'Not the cop-calling type': Florida man accused of killing wife who had gone missing

Joseph Edward Traeger was charged in the death of his wife, Jeneen Ann Catanzaro, police said.

By Bob D'Angelo

A South Florida man is accused of fatally stabbing his wife, who had been missing for nearly a month, wrapping her in trash bags and leaving her outside to be picked up by a garbage truck, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

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According to court records in Broward County, Joseph Edward Traeger, 50, was arrested Thursday and charged with the murder of Jeneen Ann Catanzaro, 50. Traeger also was charged with giving giving false information to police and tampering with evidence, the newspaper reported.

Catanzaro was last seen alive Nov. 28, and police said Traeger lied to police and did not report her missing until Dec. 2, WTVJ reported.

When police asked why Traeger waited to call police, he said “I’m not the cop-calling type,” the television station reported, citing an arrest form.

Traeger later admitted to police that he fatally stabbed Catanzaro and used three garbage bags to conceal her body, the Sun-Sentinel reported. He then left her in a trash can on the curb in front of their home in Sunrise, the arrest report said.

Catanzaro’s body was later found several miles away in a landfill in Davie, the newspaper reported.

In late October, Catanzaro told her husband to move out of their home after he became violent with her, WFOR reported. Catanzaro had filed two domestic violence reports with Sunrise police earlier this year, the Sun-Sentinel reported. Traeger returned Nov. 28 and asked if he could move back, the WFOR reported. Catanzaro refused but allowed Traeger to take a shower, according to the arrest report.

An argument ensued, and Traeger told detectives he "snapped" when Catanzaro began to dial 911, throwing her to the kitchen floor, covering her mouth and stabbing her at the base of her skull with a kitchen knife, the Sun-Sentinel reported, citing the arrest report.

Traeger was being held in the Broward County Jail without bond, the newspaper reported.

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