Plano husband charged with murder and abuse of a corpse after wife's body found in home

Jake Bigoni and his wife, Eliana, were allegedly going through a divorce at the time of her death

A Plano man has been charged with murder and abuse of a corpse after police found his wife's body in his home during a welfare check.

According to an arrest affidavit, the Plano Police Department received a phone call from a witness on August 12, expressing concern about the welfare of 34-year-old Eliana Bigoni. The witness informed officers that Eliana was going through a divorce and that family and friends were unable to get in touch with her.

The affidavit stated that Eliana was separated from her husband, 37-year-old Jake Bigoni, but planned to come to The Parker Apartments to pick up her children, aged two and five, to take them to school. The witness told law enforcement that the process should have taken 10 to 15 minutes, but Eliana was no longer reachable by phone.

Eliana shared her phone's location with the witness, who saw that she had arrived at The Parker Apartments, located at 4701 Charles Place in Plano, but she soon stopped responding to calls or texts, the witness said. The witness spoke with Eliana during a six-minute phone call at 7:17 a.m., but this was the last contact the witness had with her, and Eliana did not show up for a scheduled 8:30 a.m. breakfast with the witness later that morning.

According to the arrest affidavit, at 8:35 a.m., the witness checked Eliana's location, and it showed that she was still at The Parker Apartments.

Plano police officers were dispatched to The Parker Apartments to check on Eliana at 10:23 a.m. After knocking on the door, one of the officers was met by Eliana's husband, Jake, who said that Eliana had been at the apartment earlier in the day but that he didn’t know where she was currently. During the conversation, the officers noticed a large wet spot on Jake's shirt. When asked about the spot, Jake said he had been cleaning the house.

Jake also told officers that Eliana had driven to the apartment but that her car was no longer there. Officers asked if they could check the garage, and Jake agreed. Inside, officers saw a white Hyundai Genesis sedan.

When officers returned to their squad cars, they saw updated call notes that stated, “I believe someone has been harmed or killed," and, “son said she is dead, his wife is Elaina Bigoni." The officers then contacted Jake's mother, who said she had spoken to Jake during a phone call, during which he said, “I have something to tell you. She’s dead."

The arrest affidavit states that Jake informed his mother that he and Eliana "got in a fight and she’s dead."

Officers knocked on the apartment door once again and placed Jake in handcuffs. One of the officers spoke to Jake, saying, “You’re detained. Is your wife in there? You’re not under arrest. Is she in there?” Jake replied, “Why are you doing this?”

Officers continued to ask Jake where his wife was, and he replied, “I have no idea." When officers asked why Jake would tell his mother that Eliana had died, he replied, “How would you know this kind of stuff?”

According to the arrest affidavit, one of the officers saw a reddish-brown stain on the front of Jake's shirt. Officers decided that based on the information they had at the time, it was reasonable to conduct a sweep of the apartment to check on Eliana.

Officers entered the apartment shortly before 11 a.m., checking places a person could be. One of the officers opened the trunk of the white Hyundai Genesis in the garage and saw a woman matching Eliana's description who was not breathing, unresponsive, and in an unnatural position. Officers determined that Eliana was dead, and they secured the apartment and removed the children so that any evidence could be preserved.

During the subsequent investigation, officers noted that Eliana was wearing a small amount of clothing that appeared damaged and covered in blood. She appeared to have significant damage to her face and head, and there was bruising on various parts of her body consistent with a violent physical altercation.

Officers also saw a large amount of blood and blood spatter on the inside of the apartment.

Based on the information learned during the investigation, Jake Bigoni was charged with murder and abuse of a corpse. He is currently being held in Plano City Jail.