1.  p. 7 "Wanda…February 4, 1983."
    State of Texas Death Certificate for Wanda Jean Lopez, Nueces County Medical Examiner (Feb. 4, 1983) (“Date of Birth: 8–26–58”; “Pronounced Dead: 2–4–83 at 9:55 P.”; “Age in years last birthday: 24”).
  2.  p. 7 "She was twenty-four."
    State of Texas Death Certificate for Wanda Jean Lopez, Nueces County Medical Examiner (Feb. 4, 1983).
  3.  p. 7 "They…made him angry."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:55:54–06:56:15 (when asked about the first time he heard the audiotape that played Wanda’s last words, Vargas responded, “Something I never heard that made me very furious was the 911 calls.”).
  4.  p. 7 "She…news to share."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:45:13–06:46:35:
    Well, the night before she had asked that I go with her, we go out with her because she wanted to celebrate an evening with us. And I told her I might not [be able to], because [I] worked late, and I had a lot of bills to pay. She right away said that she would take care of my bills. She would go get them done before the evening was out so that we could all go out. I said, “No, you don’t have to do that.” She said, “I will if you go out with me.” I said, “Ok.”
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:46:43–06:47:13 (“She was so excited for us I guess to meet some new friend she met. Being that her life was always trying to be the best you can and take care of yourself, probably she had, I’m thinking, found somebody that she was proud of and wanted us to meet him, to meet him . . . .”).
  5.  p. 7 "Wanda…10:00 A.M. shift"
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Robert Stange, Sigmor Gas Station Manager, in Fredericksburg, Texas (Feb. 24, 2005) at 17:22:39–17:23:10 (“I believe the store closed at ten. That would have put her out at 10:20 or 10:30, depending on how quickly she could get everything arranged and closed out.”);
    Crime Scene Photograph 25500024, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983) (photo of front door of Sigmor station showing closing time of 10 p.m.).
  6.  p. 7 "alone…part of town."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:43:52–06:44:48.
  7.  p. 7 "Unlike…some other stations"
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:58:18–06:58:32 (“Maybe go to other stations they [clerks and customers] are pretty separate, that station [where his sister worked] has a flaw. The counter is face to face with the customer.”).
  8.  p. 7 "no…from the customers."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:57:55–06:58:04 (“[P]rior to that, we had even asked them to build some kind of glass container to keep the attendants safe.”).
  9.  p. 7 "To…single cash drawer."
    Pl.’s Ex. 11, Vargas v. Diamond Shamrock, No. 84–4951-D, 86–5900-D (Nueces Cty., 105th Dist. Tex. June 3, 1988) (photograph showing cash drawer under the counter in the Sigmor store).
  10.  p. 7 "Above…window looked south."
    Pl.’s Ex. 15, Vargas v. Diamond Shamrock, No. 84–4951-D, 86–5900-D (Nueces Cty., 105th Dist. Tex. June 3, 1988) (photograph showing south window of Sigmor store, overlooking gas pumps).
  11.  p. 7 "and…people called 'SPID.'"
    Def’s Ex. 1, Vargas v. Diamond Shamrock, No. 84–4951-D, 85–5900-D (Nueces Cty., 105th Dist. Tex. June 3, 1988) (photograph showing aerial view of Sigmor gas station, with the SPID highway running in front (south) of it);
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Robert Stange, Shamrock Gas Station Manager, in Fredericksburg, Texas (Feb. 24, 2005) at 15:16:34–15:18:12.
  12.  p. 7 "Behind…club' named Wolfy's."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:58:36–06:58:53 (describing a club across the street from the Sigmor-Shamrock that played “loud music” and “drawed lots of cars.”).
  13.  p. 7 "Its…loomed over SPID."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Rene Rodriguez, Lawyer for Wanda Lopez’s Family in Suit Against Diamond-Shamrock, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 8, 2005) at 05:39:03–05:40:46 (“[Wolfy’s] had a big old two-story figurine of a woman in a bathing suit, a very revealing bathing suit, so it attracted a lot of people. All kinds of people.”).
