Saturday, September 17, 2011

San Diego, CA: Questions about murder, money and lies follow man to Hawaii

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A man questioned about his wife's murder in San Diego is now in trouble here in Hawaii and those who know him are warning others not to fall for his alleged scams.

Anthony Simoneau tells the state he's a laborer with a local company but the big question is why he told people his wife was alive and well when in reality she had been killed.

The mystery begins with a rocky marriage between Anthony Simoneau and Fumiko Simoneau. According to the San Diego police affidavit Anthony filed for divorce in 2002. But Fumiko inherited a significant amount of money and he didn't want a divorce anymore. Instead he went on a spending spree buying four land rovers, a hummer, four boats, a motorcycle and two other vehicles.

But in 2006 he started pawning things like ladies jewelry. On January 4, 2007 he pawned a gold engagement ring. That was also the last day he claimed to see her.

Then on January 20 her body is found buried in a desert outside San Diego, however she was not identified. Instead the San Diego Sheriff's Department concluded the body was a border crosser who was buried by members of her group.

Meanwhile, the affidavit says Simoneau continued to tell people lies like Fumiko was back in Japan caring for a relative. He told others she was in Hawaii working on their new home.

A friend in San Diego called Simoneau "con-artist, liar and evasive" and he told police he heard Simoneau threaten Fumiko saying "if you ever try and leave me I will kill you."

Simoneau eventually moved in with his parents back in New Hampshire and stole $140,000 from his family telling them he had cancer and needed money for specialized treatments. They caught on and he was supposed to pay them back. Instead he opened credit cards in his father's name and stole more money. The father filed a police report and is now estranged from his son.

Anthony Simoneau moved in an apartment in Hawaii Kai. The manager says he moved out in 2008 and did not leave a forwarding address.

Now when you call his phone numbers you get a recording that says, "At the subscribers request this phone does not take incoming calls."

In September 2007 Fumiko's family grew concerned after they hadn't heard from her in an extended time. They hired private investigators who filed a missing persons report on their behalf. Detectives did not get a DNA sample from the family and because of the omission her body was not identified until three and a half years after it was found.

Leads turn to Simoneau. On May 29, 2011 Simoneau was caught stealing luggage from Nordstrom. While in custody a San Diego detective flew in to question him. However Simoneau has not been charged or indicted. He says he tried to file a missing person's report but was told her disappearance was a domestic issue and nothing could be done.

Over the years records show he's stolen from other Japanese nationals he met on the "Japan Cupid" dating website and had a child with one of them.

Women have posted warnings about Simoneau on the Dating Psycho's website calling him a psychotic freak and warning women not to believe his lies.

San Diego detectives are waiting on a search warrant to check a life insurance policy on Fumiko worth more than half a million dollars and want to know when the policy was started and stopped, as he could not make a claim without admitting knowledge of his wife's death.

As for the theft, Simoneau plead guilty in August and will be sentenced in October. He is on supervised release and is supposed to check in with the state every week and take a urinalysis test. He is not to leave the state and is on a no fly list. He tells the Hawaii Department of Public Safety he is living in a Honolulu apartment and working as a laborer with a local company. Previously he had been a dental technician in the U.S. Navy but received a bad conduct discharge in 1990.

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