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The husband of a missing Coppell woman denied Friday that she was ever romantically involved with the man suspected of killing her.
Raul Garza said his wife, Kathleen, met frequently to discuss business plans with 74-year-old Leroy Tellgren because he seemed lonely and reminded her of her father.
Garza disputed a coffee shop employee's characterization of his wife's relationship with Tellgren as more than platonic. The employee told The Dallas Morning News this week that she saw the two holding hands and sharing private conversations.
"I started suspecting that he liked my wife, but I never suspected my wife in return liked him," Garza said. "Kathy trusted him quite a bit. She convinced me he was safe and harmless."
Kathleen Garza, 49, was last seen April 16 leaving the Coppell coffee shop in Tellgren's truck. Her body has not been found.
Police investigated at Tellgren's Carrollton home Friday evening because they thought search dogs might have detected signs of remains, but nothing was discovered.
When Coppell police arrested Tellgren on Monday, they found Garza's watch and two rings in a pocket of his clothing, and his shirt appeared to have a large bloodstain on it. He is being held on a capital-murder charge at the Denton County jail, with bail set at $1 million.
Kathleen Garza and Tellgren met several years ago when the two worked together in the Coppell school district. Garza left her job as a middle school teacher in May, and Tellgren worked as a bus monitor for Dallas County Schools from 2004 to 2006.
Raul Garza said his wife began meeting with Tellgren more in March, when he asked her to help run several businesses he said he owned.
Tellgren said he was involved in a ranch that trained cutting horses in Collin County, a Granbury company that produced rodeo ropes and a landscaping firm. He told her he was getting old and needed help.
Raul Garza said he doubted Tellgren was a legitimate businessman. He said he thought Tellgren had too much free time to be doing the work he claimed. But Tellgren was convincing, Garza said.
"She liked horses," Garza said. "It's one of the other things that he knew how to play her and get into her interests."
He said Tellgren never followed through on his plans.
According to her husband, Kathleen Garza was supposed to begin working for Tellgren on April 1. She told her husband they had rented an office in Lewisville.
But when Tellgren and Kathleen Garza planned to go to the office or the ranch he said he owned, he always had excuses.
Garza said Tellgren claimed he couldn't find the keys to the office. Once within 10 minutes of reaching the ranch, Tellgren received a call on his cellphone and said he had to turn around.
The weekend before Kathleen Garza went missing, Tellgren claimed his brother in Colorado had died and he had to go organize the funeral.
Last weekend, Raul Garza called the brother in Colorado.
"I called his brother and he answered the phone," Garza said. "It was after that I found out ... [Tellgren] didn't have anything to his name except the house he lived in."