  14.  p. 7 "The…men from the area."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Rene Rodriguez, Lawyer for Wanda Lopez’s Family in Suit Against Diamond-Shamrock, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 8, 2005) at 05:39:03–05:40:46 (“[Wolfy’s] at the time was owned by a local motorcycle club, similar to the Hell’s Angels, called the Banditos. So there were all kinds of people. You saw people, real rough looking people, and you saw, what I’d call the suits.”).
  15.  p. 7 "The…cigarettes or beer."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Rene Rodriguez, Lawyer for Wanda Lopez’s Family in Suit Against Diamond-Shamrock, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 8, 2005) at 05:39:03–05:40:46 (“There was plenty of cars around, from [Wolfy’s]. It’s right next to the Shamrock. Drunks walking over to buy cigarettes and whatever.”);
    see Transcribed Videotape Interview with Becky Nesmith, Cousin of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 8, 2004) at 05:11:59–05:12:50 (“The Diamond Shamrock that Wanda worked at was a very small store, and it was next to a topless club, and she had been asking not to work alone at nights, for fear that something may happen.”).
  16.  p. 7 "Wanda…on her own."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:59:13–07:00:02 (explaining that Wanda dealt with the customers and the subpar working conditions because “[s]he had to work, she had to make a living. And the reason she picked that one was because it was close to home and they hired her there.”);
    Sita Sovin & Lauren Eskenazi’s Notes on Interview with Carmen Taylor, Former Employee of Shamrock Gas Station (Nov. 7, 2004) at 1, 2 (“People from Wolfy’s came into the station store to buy beer. Carmen had a couple of incidents where a couple of guys stole beer. . . . Carmen had a lot of ‘run offs’—where people did not pay.”).
  17. p. 7 "She…place like Wolfy's."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:59:04–06:59:09 (“[Wanda said] [s]he better never catch me at one of those places.”).
  18.  p. 8 "North…rotting slat fences."
    Def’s Ex. 1, Vargas v. Diamond Shamrock, No. 84–4951-D, 85–5900-D (Nueces Cty., 105th Dist. Tex. June 3, 1988) (photograph showing aerial view of Sigmor gas station, with residential neighborhood behind (north of) it).
  19.  p. 8 "Wanda…daughter to support.
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:39:52–06:39:58, 06:40:39–06:40:47 (“I think, she dropped out. She didn’t quite graduate.”; Wanda had “[a] little girl.”).
  20.  p. 8 "Her…four months pregnant"
    Dep. of Mary Vargas at 8, Vargas v. Diamond Shamrock, No. 84–4951-D, 86–5900-D (filed April 20, 1988) (explaining that Wanda and her husband, Jerardo Lopez, divorced “after the baby was born”, and that, even before that, Mr. Lopez had left her. “He went out of town to Colorado and he left her.”).
  21.  p. 8 "and…from him since."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:40:56–06:41:40 (“I don’t know if . . . my niece [Wanda’s daughter] has ever met him. I’m not sure. But he was not in the picture.”).
  22.  p. 8 "To…minded the baby."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:41:40–06:42:35 (“She would just go for, you know, whatever she could as to make money. And also she was staying with mom and dad, to help them. So she started working convenience stores.”).
  23.  p. 8 "She…followed the rules."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Robert Stange, Shamrock Gas Station Manager, in Fredericksburg, Texas (Feb. 24, 2005) at 15:22:06–15:22:45 (“Wanda, she was always happy.”);
    see infra Chapter 4, notes 18–22 and accompanying text.
  24.  p. 8 "She…an assistant manager."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Robert Stange, Shamrock Gas Station Manager, in Fredericksburg, Texas (Feb. 24, 2005) at 15:21:10–15:22:06, 15:19:45–15:20:27 (“Wanda wasn’t that long term in my store. I can’t tell you how long she worked there. It was a period under 6 months.”; “I was the manager of store 47. Wanda was the assistant manager, and I believe at the time I had a clerk by the name of Roger . . . .”).
