Body found in freezer; man says he killed wife

Republic staff, wire reports Mar. 15, 2006 07:45 AM

Phoenix police are trying to identify a woman whose body was found stuffed inside a freezer near 35th Avenue and Greenway Road.

Police said Pellegrino Palomba, 58, walked into the Cactus Park Precinct about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday and told officers he killed his wife during a domestic dispute at their home on Feb. 28. Since then, police said he kept the woman's body in the freezer.

Police could not say whether the body inside the freezer was Palomba's wife, but she had not been otherwise located. The victim has reportedly not been seen for two weeks

Palomba was booked into a Maricopa County jail on suspicion of second-degree murder.

The freezer with the body still inside was removed from the residence Tuesday night and taken to the County Medical Examiner's Office.

Neighbors said they believe the couple are married. Neighbors said they never heard the couple fighting and that they pretty much kept to themselves.