MOYOCK, N.C. Authorities say a North Carolina man having marital problems was killed by his bodybuilding wife in their Currituck County home.
Deputies told The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, Va., that 38-year-old Lateisha Jandreau was arrested Saturday by officers with a search warrant after they found her 51-year-old husband's body hidden in the couple's garage.
Mike Jandreau says his brother Paul told him he was having problems with his wife, but wasn't scared. The two had been married for about eight years after meeting in a kickboxing class and Lateisha Jandreau won a state bodybuilding championship last month.
Jandreau is charged with first degree murder and is being held at the Currituck County jail without bond. It wasn't immediately clear if she had an attorney.
Although Paul Jandreau was having marital problems, he had no fear of his bodybuilding, kickboxing wife, he told his brother.
On Wednesday, after he didn't show up for work, friends reported Jandreau missing. Early Saturday, Currituck County sheriffs obtained a search warrant for the couple's Brumsey Landing home and found the 51-year-old's body concealed in the garage.
His wife, Lateisha Jandreau, 38, was cowering in a bedroom closet. She was charged with first-degree murder and is in jail without bail, Currituck Sheriff Susan Johnson said.
An autopsy is scheduled, and sheriff's officials were not speculating about the cause of death.
Mike Jandreau said Saturday that he talked to his brother often and last saw him in February when they attended the Daytona 500 stock car race. He flew from Florida to North Carolina when his brother was reported missing.
"He'd been talking about divorce for weeks. He told me she was cheating on him and that he had plenty of evidence," Mike Jandreau said. "I asked him if he was OK and he said, ' I'm not worried about anything.' He said he just needed to get her out of his house so he could have his life back."
Mike Jandreau said he told his brother to hire a lawyer and that he thought Paul Jandreau had done so on Monday. Mike Jandreau said he was trying to find out who the lawyer was.
A retired Navy master chief, Paul Jandreau was working at BAE Systems in Norfolk, where he had a group of devoted friends. They said Saturday that Jandreau met his wife at a kickboxing class and that they had been married for approximately eight years. Lateisha Jandreau won the National American Sports Federation's North Carolina bodybuilding championship last month, according to the organization's website.
Friends suspected foul play when their friend - known for his punctuality - didn't show for work.
"We knew something was wrong," Dennis Carter said.
Several friends drove to Jandreau's house in Moyock, near the Virginia-North Carolina border, where they found his 2005 GMC Sierra pickup in the driveway. They said whenever he goes anywhere, he drives that truck.
Later, they asked his wife where he was and she said she didn't know. The friends said Saturday that windows in the home were covered on the inside with wrapping paper and that one of the bathrooms "reeked of bleach."
On Thursday, friends found Lateisha Jandreau and her brother loading furniture into the pickup, which they had backed up to the house. Sheriff Johnson confirmed Saturday that the wife's brother, Eugene Askew, 39, is "a person of interest" in the case and that her department is looking for him.
After seeing the pair moving furniture, friends began staking out the home. Mike Jandreau credits them with speeding up the case.
"He was a stand-up guy with a very close group of friends," Mike Jandreau said. "I don't think the sheriff's department would have gotten to her so quickly without his friends. They stood vigilance at his home and never gave her the chance to dispose of the body."
Word spread quickly Saturday about Jandreau's apparent murder. Friends were relieved that he had been found. They were concerned about how his two adult daughters from a previous marriage were handling the news.
"I ain't got no words right now," said Don Roof, who worked with Jandreau for three years. "I can't believe that it happened. And for what? What did it solve? It just doesn't seem real.
"He was a wonderful guy who really cared about his friends.
"He's going to be missed severely."