  25.  p. 8 "Richard…in the door."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:57:55–06:58:04 (“[P]rior to that, we had even asked them to build some kind of glass container to keep the attendants safe.”).
  26.  p. 8 "They…her shift ended."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Rene Rodriguez, Lawyer for Wanda Lopez’s Family in Suit Against Diamond-Shamrock, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 8, 2005) at 05:39:03–05:40:46 (“[Wanda] was afraid . . . because a lot of people would go in there, most of them drunk, and they would try to flirt with her or whatever, and she was just scared. So her father started coming and staying there because they wouldn’t hire anybody else.”).
  27.  p. 8 "Robert…when he could."
    Bruce Whitman’s Notes on Interview with Robert Mayorga, Corpus Christi Police Officer Who Dated Wanda Lopez (Nov. 18, 2004) at 1–2 (“Wanda and Robert began dating . . . . Wanda called Robert when she was having trouble in her life . . . . They would talk and take comfort in their visits”;Mayorga met Wanda in 1981 and dated on and off after that . . . . [He] met her at the [White] Rabbit Club.”);
    see Transcribed Videotape Interview with Robert Stange, Sigmor Gas Station Manager, in Fredericksburg, Texas (Feb. 24, 2005) at 17:19:20–17:19:49 (answering question whether he remembered Wanda dating a police officer: “I believe she did, I believe she did. But I don’t know that for a fact. That sounds awful familiar. Somebody fairly young in the Corpus Christi police. He was a patrol officer.”).
  28.  p. 8 "They…his patrol car."
    Bruce Whitman’s Notes on Interview with Robert Mayorga, Corpus Christi Police Officer Who Dated Wanda Lopez (Nov. 18, 2004) at 1 (“Robert patrolled the D[iamond]S[hamrock] at 2600 and SPID on his shift and had arranged a signal system for Wanda to let him know when he drove through the parking lot if she was having any trouble.”).
  29.  p. 8 "Richard…weekly bingo game."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:45:13–06:46:35 (explaining that, on the night of Wanda’s murder, “I got home to Mom’s and Dad’s home and ready to go and we get this disturbing knock on the door.”);
    Dep. of Mary Vargas at 18–19, Vargas v. Diamond Shamrock, No. 84–4951-D, 86–5900-D (filed April 20, 1988) (She “was at the bingo” when the boy came by the house on his bicycle, and she heard the news when her husband came over to get her).
  30.  p. 8 "Earlier…her good news."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:45:13–06:46:35:
    [T]he night before [the murder] she had asked that I go with her, we go out with her because she wanted to celebrate an evening with us. And I told her I might not [be able to], because [I] worked late, and I had a lot of bills to pay. She right away said that she would take care of my bills. She would go get them done before the evening was out so that we could all go out. I said, “No, you don’t have to do that.” She said, “I will if you go out with me.” I said, “Ok.”
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:46:43–06:47:13 (“She was so excited for us, I guess, to meet some new friend she met. Being that her life was always trying to be the best you can and take care of yourself, probably she had, I’m thinking, found somebody that she was proud of and wanted us to meet him . . . .”).
  31.  p. 8 "But…join the celebration."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:45:13–06:46:35:
    [T]he night before [the murder] she had asked that I go with her, we go out with her because she wanted to celebrate an evening with us. And I told her I might not [be able to], because [I] worked late, and I had a lot of bills to pay. She right away said that she would take care of my bills. She would go get them done before the evening was out so that we could all go out. I said, “No, you don’t have to do that.” She said, “I will if you go out with me.” I said, “Ok.”
