Strangler

by Corey Mitchell

  Furthermore, the ant bites that resembled a witch’s nose warts that marred her inner thighs, buttocks, lower back, chest, face, and eyelids had swollen well beyond normal size.

  Dr. Narula even had to clear away several live ants that were crawling on Diana’s body.

  The medical examiner proceeded to examine the little girl’s head. As typically occurs after death, her lips had darkened. He then mentioned that there was a ligature in place around her neck with a wooden stick on her left side. Dr. Narula described the string ligature as green and approximately an eighth of an inch in width. When he removed the ligature, he noted that the impression left in the little girl’s neck was also an eighth of an inch wide. It completely encircled her throat and neck and was almost perfectly horizontal.

  Interestingly, as in the Carmen Estrada postmortem, there appeared to be an abrasion over the areola and nipple of the young girl’s right breast. No determination was made as to whether or not it was caused by human teeth.

  The doctor then observed the young girl’s genitalia. He noted that there were several abrasions on the vagina and a one-eighth-inch laceration on the vaginal wall. Also, there were abrasions on the anus. She also had abrasions on her inner thighs consistent with sexual assault.

  Once done with the external examination, Dr. Narula prepared to examine Diana Rebollar from the inside. After completing the Y incision on her chest and removing the chest plate, the doctor determined that she had otherwise been a very healthy little girl.

  But once her neck and throat were opened up, Dr. Narula denoted soft tissue hemorrhaging of the neck, where the ligature had been in place.

  Interestingly, no sperm was found from the swabs applied to Diana’s vagina, anus, and mouth.

  CHAPTER 13

  To try to determine who killed Diana Rebollar, police officers even looked into another murder in the neighborhood that occurred one year before. Eighty-three-year-old Lillian Wimberly, who lived only two blocks away from Diana on Main Street, was discovered dead in the entryway to her home on the morning of June 7, 1993. She had been beaten to death. Unfortunately, her killer had never been found. Some people in the neighborhood could not help but think that the person who killed Wimberly may have also killed Diana.

  “This is not just happening to just this family,” declared Salazar family friend Andrea Rey to the Houston Chronicle. “This community is a family and we’ve all got to bond together to stop this.” Rey, who volunteered on behalf of a victims’ rights group, spoke about other murder cases that occurred in the area. She mentioned the brutal double rape and murder of fourteen-year-old Jennifer Ertman and sixteen-year-old Eizabeth Peña at T. C. Jester Park, only one mile away from where Rebollar’s body was discovered. The teenage girls were murdered in June 1993 as well. Two teenage boys had been arrested and convicted for their murders, while three more awaited trial.

  “These people need help,” Rey said of the Salazars. “They’re not alone.” The family would hopefully receive some support through a memorial fund established by Texas Commerce Bank. The goal was to help the family raise money so they could give their daughter a proper funeral service and burial.

  CHAPTER 14

  Tuesday, August 9, 1994,

  Houston, Texas.

  Another goal of the memorial fund was to help raise money to fly Diana’s grandmother and seven-year-old brother to Texas from southern Mexico so they could attend Diana’s funeral. City of Houston Mayor’s Office Crime Victims Assistance director Andy Kahan was also on board to assist the Salazars with the funeral arrangements and flight plans. Kahan was able to secure two free flights, generously provided by AeroMexico. The family was not having as much luck raising money for Diana’s funeral until United States attorney general Janet Reno intervened on behalf of Diana’s family.

  Wednesday, August 10, 1994,

  Houston, Texas.

  Meanwhile, the Houston Police Department called in the HPD helicopter to scan nearby building rooftops for the bag of sugar Diana had purchased at the Wing Fong grocery store, in case her killer might have tossed it aside. Despite spending over an hour in the sky, the helicopter pilots and police officers were not able to locate the bag of sugar.

  CHAPTER 15

  Thursday, August 11, 1994, 10:00 A.M.,

  Our Lady of Guadalupe Church,

  2400 block of Navigation Boulevard,

  Houston, Texas.

  Dozens of people milled about outside Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, a tiny Catholic Church that Diana Rebollar’s family attended. Unfortunately, this time they were there to mourn the loss of their beloved daughter. They were joined by friends, neighbors, and many people they did not even know. More than two hundred people showed up to pay their last respects and to offer their condolences to Virginia and Jose Salazar.

