Motive elusive, neighbors puzzled after ex-customs official guns down spouse

MISSION - Only Joseph Mongiello knows what drove him to fire at least four bullets into his wife's chest late Tuesday night.

The former port director at the Rio Grande City-Camargo International Bridge confessed to the murder of his wife, Lindsay Parker Tall, after an apparent argument that went too far.

Officers found Mongiello kneeling on the front porch of his house at 2015 Fair Oaks Drive with a cordless phone in his hand. He had dialed 9-1-1 at 11:06 p.m., just minutes after the shooting.

"I (fouled) up," Mongiello told officers, choosing more colorful language. "I shot my wife."

Police found Tall's lifeless body splayed across her bed with her legs dangling to the floor. The expired pistol lay beside her.

Tall's 17-year-old daughter was in the shower when officers arrived. It is unknown whether she was there when her stepfather killed her mother.

Soon after Justice of the Peace Luis Garza pronounced Tall's death, officers arrested Mongiello. He would later give police a sworn statement that he had shot his wife, but offered no motive for why he did it.

‘FULL OF LIFE'

Neighbors said they do not understand why Mongiello would take his 45-year-old spouse's life.

A bright, caring person who was devoted to her family and friends, Tall married Mongiello after her first husband was killed while traveling abroad.

Mongiello had spent nearly 26 years with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and with earlier incarnations of the agency. Since Sept. 2003, he had served as port director at Rio Grande City's international bridge - a job that gave Tall time to devote to painting, caring for her six dogs and her horse "Cookie," and volunteering in the community.

Above all, friends said Tall loved her two daughters, ages 17 and 18, often dropping off special lunches for the teens and their friends at Sharyland High School.

"She was just always full of life," neighbor and close friend Brenda Nelson said.

TROUBLED TIME

In August 2008, Mongiello was arrested by a Mission police officer for driving while intoxicated.

Sometime after that, he was stripped of his job title and placed on "nonduty status" by CBP. He continued to work in an unofficial capacity at different locations across the Rio Grande Valley, according to a CBP statement.

Tall stood steadfast beside her husband during a difficult time, neighbors said.

"She's definitely a lady that didn't deserve this," said Brenda's husband, Morris Nelson.

Mongiello suffered from morbid obsesity, to the point that his extra weight once caused his lung to collapse, said Morris' wife, Brenda Nelson.

Tall would constantly visit her husband as he fought toward recovery in a hospital, Brenda said. He has lost 100 pounds since then, she said.

"She was a person who just always made them feel like they were somebody," said Brenda, who added that she would talk Tall five or six times per day.

‘WE HAVE ALL THE EVIDENCE'

Mongiello stood barefoot in a dark blue T-shirt and jeans at his arraignment Wednesday afternoon.

His hands trembled and his eyes darted back and forth as he waited for Mission Municipal Judge Jonathan Wehrmeister to take the bench.

Wehrmeister charged Mongiello with one count of murder and set his bond at $3 million.

Tall's parents were traveling from their El Paso home Wednesday to be with their two teenage granddaughters, left behind by their stepfather's rampage.

Two weeks into the new year, Tall's slaying marks Hidalgo County's first murder of 2009. Last year, law enforcement officers across the county investigated 51 homicides.

No other incidents of domestic violence between the couple were reported to authorities, and Mongiello had no criminal record apart from the DWI.

Mongiello is set to return to court for his DWI arraignment on Jan. 20.

Whether alcohol contributed to Tall's slaying remains unclear, said Sgt. Jody Tittle, a Mission police spokesman.

"We have all the evidence," Tittle said. "Regardless of whether he was intoxicated or under the influence, he still committed the offense."

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Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.