Lehigh Acres, FL: Husband charged in wife's death

Lehigh Acres woman found shot, tied to car
BY GABRIELLA SOUZA • GSOUZA@NEWS-PRESS.COM • MAY 14, 2010
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A Lehigh Acres man has been charged in the death of his wife, who was found shot Wednesday, her body tied to a car in a vacant lot across from her home.




Zacarius Izquierdo, 68, was being held in the Lee County Jail on Thursday night without bond. Izquierdo was booked into custody after spending much of the past two days hospitalized for an undisclosed medical issue.

The medical examiner will conduct an autopsy on his wife, Maria Bauza, 49.

On Thursday, crime scene unit vehicles and yellow tape still surrounded the home at 3405 21st St. SW.

Tire tracks and a trail of what appeared to be blood led from the driveway to the vacant lot across the street. On Wednesday, deputies discovered the body behind a blue Toyota parked in the lot.

Neighbors say Bauza and Izquierdo moved into the one-story home about three months ago. According to records, the couple moved back and forth from Miami and Lehigh Acres in the last year.

Up until January, they lived in a house on 36th Street Southwest and records show Maria Bauza recently occupied a home in Miami. They also own a home on 10th Avenue Northeast in Naples, where relative Lourdes Bauza lives.

Cinthia Cano, who lives down the street on 36th Street Southwest, described them as a quiet couple she occasionally chatted with.

Izquierdo worked as a trucker, she said, and Bauza stayed at home. The couple had a teenage girl staying with them. It wasn't known if the girl was related to the couple.

"We never heard any screaming," Cano said. "They were peaceful people."

Izquierdo has one previous arrest in Lee County for driving with a suspended license in 2001.

The sheriff's office has not released a motive in Bauza's death.