Husband Arrested in Cold Case Death of Long Island Mom

Police have arrested a man in the murder of his wife more than five years after her body was found on Long Island, authorities said.

Joseph Jones, 33, was arrested Friday on a charge of second-degree murder, Suffolk County police said. He was due to be arraigned Monday.

It wasn't immediately clear whether Jones had a lawyer who could comment on his behalf.

His wife, Nicole Tessa, was 31 when she went missing in December 2010. A police search led to her body in a wooded area near the couple's North Patchogue home.

At the time, Jones acknowledged he and his wife had had a fight.

"We got into an argument," he said then, "but I left, and she left, and when I came back she wasn't here."

Video from the time shows Jones distraight, saying of investigators: "They're saying nothing. ... I don't know what's going on. I just want to know something, anything."

At the time of her death, family members said Tessa had disappeared before, and that she had health problems that required her to take anti-seizure medication.

The couple had a son, Aiden, who was 3 at the time of the death.

In 2010, neighbor Tina Planas said the arguing from the house next door wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

"She was a good mother, they had their moments like every family does," Planas said. "You know it's sad. They had their arguments, but who doesn't?"

Contact Us