Post by aftertherain on Mar 13, 2012 8:10:17 GMT -5
hey everyone,
Im relatively new to this board as I have been searching for a place for homicide survivors to express my feelings towards my fathers murder.
On July 9th 2011 at around 3:30 PM to 4:00 PM, my 49 yr old father hugged me and 18 year old brother Peter good bye to go have dinner with his new "wife" (she didnt live with us and we are fighting to nullify the marriage, long story) and that was the last time we saw him alive. I remember calling Dad around 11:30 PM that night to see what was taking him so long. I called and called to no avail. I stayed awake all night to wait for him or get a phone call, anything to let me know he was OK. When he did not come home, I filed a missing person report on the following morning and I set up a facebook event page with Dads picture hoping maybe someone would have seen him, sounds crazy but it was worth a shot. When the cop came over to take the report, she saw that I was nervous and jumpy. Why the hell wouldn't I be? Maybe she didn't get it...MY FATHER WAS MISSING WITH A WOMAN WHO HAD POINTED A GUN AT HIM BEFORE! She even went as far as to say I was making myself look like a suspect. After she left, I called everyone I knew my father might have had contact with and no one had heard from him. I called all the jails and hospitals: nothing. So my brother and I waited and waited but nothing. Sunday became Monday so I decided to call my Dads job to see if he had checked in. I knew my Dad would never ever miss work. Surprise, he didn't check in which I knew that this meant she probably abducted him, left him in the middle of no mans land, or in the hospital. I finally called his banker who has known me since i was little and the banker was kind enough to tell me where his last charges were. As soon as I knew where the last gas station she used it was at, I knew she had family in AZ so I figured she left Dad in no mans land. Morning turned to afternoon, so finally my brother Peter and I went to eat dinner at his friends house in the next town over to calm our nerves down. When we got there, my brother and his friend went to play video games and his father gave me an iced tea to calm down. He pulled me aside into their dining area and told me that I should be prepared to have a body being returned to me. My heart sank when they told me this but I knew that woman had threatened Dad before with a gun so I knew that would be a possibility. Around 7, I got a call from an investigator from Riverside County who told me he and his partner were at our apartment and wanted to speak to me about my missing persons report. I figured hey they found him, he is probably in the hospital and I need to go sign some forms or something. So I yelled for Peter and we went home. When we got there we let ourselves and the investigators in to the apartment we all lived together at the time in CA. We all sat down at the table. The investigators started asking us weird questions about Dad and the relationship between him and his new "wife" Maria. I had a feeling in my stomach something wasn't right cause they interviewed us for about 2 hours. Peter's face lit up and he finally asked "so when is Dad coming home? or do we need to go pick him up?" The investigators looked at each other as if they were sick. So I shot a look at my brother as if that wasn't the right question to ask. The investigator told us that they had my Dads truck and again my brother interjected. He says "so we have to go get his truck too? I feel sorry for you Tanya, you will have to find another driver so we can go pick it up". This time I told him to be quiet that it wasn't the right question to ask. The investigator proceeded to tell us, "We came here to tell you that we have your father's truck and we have his body. His truck and body were found in the unincorporated part of Beaumont. Maria shot your father multiple times and he was pronounced dead on the scene. We are really sorry". My face turned pale and Peter started balling. I'd never seen him cry that hard or that much before. I went and hugged him and the investigators showed us pictures of her and her 2 accomplices. The investigator told me a cop was on his way to a robbery call as there were many robberies in the area at the time. He saw she had no rear license plate (I stole it two days prior to the murder cause I was trying to get her away from Dad. I burned the plate the day before) and pulled her over. The investigator told me when they ran the VIN of the car, it didn't match the front plate. Dad stole her front plate the morning of the last day he was alive to safe guard the plate and she stole a plate off another car, different year same model but didn't take a backplate. I almost threw up seeing their pictures. The main investigator told me to take a look and asked if I recognized her and to see what she was wearing. I noticed she had her jail clothes on. The investigators then proceeded to go through Dads computer and paperwork. After they left, I finally thanked my friends and let them know that my father was dead. No longer then 15 minutes after I let them know, my attorney called me and had asked if it was true. When I told her yes, she told me that the media had released his name prior to us knowing that he was Dad. My Dads story was not only featured in the Riverside County papers but in huge newspapers in both Los Angeles and Long Beach which made me feel sicker. Luckily, my neighbors from across the hall came over to comfort us and even my long-time friend and accompanist spent the night to make sure we would be ok.
Fast forward to 8 months later (today), I know what kind of family she came from so I moved 2,000 miles away to Texas meanwhile my brother remains in California and is not speaking to me and continues to blame me for Dad's death. Victim Services has not been helpful. I don't even know when her next court date is, whats going on, and my phone calls are not getting returned. California is not around the corner and my body is getting worn out from all the traveling to and from. Im 22, I can't take much more physically. I can't sleep more than 3 hours a day if that. I can't eat and am nauseous all the time. I have only known about her court dates because I obtained her case information number from the D.A.'s investigator and am reading the minute orders online as soon as they are released. One of her accomplices was released since he didn't know about the murder (its thanks to him that she will get convicted as he gave them the details what happened that night and he was only in the getaway car). He is being extradited to his home country and he will not suffer any recourse.
Im so frustrated and just want to scream. My father was the light of my life and I feel like Im letting him down by not being there in that court room. The last time i saw her, she was smirking at me. She still continues to show no remorse.
