Wife Of Convicted Murderer Seeks Reward Money For Tip

The estranged wife of one of two men charged in the March 2000 murder of Sophia Martinez at the Government Employees CU ATM has claimed more than $50,000 in reward money for information she gave to police fingering her husband as a suspect. Heather Jacques, 21, was awarded $10,000 by the FBI and has put in a claim for $41,283 put up by the CU. Information provided by Jacques led to the arrest of her husband, Michael Jacques, and William Berkley, who was sentenced to death for the Martinez murder. An FBI agent testified during Berkley's trial that Heather Jacques provided information "we needed to lead us to those who were eventually charged." Heather Jacques left her husband on March 28, 2000, eight days after the murder but waited for seven months before going to police with evidence of her husband's involvement. She said she waited to go to police because she feared for her life. Michael Jacques is scheduled to be tried on capital murder charges in September. Martinez, an 18-year-old high school senior was accosted and kidnapped while she was making a routine withdrawal the ATM at 10:20 pm. Her body was found two days later on the north side of the city.