The Missing Navy Man and a Troubled Past

On December 22, 1981, police in Kitsap County, Washington, received a missing persons report for Bill Edmondson.

He failed to show up for work, causing immediate concern among his close friends and his supervisor. The primary question that dominated the ensuing investigation was: Who was responsible for his sudden disappearance?

Bill Edmondson was born on September 14, 1958, in Pennsylvania.

His childhood was marked by tragedy: he was born while his mother was incarcerated for the act of taking the life of his father.

His mother was convicted of second-degree fatal assault and sentenced to 10 years, though she was paroled after only five years due to good behavior.

Upon her release, she retrieved Bill from the orphanage, and they lived together. After graduating from high school, Bill joined the Navy, seeking distance from his complicated past.

After four years, he was promoted and worked as a clerk at the Yeoman Naval Base.

Later, he was transferred to the Bangor Submarine Base in Kitsap County, Washington. At 23, he was known among his colleagues for his strong desire to start a family and find a wife.

The Black Widow’s Web

One evening at a local bar, Bill met Rosalina Monthy. Like Bill, Rosalina carried a heavy past: her parents, immigrants from the Philippines, had been tragically lost in an accident when she was just one year old, leading her to spend her childhood in an orphanage.

Rosalina moved to the United States as a teenager. In 1981, she met Bill near the Navy base where he worked. Bill confided in his friends that Rosalina had recently separated from her abusive husband, Richard Monthy, and was raising her three-year-old daughter alone.

The two quickly grew close, and after only a few months of courtship, they married on August 21, 1981, honeymooning in Montana before moving into their newly purchased home in Lake Tashington.

Bill was exceptionally generous with his new family and excited for Christmas, buying numerous gifts for his wife and stepdaughter.

However, just three days before Christmas, on December 22, 1981, Bill did not show up for work. This was highly uncharacteristic, immediately alarming his supervisor, who called Rosalina.

Rosalina immediately claimed her husband hadn’t come home and she had no idea where he was. Days passed without Bill reporting to work.

The Cowboy Boots and the Gremlin

The United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) soon launched an investigation into the disappearance of their member, joined by local Washington police.

A week after his supervisor reported him missing, Bill’s body was discovered on December 29, 1981.

Initial inspection revealed severe trauma: his face was shattered, his nose broken, his mouth severely damaged, and his eyes swollen from being beaten. Investigators also noted the clear prints of cowboy boots around his body.

The official autopsy later confirmed that the severe beating was not the cause of d34th; instead, he had sustained gunshot wounds to his body.

Authorities immediately questioned Rosalina. She became hysterical upon receiving the news.

She claimed she had last seen Bill when they went out together, and she left him at a bar talking to a long-haired man whom she suspected was a drug dealer, claiming Bill was drunk and involved with drugs.

She stated she left the bar, went dancing at another club with Navy officers, and ultimately slept on her neighbor’s couch.

Rosalina further suggested a person who might wish Bill harm: his friend, Michael Cogswell.

She falsely accused Michael of having a relationship with Bill, claiming she found them naked together in their room one day after she and Bill were married. When asked if Michael owned cowboy boots, she presented the roommate’s two pairs.

Rosalina consented to a search of their home and vehicles registered in her or Bill’s name.

However, she insisted they needed a warrant to search a red AMC Gremlin registered to her former husband, Richard Monthy. She provided Richard’s address, and his name was added to the list of persons of interest.

The Confession of Richard Monthy

Michael Cogswell willingly presented himself at the police station to clear his name, vehemently denying any romantic relationship with Bill and clarifying that he was not interested in men.

He also stated that Bill was not involved with drugs. His shoe size did not match the footprint found at the scene.

Investigators then turned their attention to Richard Monthy, Rosalina’s ex-husband. They visited Richard’s home on December 30, 1981, and immediately grew suspicious due to the highly chaotic state of the house. Richard consented to the search.

Detectives noted a missing bedroom door and broken glass on the floor.

Although the kitchen and living room appeared freshly cleaned, a luminol test immediately caused the walls and floor of the kitchen to brightly illuminate, confirming the presence of concealed blood. They also found a pair of cowboy boots hidden behind a closet door.

Richard Monthy, a former Navy member, admitted to detectives that he had met Rosalina while stationed in the Philippines.

