SUNRISE, Fla. – A judge ordered a Sunrise man who is accused of killing his wife and dumping her body in the trash ordered held without bond Saturday.
Joseph Traeger, 50, faces charges of murder, tampering with physical evidence and knowingly giving false information to law enforcement.
Recommended Videos
According to an arrest report, the mother of Jeneen Ann Catanzaro reported her missing Dec. 2. Traeger told detectives he last saw his wife Nov. 29, before he left to go to work, authorities said.
Traeger told detectives he "wasn't the cop-calling type" when asked why he didn't report his wife missing sooner, authorities said.
According to the report, Traeger told police he had been married to Catanzaro for 10 and a half years, but they were having marital problems because of his heroin addiction and financial issues.
Authorities said he initially claimed that he went to his wife's home Nov. 28. Police said he told them he was taking a shower and then went downstairs, where he found Catanzaro lying in a pool of blood.
Traeger claimed he believed that his wife had a seizure and fell onto the kitchen floor, causing her to injure her head, the report stated.
According to the arrest report, Traeger claimed he panicked and placed his wife's body in three large trash bags and then placed her body into the trash bin for pickup. He circled the neighborhood until the garbage bin was emptied and then went to a casino for the remainder of the day, authorities said.
However after his arrest, Traeger told deputies that he stabbed his wife to death after they argued about Traeger moving back into the home, the report said.