  32.  p. 8 "Wanda…a new boyfriend."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:46:43–06:47:13 (“She was so excited for us, I guess, to meet some new friend she met. Being that her life was always trying to be the best you can and take care of yourself, probably she had, I’m thinking, found somebody that she was proud of and wanted us to meet him . . . .”);
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Robert Stange, Shamrock Gas Station Manager, in Fredericksburg, Texas (Feb. 24, 2005) at 15:23:14–15:23:57 (stating that, around the time of the killing, “I can remember [Wanda] seeing somebody . . . I don’t believe it was a very long-term relationship, somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 months, probably quite a bit under.”).
  33.  p. 8 "After…on the weekend"
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Becky Nesmith, Cousin of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 8, 2004) at 05:05:05–05:05:47 (“I know she went out to nightclubs, because several times I was with her . . . .”);
    Transcribed Videotape Interview #208 with Robert Stange, Shamrock Gas Station Manager, in Fredericksburg, Texas (Feb. 24, 2005) at 15:22:45–15:22:07 (“Wanda would go out on Friday nights or Saturday nights after she got off work . . . .”).
  34.  p. 8 "but…family to meet."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Becky Nesmith, Cousin of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 8, 2004) at 05:02:51–05:03:14 (recalling that when Nesmith was spending time with Wanda, “she never really had a boyfriend, to say, she was committed to someone. She was pretty much single. She had a lot of friends.”);
    see infra Chapter 13, notes 19–22 and accompanying text (discussing Nesmith’s observations of Wanda).
  35.  p. 8 "Now…to bring home."
    See Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:46:43–06:47:13 (“She was so excited for us, I guess, to meet some new friend she met. Being that her life was always trying to be the best you can and take care of yourself, probably she had, I’m thinking, found somebody that she was proud of and wanted us to meet him . . . .”);
    see also Dep. of Mary Vargas at 17, Vargas v. Diamond Shamrock, No. 84–4951-D, 86–5900-D (filed April 20, 1988) (noting that her daughter Wanda was dating someone at the time she was killed whom Wanda called “Green Eyes,” but not recalling the man’s name).
  36.  p. 8 "They…never met him."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Robert Stange, Sigmor Gas Station Manager, in Fredericksburg, Texas (Feb. 24, 2005), at 17:26:24–17:27:44 (“You know, I believe I met [the man Wanda was dating]. I remember the funeral . . . Somebody was standing, a male figure, and that might have been her boyfriend . . . .”).
  37.  p. 8 "Sometime…ran to the door."
    Dep. of Mary Vargas at 18–19, Vargas v. Diamond Shamrock, No. 84–4951-D, 86–5900-D (filed April 20, 1988) (stating that she “was at the bingo” when the boy came by the house on his bicycle, and she heard the news when her husband came over to get her “a little after eight”).
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:47:57–06:48:29 (“[The boy who came to the door] was a neighbor across the street’s son who happened to go by the store and saw what happened. And he wanted to be the first one to come and tell us. And he was the first one that came and told us before we even heard it on the news or anything . . . I believe he was on a bike.”).
  38.  p. 8 "He…at the gas station."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:45:13–06:46:35 (“Well, I got home to Mom’s and Dad’s home and ready to go and we get this disturbing knock on the door. A man screaming saying that something just happened at Shamrock, where my sister works and to be careful on the way over there but it doesn’t look good.”).
  39.  p. 8 "Richard…didn't look good."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:45:13–06:46:35 (“Well, I got home to Mom’s and Dad’s home and ready to go and we get this disturbing knock on the door. A man screaming saying that something just happened at Shamrock, where my sister works and to be careful on the way over there but it doesn’t look good.”).
  40.  p. 9 "Richard…soon as he could."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview #004 with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:45:13–06:46:35, 06:48:59–06:49:38 (“I took off on my own.”; assenting to question, “So when you heard that, you told your [family] to stay where they were. You got in your car and you went over to the gas station?”).
  41.  p. 9 "His…to get his wife."
    Dep. of Mary Vargas at 19, Vargas v. Diamond Shamrock, No. 84–4951-D, 86–5900-D (filed April 20, 1988) (stating that her husband came to get her at the bingo game after he heard that Wanda had been hurt at the Sigmor-Shamrock station).