  The Reverend Jose Gonzales, a visiting priest from Mexico, led the Mass. As Reverend Gonzales stood near Diana Rebollar’s tiny white casket, he begged the parishioners to help stop the cycle of violence.

  Next up to speak was Houston city councilman Felix Fraga, who also bemoaned the state of violence in the country’s fourth-largest city. He spoke to the audience about how Diana’s family had uprooted themselves to escape the ever-present violence in their home country of Mexico—violence that took Diana’s young father, Rujilio Rebollar Sr.

  “All of us should feel the pain,” Fraga proposed to the audience in regard to young Diana. “We shouldn’t permit this. We should draw the line now. If this doesn’t do it, we’re a lot worse off than I thought we were.”

  After the ceremony several people spoke with reporter Pam Easton. One of Diana’s best friends was eleven-year-old Laura Donjuan. The young lady appeared to be in a daze over the loss of her closest companion. “I keep thinking she’s alive. We used to jump in her bed and talk about things in school. She was a very good student. I miss her a lot.”

  Andrea Rey spoke about the impact on her neighborhood. She was not going to take it sitting down. “We have a murderer or murderers loose in our community. We want justice and we won’t be happy or satisfied until we have [it].”

  Several people in attendance did not know Diana Rebollar. Many were parents who had brought their young children in hopes of teaching them a lesson. Richard Sister cried as he listened to the warnings. He held his ten-year-old daughter, Courtney, close by his side.

  “Now do you see why Daddy don’t want you to play outside?” he questioned his daughter between tears.

  “I don’t want to go out by myself ever again,” his daughter sobbed.

  Despite their fears, the reality of violent crime in Houston was quite different from the perception. The number of murders in Houston had actually decreased steadily each year since 1991 when the Houston Police Department reported 608 homicides. In 1992, the total was 465. In 1993, it was 446, and in 1994, it dropped down to 375 people murdered. In addition, the reported number of rapes also marginally declined each year. In 1991, the number was 1,213; in 1992, it was 1,169; in 1993, it was 1,109; in 1994, it was 931.

  In addition to lower homicide and rape numbers, the amount of kidnappings had also decreased annually.

  Most acknowledged authorities credited President Bill Clinton’s commitment to crime prevention, which included an additional hundred thousand police officers nationwide, including several in Houston.

  If one were to believe the American news media, you would think that our country is crawling with crazed killers, rapists, and kidnappers on almost every square inch of real estate. You may also believe that the vast majority of the bad guys are all evil strangers lurking behind bushes waiting to jump out and attack every innocent, decent, and defenseless person out there. The reality, when it comes to crime in the United States, is that the vast majority of murders, rapes, and kidnappings occur within the family.

  Dr. Mark Warr, professor of criminology at the University of Texas at Austin, likes to say, “You kill the ones you love.” The majority of people who commit these heinous crime
s are usually brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles, grandparents, neighbors, coworkers, and best friends.

  Furthermore, news media has completely distorted the perception of crime in our country. Despite the fact that the murder rates have dropped steadily for the past thirty years (except during President George W. Bush’s tenure), the television news media increased its murder coverage by over 600 percent. As a result, people who get their news from television believe that it is a far scarier world than it has ever been, when the reality is, it has actually gotten much better. Barry Glassner, USC professor and author of The Culture of Fear, claims the reason for this deceptive coverage is to keep viewers at home so they will watch more television commercials and order more consumer products. As a result, they will be too afraid to venture out into the big, bad, mean, cruel world.

  But the murder of Diana Rebollar confirmed and even exacerbated the fears of Houston residents.

  At the funeral Richard Sister also brought along his other daughter and wife.

  “This has really touched me,” the concerned father tearfully informed the Houston Chronicle. “Before, they didn’t understand why I didn’t want them to go out and play outside. I’m scared that something will happen to them.”

  Victims’ rights advocate Andy Kahan was appalled by the implications of such a crime. “You can’t send your kid to the store? That says something about society,” he stated, intensity rising in his voice. “This is a situation that no one should have to go through.”

