judge ruled that her brother’s confession could not be used against her.

Cato Riggs did collect at least part of the insurance.

Prosecutors said they got the latest break in the case when Cato Riggs became involved in an interstate narcotics probe. According to court documents, she told undercover agents posing as drug dealers that she had hired her brother and another man to kill her husband.

She was arrested Nov. 17 and arraigned Monday on federal charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. She was being held without bail.