  42.  p. 9 "Fifty…were milling around."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:49:49–06:50:19 (recalling that when he arrived at the scene, “[i]t was chaos; there cops [sic], officers, lights, ambulance, people moving all about”);
    see infra Chapter 2, Figure 2.2 (reproducing images from a TV station videotape of the crime scene); infra Chapter 3, notes 31–47, 68 (describing the scene and the crowd outside the Sigmor Shamrock store); infra Chapter 4, notes 6–8 and accompanying text (additional descriptions of the scene in the gas station parking lot).
  43.  p. 9 "Richard…toward the store."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:49:27–06:49:38 (explaining that, when he arrived at the scene, he saw Wanda being loaded on the gurney and rushed to be with her, but “they restrained me and said this wasn’t a good time to get into that area”).
  44.  p. 9 "His…outside the door."
    Crime Scene Photograph 25500034, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983) (showing Lopez being loaded on the gurney directly in front of the doorway into the Sigmor Shamrock store).
  45.  p. 9 "A…with an IV bag."
    Crime Scene Photograph 25500029, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983) (showing a fireman standing over Lopez, holding an IV bag).
  46.  p. 9 "She…into her chest."
    Crime Scene Photograph 25500035, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983) (showing Lopez being loaded onto a gurney with a tube in her throat and a metal stabilizing device on her chest).
  47.  p. 9 "Paramedics…stretcher on wheels."
    Crime Scene Photograph 25500035, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983).
  48.  p. 9 "The cops held him back"
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:50:24–06:50:41 (“All I remember is, I got, I got restrained. I looked at the ambulance, and they are loading her up. I look back at the door and it’s pretty gruesome.”).
  49.  p. 9 "telling…at the hospital."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:53:20–06:53:29 (“[The police] said the only way you can see your sister is if you head to the hospital now.”).
  50.  p. 9 "He…been a tragedy."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:53:29–06:53:46 (“[The police] just said something tragic has happened.”).
  51.  p. 9 "He…fast as they could."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:50:24–06:50:54 (“[When I got to the scene] I look[ed] back at the door and it’s pretty gruesome. And I see 2 individuals with gloves just wiping the floor as fast as they can, the entry and exit, same door . . . They were picking . . . up [the blood] real quick with some large cloth or something.”).
  52.  p. 9 "He…crime scene already."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:49:49–06:50:19 (“What struck me, even to today: Why were they cleaning up right away when this was too fresh? I mean, why disturb anything?”).
  53.  p. 9 "Richard followed in his car."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:54:01–06:54:08 (responding to the question, “As quickly as you can, you got out of there and went to the hospital?,” by saying, “Right.”).
  54.  p. 9 "'Your sister is dead.'"
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:54:08–06:54:32 (recalling that, when he arrived at the hospital, he talked to the “doctor in charge of the emergency [room]” who told him his sister had died).
  55.  p. 9 "Richard…at the hospital"
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) (“I believe the doctor was there in charge of the emergency [room]. And then my parents were arriving also.”).
  56.  p. 9 "bringing…daughter with them."
    Dep. of Mary Vargas at 20, Vargas v. Diamond Shamrock, No. 84–4951-D, 86–5900-D (filed April 20, 1988) (“[Her granddaughter] was with me [in the hospital]”).
  57.  p. 9 "The…through her lung."
    Autopsy Findings of Wanda Lopez, Joseph C. Rupp, Nueces County Medical Examiner (Feb. 5, 1983) at 2 (“The wound penetrates the 5th intercostal space into the left chest cavity and goes almost completely through the lower lobe of the left lung.”).
  58.  p. 9 "She…death within minutes."
    Emergency Services Record for Wanda Lopez, Memorial Medical Center, Corpus Christi, Texas (Feb. 4, 1983) at 1, 2 (“8:45 Pt brought to ER by . . . ambulance CPR in progress—stab wound to (l) lat chest by breast . . . 8:55 Pupils dialated + fixed . . . 9:55 Pronounced dead . . . .”).
