By JOE HUTCHISON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Published: 16:02 GMT, 21 December 2024 | Updated: 16:15 GMT, 21 December 2024

A California man forced a close friend at gunpoint to help him dump his wife’s body into a freezer, a new report claims. 

Mary Margaret Haxby-Jones’ remains were found inside the freezer in their rear of the San Diego home she shared with her husband Robert Haxby last December. 

She hadn’t been seen in nine years, and her body was only discovered after her husband suffered a stroke and was taken to a hospital. 

An autopsy report unsealed this week and seen by The Los Angeles Times alleges that a friend, identified by CBS as Joseph Beneventin, told the family about her body. 

The report also claims that Beneventin helped Haxby put her remains inside the freezer. 

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Her manner and cause of death have been left as undetermined, with police believing that her body was hidden so her husband could continue to claim her benefits.

They have been unable to gather enough evidence in the case to prosecute it, with Haxby also passing away in February of this year. 

Beneventin has since came forward and said that she died from natural causes due to being obese and suffering from dementia. 

Mary Margaret Haxby-Jones’ remains were found inside the freezer in their rear of the San Diego home she shared with her husband Robert Haxby last December

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They have been unable to gather enough evidence in the case to prosecute it, with Haxby, seen here, also passing away in February of this year

Speaking with CBS8, he said: ‘Mary died of natural causes, she was 400 pounds. Bob told me that Mary passed away.

‘I go into the room, and she is inverted like 180 degrees. Her pelvic was in her face.’

When questioned by the outlet however, he said he had ‘nothing to do with’ putting her remains in the freezer. 

He claimed that he found her body inside the freezer the next day, saying: ‘I said “you can’t do this”, he said “why not?”

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‘I said it’s against the law, you’ve got to bury her in the ground. So he went and got a shotgun and loaded it. He said: “Next time you talk about this guess where you’re going”.’ 

Beneventin said she had died sometime in 2013 and her death was keep quiet so Haxby could continue to claim her benefits. 

He added: ‘He did it for financial gain because Mary took all the equity out of the house. The only way to pay the mortgage back was the checks Mary was getting.’

The outlet also uncovered that Beneventin resides in a property owned by Haxby, with the two homes now in probate court. 

Beneventin has since came forward and said that she died from natural causes due to being obese and suffering from dementia

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Her manner and cause of death have been left as undetermined, with police believing that her body was hidden so her husband could continue to claim her benefits

The attorney now representing Haxby’s children has questioned Beneventin’s side of events. 

Nicole D’Ambrogi told CBS: ‘There were ample opportunities for Joe to go to the police and indicate that Miss Haxby Jones was located in the freezer in the backyard. 

‘Yet he didn’t do that. What he was doing was he was living in Mr. Haxby home, rent free.’

She seemed to suggest that Haxby may have also been a victim of financial fraud, saying he too suffered from dementia and was in a state of decline. 

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Haxby-Jones’ stepdaughter Wendy Edick also said: ‘It was completely shocking, also to know that nobody has missed her.’

She told the outlet that she had been estranged from her father, and that the two had been veterans. 

Associated Press

Gonzaga Bulldogs (5-7, 0-1 WCC) at San Diego Toreros (4-6, 0-1 WCC)

San Diego; Saturday, 5 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Gonzaga visits San Diego after Yvonne Ejim scored 20 points in Gonzaga’s 73-58 loss to the San Francisco Dons.

The Toreros have gone 3-3 at home. San Diego is 2-4 against opponents with a winning record.

The Bulldogs are 0-1 in WCC play. Gonzaga is 0-1 when it turns the ball over less than its opponents and averages 17.3 turnovers per game.

San Diego’s average of 3.2 made 3-pointers per game is 4.9 fewer made shots on average than the 8.1 per game Gonzaga gives up. Gonzaga averages 7.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.7 more made shots on average than the 5.8 per game San Diego allows.

The Toreros and Bulldogs match up Saturday for the first time in WCC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kylie Horstmeyer is scoring 11.7 points per game with 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists for the Toreros.

Ejim is shooting 57.0% and averaging 19.8 points for the Bulldogs.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Just as the holiday travel season gets underway, daily dense fog here has played havoc with passengers’ flight plans in and out of San Diego International Airport. And the potential for more disruption remains in play.

Over the past three days, nearly 800 flights coming into and leaving the airport were delayed, according to the flight tracking service, FlightAware.

While the National Weather Service is seeing signs that lowered visibility from fog may be moving inland, there still remains the possibility of a late night advisory.

“We think closer to the Interstate15 corridor we may see areas of dense fog tonight, but there’s still the question of when it becomes widespread enough for it to be an issue,” said Casey Oswant, a lead forecaster with the National Weather Service, on Friday. “The fog can be kind of finicky, but now most of the dense fog has dissipated from the coast, so we need to see dense fog observed along the coast before we pull the trigger on an advisory.”

By early evening, there were only low clouds emerging near the coast, although dense fog could still form overnight, said National Weather Service meteorologist Brandt Maxwell.

It’s still too early to say exactly where there may be fog, although it could be most prevalent slightly inland from the coastal area, east of Interstate 5, as opposed to west of the freeway, which was the case Thursday night, Maxwell said.

San Diego airport officials are forecasting that as many as 1.3 million people will fly in and out of the airport over an 18-day holiday period that began Thursday. Some of the busiest times at the airport are expected to be Friday through Monday. The airport posted a travel alert Friday morning on social media advising passengers to be “aware we’re experiencing some flight delays due to fog. Check with your airline before leaving for the airport.”

Visibility could be as low as 1 mile this evening as a result of fog, Oswant said, but that’s not nearly as bad as Thursday night when visibility dropped to just a quarter mile around the airport at 8 p.m. It later fell to below a quarter mile up until 4 a.m. Friday, she added.

There were more than 300 flight delays in and out of the airport on Friday alone, according to FlightAware. Part of that is due to the ripple effect of consecutive days of delayed flights as airlines try to get passengers on later flights.

“Year-round weather conditions can impact both departing and arriving flights,” airport spokesperson Nicole Hall said Friday. “Beginning on Thursday and continuing into Friday, a dense low fog cover impacted visibility at the San Diego International Airport. Consequently, more than 100 flights were diverted to other airports and about 30 were canceled. It is possible that fog will persist and continue to create challenges.”

She noted that Airport Authority staff and volunteers will be onsite to help passengers and minimize crowding in the airline gate areas.

As a precaution, she said that passengers should continue to check the status of their flights before getting to the airport. Fog or no fog, she added, delays are a fact of life when it comes to flying, especially during one of the airport’s busiest seasons.

Originally Published: December 20, 2024 at 4:44 PM PST