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chapter 7

A Media Frenzy

The media was going hog-wild. Stories appeared every day in The Daily Times, Farmington’s newspaper, in the Albuquerque Journal, the Albuquerque Tribune, the Santa Fe New Mexican and newspapers in surrounding states of Colorado, Utah and Arizona. Paul’s picture appeared everywhere. Monica’s face flirted with readers on the printed page and on television. Articles reported Monica had been shot to death and reported Paul had been put on administrative leave with pay until the investigation was over. The local television station, KOBF, heavily covered the story, as did the bigger stations in Albuquerque.

The media reported the path of Monica’s body from the shooting to her final resting place. First, a trip to the Office of the Medical Investigator in Albuquerque for the gruesome, but necessary, dissection of the body known as an autopsy. Although this would only take a couple of hours, it was a crucial part of any police investigation. Murder or suicide often left fingerprints, marring the body while telling a tale.

Monica’s body finally returned to Farmington just days after her death. Her funeral was slated for four days later.

To his surprise, Victor Titus was asked to be a pallbearer. He wondered why the family had chosen him. They were close knit and wouldn’t have wanted a stranger. Then it hit him. Monica must have chosen him. How? When? He wondered. Victor Titus wondered if anyone knew or cared that he was Paul’s friend.

At Monica’s funeral, people wore yellow ribbons “so the truth would come out.” It was pretty obvious the people wearing the ribbons thought Paul murdered Monica. Reporters raided Monica’s funeral, cameramen and photographers tripping over each other to get shots of little Diane and Racquel, as well as the grieving Dora Sanchez, Monica’s mother. No one expected to see Paul at the funeral; stories had already come out saying he wasn’t allowed. The police were going to see that he stayed away at the family’s request. It seemed that Paul Dunn had no supporters. At least, nobody stood up to defend him. Many of his friends, also friends of the deceased court clerk, appeared at the funeral with somber faces.

The appearance of many friends of both Paul and Monica seemed to exhibit support for the Sanchezes—not Paul. Their disbelief that Monica would commit suicide was a tiny bit greater, or in some cases, quite a bit greater, than their disbelief that Paul would kill anyone. For some people, it had more to do with Monica’s religion than morality. Catholics are prohibited from committing suicide. For other people, the suicide question was more about race. They believed Hispanic women don’t kill themselves. In the battle of the “lesser of two evils,” Paul lost.

Paul was told not to go to his estranged wife’s funeral. He spent his energy trying to get Diane and Racquel back from Monica’s parents, Torry and Dora Sanchez. They refused to let him see his daughters or even talk to them. He could understand and forgive the Sanchez’s need to protect the children. But what they did to the girls he would never understand nor respect. They separated Diane and Racquel, who were as close as twins, at a time when they needed each other the most. Diane was sent to stay with Torry and Dora, and Racquel to stay with her Aunt Theresa.

The weekend after the funeral, Monica’s nephews Torry and Mike Cortez stood at a Wal-Mart store handing out more yellow ribbons for people to tie to their vehicle antennas in Monica’s memory. They had a lot of takers.

Much later, a flag memorial for Monica emblazoned the sky at the city’s domestic violence shelter.

At that point, attorney Victor Titus didn’t think Paul was guilty of murder, but he couldn’t completely erase his question. Monica was the stronger person of the pair, and Titus just didn’t believe Paul had it in him to kill someone. The next week, Titus met with Magistrate Terry Pearson and Farmington attorneys Jay Faurot and Bob Graham. Titus sought their help in how to handle the case.