  59.  p. 10 "The…played the tape."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:55:54–06:56:15 (“Something I never heard [before] that made me very furious was the 911 calls [the T.V. stations were playing].”).
  60.  p. 10 "Wanda's…bottom of the screen."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:56:47–06:57:11 (“They showed words on the bottom and they show[ed] some kind of figuration on top. But not only did they show those two things they put her voice in there. So you had three ways of hearing what was happening at the time.”).
  61.  p. 10 "Both…receiving it for years."
    Dep. of Mary Vargas at 21, 22, Vargas v. Diamond Shamrock, No. 84–4951-D, 86–5900-D (filed April 20, 1988) (“At first [her granddaughter] would go [to the therapist] several times, about two times a week . . . Now, she’s going about three, every two, three weeks.”; “[I went to the therapist] I think about every, two times a week, I don’t know for sure.”).
  62.  p. 10 "'He's…here at the counter.'"
    Police Dispatch Tape, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983) at 08:09:30–8:10:27.
    Where there are (minor) discrepancies between the transcript of the call on the police dispatch tape and in the trial transcript, the quotations in text here are from the latter. Police 911 Recording, Trial Trans., Texas v. DeLuna, No. 83-CR–194-A (Nueces Cty., 28th Dist. Tex. July 18, 1983) at 382–385. For a comparison of all available transcripts of Wanda Lopez’s 911 call, see infra Chapter 13, note 154.
  63.  p. 10 "She…help would come soon."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 07:09:03–07:10:22 (“[The 911 tape] showed that [at] first, she was aware of her surroundings. She knew something was going to happen. And as scared as she was she didn’t make it look like she was calling the police.”).
  64.  p. 10 "'Is it in his pocket?'"
    Police Dispatch Tape, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983) at 08:09:30–8:10:27;
    Police 911 Recording, Trial Trans., Texas v. DeLuna, No. 83-CR–194-A (Nueces Cty., 28th Dist. Tex. July 18, 1983) at 382–85. A transcript of the entire 911 conversation between Wanda Lopez and the police Dispatcher is presented infra Chapter 13, note 154 and accompanying text.
  65.  p. 10 "Even…said, 'Can't talk"
    Police Dispatch Tape, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983) at 00:00:58–00:01:01;
    Police 911 Recording, Trial Trans., Texas v. DeLuna, No. 83-CR–194-A (Nueces Cty., 28th Dist. Tex. July 18, 1983) at 383 (“He’s a Mexican, he’s standing right here at the counter. . . . Can’t talk.”).
  66.  p. 10 "Her…and volume normal."
    Police Dispatch Tape, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983) at 00:01:05–00:01:09;
    Police 911 Recording, Trial Trans., Texas v. DeLuna, No. 83-CR–194-A (Nueces Cty., 28th Dist. Tex. July 18, 1983) at 383.
  67.  p. 10 "'Un-huh.' 'Yeah.'"
    Police Dispatch Tape, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983) at 00:01:27–00;01;30;
    Police 911 Recording, Trial Trans., Texas v. DeLuna, No. 83-CR–194-A (Nueces Cty., 28th Dist. Tex. July 18, 1983) at 383–84.

  68.  p. 10 "When…she said again."
    Police Dispatch Tape, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983) at 00:01:24–00:01:27;
    Police 911 Recording, Trial Trans., Texas v. DeLuna, No. 83-CR–194-A (Nueces Cty., 28th Dist. Tex. July 18, 1983) at 384.
  69.  p. 10 "'Stop asking questions!'"
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Rene Rodriguez, Lawyer for Wanda Lopez’s Family in Suit Against Diamond-Shamrock, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 8, 2005) at 05:46:53–05:47:36 (“They were asking her all these crazy questions and you can just, you could tell that it made her even more nervous because she was afraid that the guy knew that she was talking to the cops, like she was kind of saying yes or no. You could just tell she was very scared.”).