It feels good to finally say something and have a place to do it. Thanks for reading <3
Im relatively new to this board as I have been searching for a place for homicide survivors to express my feelings towards my fathers murder.
On July 9th 2011 at around 3:30 PM to 4:00 PM, my 49 yr old father hugged me and 18 year old brother Peter good bye to go have dinner with his new "wife" (she didnt live with us and we are fighting to nullify the marriage, long story) and that was the last time we saw him alive. I remember calling Dad around 11:30 PM that night to see what was taking him so long. I called and called to no avail. I stayed awake all night to wait for him or get a phone call, anything to let me know he was OK. When he did not come home, I filed a missing person report on the following morning and I set up a facebook event page with Dads picture hoping maybe someone would have seen him, sounds crazy but it was worth a shot. When the cop came over to take the report, she saw that I was nervous and jumpy. Why the hell wouldn't I be? Maybe she didn't get it...MY FATHER WAS MISSING WITH A WOMAN WHO HAD POINTED A GUN AT HIM BEFORE! She even went as far as to say I was making myself look like a suspect. After she left, I called everyone I knew my father might have had contact with and no one had heard from him. I called all the jails and hospitals: nothing. So my brother and I waited and waited but nothing. Sunday became Monday so I decided to call my Dads job to see if he had checked in. I knew my Dad would never ever miss work. Surprise, he didn't check in which I knew that this meant she probably abducted him, left him in the middle of no mans land, or in the hospital. I finally called his banker who has known me since i was little and the banker was kind enough to tell me where his last charges were. As soon as I knew where the last gas station she used it was at, I knew she had family in AZ so I figured she left Dad in no mans land. Morning turned to afternoon, so finally my brother Peter and I went to eat dinner at his friends house in the next town over to calm our nerves down. When we got there, my brother and his friend went to play video games and his father gave me an iced tea to calm down. He pulled me aside into their dining area and told me that I should be prepared to have a body being returned to me. My heart sank when they told me this but I knew that woman had threatened Dad before with a gun so I knew that would be a possibility. Around 7, I got a call from an investigator from Riverside County who told me he and his partner were at our apartment and wanted to speak to me about my missing persons report. I figured hey they found him, he is probably in the hospital and I need to go sign some forms or something. So I yelled for Peter and we went home. When we got there we let ourselves and the investigators in to the apartment we all lived together at the time in CA. We all sat down at the table. The investigators started asking us weird questions about Dad and the relationship between him and his new "wife" Maria. I had a feeling in my stomach something wasn't right cause they interviewed us for about 2 hours. Peter's face lit up and he finally asked "so when is Dad coming home? or do we need to go pick him up?" The investigators looked at each other as if they were sick. So I shot a look at my brother as if that wasn't the right question to ask. The investigator told us that they had my Dads truck and again my brother interjected. He says "so we have to go get his truck too? I feel sorry for you Tanya, you will have to find another driver so we can go pick it up". This time I told him to be quiet that it wasn't the right question to ask. The investigator proceeded to tell us, "We came here to tell you that we have your father's truck and we have his body. His truck and body were found in the unincorporated part of Beaumont. Maria shot your father multiple times and he was pronounced dead on the scene. We are really sorry". My face turned pale and Peter started balling. I'd never seen him cry that hard or that much before. I went and hugged him and the investigators showed us pictures of her and her 2 accomplices. The investigator told me a cop was on his way to a robbery call as there were many robberies in the area at the time. He saw she had no rear license plate (I stole it two days prior to the murder cause I was trying to get her away from Dad. I burned the plate the day before) and pulled her over. The investigator told me when they ran the VIN of the car, it didn't match the front plate. Dad stole her front plate the morning of the last day he was alive to safe guard the plate and she stole a plate off another car, different year same model but didn't take a backplate. I almost threw up seeing their pictures. The main investigator told me to take a look and asked if I recognized her and to see what she was wearing. I noticed she had her jail clothes on. The investigators then proceeded to go through Dads computer and paperwork. After they left, I finally thanked my friends and let them know that my father was dead. No longer then 15 minutes after I let them know, my attorney called me and had asked if it was true. When I told her yes, she told me that the media had released his name prior to us knowing that he was Dad. My Dads story was not only featured in the Riverside County papers but in huge newspapers in both Los Angeles and Long Beach which made me feel sicker. Luckily, my neighbors from across the hall came over to comfort us and even my long-time friend and accompanist spent the night to make sure we would be ok.
Fast forward to 8 months later (today), I know what kind of family she came from so I moved 2,000 miles away to Texas meanwhile my brother remains in California and is not speaking to me and continues to blame me for Dad's death. Victim Services has not been helpful. I don't even know when her next court date is, whats going on, and my phone calls are not getting returned. California is not around the corner and my body is getting worn out from all the traveling to and from. Im 22, I can't take much more physically. I can't sleep more than 3 hours a day if that. I can't eat and am nauseous all the time. I have only known about her court dates because I obtained her case information number from the D.A.'s investigator and am reading the minute orders online as soon as they are released. One of her accomplices was released since he didn't know about the murder (its thanks to him that she will get convicted as he gave them the details what happened that night and he was only in the getaway car). He is being extradited to his home country and he will not suffer any recourse.
Im so frustrated and just want to scream. My father was the light of my life and I feel like Im letting him down by not being there in that court room. The last time i saw her, she was smirking at me. She still continues to show no remorse.
It feels good to finally say something and have a place to do it. Thanks for reading <3