Tortsen Rockwood had been dead five years when "Ahwatukee Sue" broke her silence.

The father of her son hadn't killed himself in the kitchen of their Phoenix apartment in February 2001, she claimed.

In fact, she was the one who took his 9mm pistol, aimed at his heart and pulled the trigger. She did so because he wouldn't pay child support.

At least, that's the story Ahwatukee Sue gave to a nationally syndicated radio show in late 2006.

Authorities say they have identified and are seeking charges against the woman behind Ahwatukee Sue, a moniker familiar to Tom Leykis Show fans since the call aired.

Police have not released her name, but court records identify her as Megan Suzanne Vice, 30, of El Mirage.

Phoenix police this week submitted the case to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. Suggested charges include first-degree murder and obstruction of a criminal investigation.

Investigators have known about Vice for more than a year. Her name came up after the Leykis show turned over thousands of phone numbers from people who called the show the day of the alleged confession.

Police's first encounter with Vice was in 2001, after she called 911 to report that her live-in boyfriend committed suicide. She told police that Rockwood had threatened to kill himself in the past, and he made a similar threat that day after they fought about red marks on their son's back, court records show. Vice said she and the 2-year-old were watching TV in the living room when the shot rang out.

An autopsy determined the cause of death was suicide.

Fast-forward to Nov. 3, 2006, the day a woman who identified herself as Sue from Ahwatukee called the Tom Leykis Show. Court records show that before her call was aired, she asked a producer if there was a way to trace the call or learn her identity. She said Sue was her middle name and that she killed her ex-boyfriend over child support. She said she received survivor benefits.

An MP3 file of the conversation posted on the show's Web site, www.blowmeuptom.com, reveals the woman telling Leykis she had a one-night stand that produced a child. She said they were nurses at the same hospital, and he quit his job to avoid child-support payments.

"I went over and tried to talk to him just about doing some under-the-table money," the woman said. "He wouldn't listen, so I shot him."

"You shot him?" Leykis said.

"Oh yes, I did," she said.

"You shot him dead?"

"I did."

The woman said she hadn't been arrested because she lied to police.

"When the cops show up and you're a blubbering, crying woman saying that, 'Oh he was yelling and screaming . . . and he pulled put his gun and shot himself,' and I'll be darned if they were OK with that."

She hung up when Leykis warned that he would give her number to authorities.

Police said Vice filed a burglary report the following day. She claimed someone broke into her vehicle when she stopped at a park Nov. 3. Several items were missing from her purse, including her cellphone.

Police say that's the phone Vice used to call the Leykis show. Vice admitted to placing the call when confronted by cold-case investigators, but she denied killing Rockwood, according to Sgt. Joel Tranter, a Phoenix police spokesman.

Tranter said part of the case against Vice includes specific knowledge she had about the death. Tranter conceded that she could have gleaned that information in the years since.

Attempts to reach Vice at her El Mirage home were unsuccessful. A current phone number for Rockwood's family in Colorado was not available.

Dr. Erin Spiers, a forensic psychologist in Scottsdale, said there are "myriad reasons" why somebody would place that call, such as guilt or a need to "get that off her chest."

"In the alternative, people often brag about offenses they have perpetuated out of narcissism or grandiosity," Spiers said. "That bravado . . . is how people are often brought to justice in the long run."

Leykis believes the latter. In an interview Thursday, Leykis said he felt Ahwatukee Sue was "very proud" of what she claimed to have done. He thinks she was telling the truth, despite criticism from listeners that the call was a hoax.

"They can admit to taking a trip on the moon," Leykis said. "But when someone calls in and says, 'I killed my child's father,' we're no longer in the realm of entertainment.

"I think it's important for people to know my show is a safe place if you want to confess any peccadillo, but if you call and confess to killing somebody, I will cooperate with the police every time."

Reporters Brent Whiting and Lisa Halverstadt contributed to this article.