Detective’s affidavit: Muscatine woman shot fatally in neck, back and head

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By Jennifer Meyer | Friday, September 5, 2008 8:25 AM CDT | () comments

Ann Marie Smith, 52, of 1356 Ripley Court, Muscatine, was arrested Wednesday night in Davenport, said Assistant Muscatine County Attorney Allan Ostergren. (MUSCATINE JOURNAL) Buy this Photo

MUSCATINE, Iowa — The woman charged Thursday with the shooting death of Zina Montoya admitted to killing her brother’s former fiancee, according to a detective’s affidavit.

Detective Mike Bailey of the Muscatine County Sheriff’s Office said in an affidavit that Montoya was once engaged to the brother of Ann Marie Smith.

Smith, 52, 1356 Ripley Court, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of first-degree murder.

Bailey said Smith admitted during two calls to an Iowa City suicide center counselor on Aug. 31 to killing the woman, and said she was going to prison for the rest of her life.

The counselor contacted the Iowa City Police Department, which dispatched Muscatine County deputies to Smith’s mobile home.

Two days earlier, Smith allegedly denied responsibility for Montoya’s death during an interview at the sheriff’s office.

Bailey said Smith claimed she discarded a .22-caliber Harrington and Richardson handgun she owned during previous suicide threats in 2007.

The handgun is one of several consistent with bullets recovered during Montoya’s autopsy.

A Harrington and Richardson revolver and .22-caliber bullets like those that killed Montoya were inside a nylon bag recovered Aug. 31 from the Mississippi River at the Izaak Walton League in Fairport.

The nine-round revolver contained three live and five spent rounds, with one empty chamber.

According to the affidavit, Montoya was shot once in the back, twice in the neck, and once to the back of her head.

Montoya’s son, Dexter Montoya, 17, said his mother was alive outside her mobile home at 1365 Ripley Court when he left at 8 p.m. Aug. 25. He dialed 911 after finding her dead in the yard upon returning at about 11:50 a.m. the next day.

Smith’s arrest follows an investigation by the sheriff’s office, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Muscatine County Drug Task Force, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and Muscatine and Davenport police departments.

Jennifer Meyer can be contacted at (563) 262-0525 or jennifer.meyer@muscatinejournal.com.