  70.  p. 10 "Then she screamed."
    Police Dispatch Tape, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983) at 00:01:42–00:01:44;
    Police 911 Recording, Trial Trans., Texas v. DeLuna, No. 83-CR–194-A (Nueces Cty., 28th Dist. Tex. July 18, 1983) at 384. In this one place, the contents of the 911 call reported in text come not from the transcription of the tape made when it was played at DeLuna’s trial, but from a transcription made by the Corpus Christi Police shortly after the crime took place—a transcription evidently made by listening directly to the police master recording of the 911 call, which probably had better resolution than the copy of the tape played at the trial. See Police Dispatch Tape, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983) at 00:01:42–00:01:44. The trial and other transcriptions of the 911 call are made off of a recording of a portion of the master tape, not off of the original master tape itself. Police recorded over the master tape shortly after the police made their direct transcription. See infra Chapter 2, notes 106–114 and accompanying text; infra Chapter 11, notes 195–202 and accompanying text; infra Chapter 13, notes 150–153 and accompanying text. The word “Please” followed by three exclamation points is found only in the transcription police made directly from the master tape. See generally infra Chapter 13, note 154 (cataloguing all of the discrepancies between the three available transcriptions of the 911 call).
  71.  p. 10 "Wanda moaned."
    Police Dispatch Tape, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983) at 00:01:42–00:01:44;
    Police 911 Recording, Trial Trans., Texas v. DeLuna, No. 83-CR–194-A (Nueces Cty., 28th Dist. Tex. July 18, 1983) at 384–85.
  72.  p. 11 "Then…hung up the phone."
    Police Dispatch Tape, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983) at 00:01:48–00:01:49;
    Trial Transcript, Texas v. DeLuna, No. 83-CR–194-A (Nueces Cty., 28th Dist. Tex. July 18, 1983) at 385.
  73.  p. 11 "The…and gotten mad."
    See Transcribed Videotape Interview with Rene Rodriguez, Lawyer for Wanda Lopez’s Family in Suit Against Diamond-Shamrock, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 8, 2005) at 05:48:04–05:48:34:
    Yeah, well I think that probably her demeanor, to the guy, telegraphed that she was on the phone with the police or somebody. You know, in the tape, because you could hear, in the tape, she’s just answering questions, yes or no, that kind of stuff to the dispatcher, who has not even called to tell the cops to go [to the gas station] yet. Then he calls, and you could hear her screaming when he was stabbing her.”
  74.  p. 11 "It made no sense."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Rene Rodriguez, Lawyer for Wanda Lopez’s Family in Suit Against Diamond-Shamrock, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 8, 2005) at 05:47:36–05:48:04, 05:52:27–05:55:17 (answering question about why he thinks the killer stabbed Wanda by saying: “I don’t know. I mean, she wasn’t doing anything to him, he didn’t ask for money.”; “I could never understand why he attacked her, other than he thought she was on the phone talking to the cops. I mean, I would think that if I was there to do no good, and the person behind the counter is on the phone with the police, I would run. I wouldn’t stay there and do something and then run.”).
  75.  p. 11 "Forty…with an arrest."
    See infra Chapter 2, notes 249–272 and accompanying text.
  76.  p. 11 "They…east of the Sigmor."
    Mark Schauer, Corpus Christi Police Officer, C.C.P.D. Supplementary Report (Feb. 8, 1983) at 1;
    see infra Chapter 2, notes 240–263 and accompanying text.
  77.  p. 11 "Sometime…cop's quick work."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:55:39 (“Yes, they started airing on air, making people aware of what had happened at the store.”).
  78.  p. 11 "And…happened in the case."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 07:00:17 (describing how frequently the tape was played on TV: “Over and over. Every month at least twice or more. It was a highly publicized crime. A lot of people heard it.”).
  79.  p. 11 "Richard…at DeLuna's trial."