They married in 1977 after Rosalina came to the US on a fiancé visa. Their relationship became violent, and they separated in 1980. Richard later went to prison for theft.

Richard claimed Rosalina had called him, sent him a ticket to her house in Lake Washington (which she owned before marrying Bill), and promised reconciliation.

On December 21, 1981, they met, and Rosalina revealed she was remarried. They fought, but Richard claimed he left and went to a bar.

However, forensic tests on the red AMC Gremlin, registered to both Richard and Rosalina, revealed damning evidence: a bullet casing was found in the barrel of the car, matching the bullets recovered from Bill’s body.

Broken glass fragments inside Richard’s house and car matched fragments found on the bottom of Bill’s shoe. Blood found on the car seat matched Bill’s blood, and strands of hair found in the car were confirmed to be Bill’s.

The Diary and the Insurance Scam

In January 1982, investigators received Bill’s belongings from the Naval Base, including his personal diary. Bill’s diary revealed a shocking truth: he feared for his life, but his fear was not of Richard Monthy—it was of his own wife, Rosalina.

Bill wrote that he realized his decision to marry Rosalina was a mistake. After conducting a background check, he discovered her true reputation.

As a teenager, she had worked at a bar in Subic Bay, intending to meet a Navy man to facilitate her entry into the US. She married the sailor on a fiancé visa, but the sailor realized she had used him and kicked her out.

She found refuge in a Filipino community in Seattle, where she met 70-year-old Pete Duco, a former Navy man. Rosalina provided domestic services for him, and after a few weeks, they married.

Tragically, Pete Duco suffered a fatal heart attack three weeks after their wedding, leaving Rosalina his house and several thousand dollars in cash.

Rosalina quickly moved on and married Richard Monthy in 1977. After their separation, she found a third partner, Robert Ericson, an elderly man planning retirement due to illness.

Following the same pattern, she took care of him, and he changed his will, naming Rosalina as the sole beneficiary. Robert Ericson d*ied weeks later. None of the deaths were officially ruled suspicious.

Bill’s diary revealed that despite the warnings and her nickname “Black Widow,” he married Rosalina in August 1981, intending to expose her insurance scams and send her to prison. He immediately took out a life insurance policy for $150,000, naming Rosalina as the beneficiary.

One week after taking out the policy, Bill woke up in a hospital, suffering from an anaphylactic reaction due to medication allergies.

He recalled waking up that night and seeing Rosalina on top of him, forcefully putting Tylenol pills into his mouth. This incident prompted him to secretly document everything.

Driven by Rosalina’s excessive spending, Bill’s debts mounted. He desperately called his bank and closed all his accounts, fearing she would deplete his savings. He wrote that his decision to marry Rosalina was a mistake.

The Life Sentence

Despite the evidence in the diary, police needed a strong confession. Richard Monthy, while in prison, began telling his cellmate about the fatal assault of Bill. Richard confessed that Rosalina offered him a share of the life insurance money.

According to Richard’s cellmate, Rosalina visited Richard in prison and secured his transfer to her inherited house on Long Lake Road.

On December 21, 1981, Rosalina brought Richard a case of beer, knowing his issues with alcohol control. She later returned with Bill, who was already intoxicated, and introduced him as her new husband.

In a fit of rage, Richard punched Bill repeatedly. As Richard assisted the bleeding Bill outside, Bill threatened to change his insurance policy. Enraged, Rosalina screamed at Richard, “If you don’t end his life, I will end his life myself!”

Richard put Bill in the car, where Bill asked him to turn on the radio, saying a dying man should listen to his favorite station. Richard then shot Bill twice in the head. They drove the body to an empty lot, where Richard shot him twice more.

In January 1982, Richard Monthy was officially arrested. In May 1982, Richard’s trial began.

Despite attacks on the cellmate’s credibility, the jury believed the testimony and the overwhelming forensic evidence. Richard was found guilty of Aggravated Fatal Assault and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.

Rosalina was arrested days later and charged with first-degree fatal assault. Her trial began in March 1983.

The prosecution argued that Rosalina strategically intoxicated both men at Richard’s location, knowing Richard’s violent tendencies when drinking, to orchestrate Bill’s de@th for the insurance money.

The jury found her guilty of first-degree fatal assault, and she was also sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.