Mother of 2 arrested at NYC home in connection with her ex-partner’s 1993 cold case murder

Two suspects were arrested last week in connection with the 1993 cold case murder of a 30-year-old father in California, including the mother of his two children who now lives in Queens.

Zachary Jackson was found shot to death inside his home in Alameda County on June 17, 1993, though relatives said that he had likely been dead for several days by the time they reached him.

The over three-decade-old case was originally investigated as a dispute between Jackson and his landlord, but Alameda County Sheriff’s Detective Pat Smyth announced that they recently pivoted to investigate Veronica Fonseca — the mother of Jackson’s two children.

“At the time, Miss Fonseca was interviewed several times by our investigators, but there was nothing at the time that led them to believe she had any involvement in this case. As you can imagine, in 1993, they did not have a lot of the things we have available to us today, investigatively, to find leads. No electronic footprint like we have these days; they relied heavily on witnesses, fingerprints, that sort of thing. DNA was in its infancy,” Smyth said at a press conference Monday, according to Good Morning America.

The investigation into Jackson’s murder was virtually abandoned until 2014, when investigators received a tip leading them to Fonseca and Anthony Fox, whom she was reportedly dating at the time of Jackson’s murder.

The tipster claimed that the pair were responsible for Jackson’s murder. The team hit “a roadblock” while pursuing the case after that, but received another tip in 2021 that also identified the pair as the killers, Smyth said.

The second tipster was willing to come forward and go on the record, and from there, investigators worked to compile additional cooperative witnesses so they could present a viable case to prosecutors, Smyth said.

The case went off without a hitch, and on Nov. 6, US marshals arrested Fonseca, 54, at her home in Queens. Fox, 56, was also taken into custody by the Sioux City Police Department at his home in Iowa, and they are both awaiting extradition in California, prosecutors said.

“This case is a good example of what happens when good people have the courage to come forward and tell law enforcement what they know, coupled with law enforcement leveraging all the investigative resources to bear to bring a resolution to this case,” said Smyth.

The wide-reaching collaboration on the case included assistance from the FBI field office in Oakland, the California Department of Justice, the California Highway Patrol, and local police departments in Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York and South Dakota.

Fonseca and Fox were each charged with murder and burglary. They were also slapped with a sentencing enhancement that would add prison time for the use of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Investigators believe that Fox was the one who shot Jackson, but that Fonseca was also present during the killing, Smyth said.

Authorities did not provide additional information on any new evidence that made way for the charges against the pair or a possible motive.