    Police 911 Recording, Trial Trans., Texas v. DeLuna, No. 83-CR–194-A (Nueces Cty., 28th Dist. Tex. July 18, 1983) at 382;
    see infra Chapter 13, notes 13–15, 29–30, 154–161, 296–301 and accompanying text.
  80.  p. 11 "Richard…in Corpus Christi."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:55:54–06:56:15 (“Something I never heard [before] that made me very furious was the 911 calls [the T.V. stations were playing].”).
  81.  p. 11 "When…befallen his sister."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:53:35 (“They just said something tragic has happened.”).
  82.  p. 11 "But…in her own words."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:55:54–06:56:15 (“Something I never heard [before] that made me very furious was the 911 calls [the T.V. stations were playing].”).
  83.  p. 11 "And…him and his family."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 07:00:17 (describing how frequently the tape was played on TV: “Over and over. Every month at least twice or more. It was a highly publicized crime. A lot of people heard it.”).
  84.  p. 11 "For…cheap piece of entertainment."
    Transcribed Videotape Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004) at 06:55:54–06:56:15 (“Something I never heard [before] that made me very furious was the 911 calls [the T.V. stations were playing].”).

Testimony in Court and Depositions

  1. Police 911 Recording, Trial Trans., Texas v. DeLuna, No. 83-CR–194-A (Nueces Cty., 28th Dist. Tex. July 18, 1983).
  2. Dep. of Mary Vargas, Mother of Wanda Lopez, Vargas v. Diamond Shamrock, No. 84–4951-D, 86–5900-D (filed Apr. 20, 1988);

Other Primary Records

  1. Autopsy Findings for Wanda Lopez, Joseph C. Rupp, Nueces County Medical Examiner (Feb. 5, 1983);
  2. Crime Scene Photograph 25500024, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983);
  3. Crime Scene Photograph 25500029, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983);
  4. Crime Scene Photograph 25500034, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983);
  5. Crime Scene Photograph 25500035, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983);
  6. Def’s Ex. 1, Vargas v. Diamond Shamrock, No. 84–4951-D, 85–5900-D (Nueces Cty., 105th Dist. Tex. June 3, 1988);
  7. Emergency Services Record for Wanda Lopez, Memorial Medical Center, Corpus Christi, Texas (Feb. 4, 1983);
  8. Pl.’s Ex. 11, Vargas v. Diamond Shamrock, No. 84–4951-D, 86–5900-D (Nueces Cty., 105th Dist. Tex. June 3, 1988);
  9. Pl.’s Ex. 15, Vargas v. Diamond Shamrock, No. 84–4951-D, 86–5900-D (Nueces Cty., 105th Dist. Tex. June 3, 1988);
  10. Police Dispatch Tape, Corpus Christi Police Dep’t (Feb. 4, 1983);
  11. Mark Schauer, Corpus Christi Police Officer, C.C.P.D. Supplementary Report (Feb. 8, 1983);
  12. State of Texas Death Certificate for Wanda Jean Lopez, Nueces County Medical Examiner (Feb. 4, 1983);

Transcribed Videotape Interviews

  1. Transcribed Videotaped Interview with Becky Nesmith, Cousin of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 8, 2004);
  2. Transcribed Videotaped Interview with Rene Rodriguez, Lawyer for Wanda Lopez’s Family in Suit Against Diamond Shamrock, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 8, 2005);
  3. Transcribed Videotaped Interview with Robert Stange, Sigmor Gas Station Manager, in Fredericksburg, Texas (Feb. 24, 2005);
  4. Transcribed Videotaped Interview with Richard Louis Vargas, Brother of Wanda Lopez, in Corpus Christi, Texas (Dec. 4, 2004);

Notes from Other Interviews

  1. Bruce Whitman, Notes on Interview with Robert Mayorga, Corpus Christi Police Officer Who Dated Wanda Lopez (Nov. 18, 2004);
  2. Sita Sovin & Lauren Eskenazi’s Notes on Interview with Carmen Taylor, Former Employee of Shamrock Gas Station (Nov. 7, 2004);