  Kahan glanced over to the grave site where Diana Rebollar’s tiny little body would be permanently laid to rest inside her tiny white casket. He saw a small boy standing beside her grave. It was one of Diana’s cousins, nine-year-old Oscar Villegas. Kahan could see the boy as he looked at his cousin’s casket and uttered the question, “Why her?”

  Kahan reiterated the need to never forget the victim. “The worst mistake people can make is to shrug their shoulders.”

  Indifference was not acceptable.

  CHAPTER 16

  One person who would not be indifferent was Homicide detective Bob King. The detective, along with Detective D. D. Shirley, decided they needed the media’s help to track down the blond man who was reportedly seen at the scene of the crime.

  “There are thousands of people out there who match this composite,” Detective Shirley informed the media, “and thousands of vans that look like this van. We’re trying to narrow our scope a little bit.” Shirley also stressed that the individual in question was not a suspect, just a witness. “We’re asking people in Houston if they know someone who looks like this, and who owns or has access to a van like this, to call us.”

  The Houston Police Department Homicide Division geared up for an influx of phone calls. Several extra detectives were brought in that night to help answer the tip lines. Unfortunately, the phones barely rang. Only twelve calls were received and none of them were helpful.

  * * *

  Monday, August 15, 1994,

  Houston, Texas.

  An antigang group called Parents Ganging Up On Gangs aided the police, informing the local media that it had raised $1,000 to add to the standard $1,000 reward from Crime Stoppers.

  * * *

  Echoing the concerns of Andy Kahan, Heights resident Ernestine Pina-Sandavol, in a letter to the editor at the Houston Chronicle, which was printed on August 21, 1994, wrote: “As we unwantingly hear the cries of Diana’s mother, many of us can agree this isn’t enough. The devastating, brutal crimes committed to this precious child Diana are grotesque. The sick-minded are among us and have no regard for their family or our families. I suspect their malicious plan is to lock us in our homes. Well, we’re not ready to give them the key. Let us assure Diana’s family that this is a heinous crime we refuse to just read about. Diana reminds us all of our children, our hopes, our future.”

  Part III

  DANA

  For if only a single substance exists, then either, I must be this substance, and consequently I must be God (but this contradicts my dependency); or else I am an accident.

  —Immanuel Kant

  CHAPTER 17

  Cesar and Fidelina Sanchez moved from Mexico to Houston, Texas, in early 1979 while eighteen-year-old Fidelina was pregnant with her first child. The Sanchez family, like Carmen Estrada’s parents and Diana Rebollar’s mother, had left Mexico to create a better life for themselves in the United States. They believed that America could provide a better opportunity for the family they intended to raise. Dana Lizette Sanchez was born in Houston on May 11, 1979.

  In 1988, when Dana was nine, her parents gave birth to a baby brother named Cesar Jr., and then in 1993, they brought baby Ivan into the family. Dana began to feel the strain in the family’s tiny apartment. The complex was littered with several teenage kids hanging out with their bicycles and skateboards trying to look tough and intimidating, but it was hard for a young teenage girl to remain inside, sharing such small cramped quarters with a screaming baby.

  * * *

  While in seventh grade at Black Middle School, Dana often sat by herself. One day, another seventh grader, Dianna Zambrana, saw Dana sitting alone. She felt sorry for her so she walked up and said “Hello.” Soon thereafter, Dana and Dianna were inseparable.

  As a teenager, Dana was a good student. She and Dianna attended Waltrip High School, where both girls were involved in the Second Platoon, A Company—ROTC. According to her mother, Dana wanted to become a doctor—a pediatrician, more specifically. Unfortunately, since the family did not have much money, Dana knew she would have to take a nonlinear route to get to medical school. She informed her mother that she wanted to go into the U.S. Navy first and have them pay for her college education. Dana hoped she would make it as a successful doctor so she could buy a nice car and a big house for her parents, who had very little in way of material possessions.

  Over time Dana seemed to get along with most everyone. She was often described as having an outgoing personality, while others described her as quiet. Either way, she seemed to have lots of friends.

  Unfortunately, she was having trouble with her parents. They fought often with Dana about her boyfriend, Michael Castillo. So, Dana eventually moved out of her parents’ apartment and into an apartment with Dianna and Dianna’s brother, John, on Cavalcade Street.

  CHAPTER 18

  Thursday, July 6, 1995, 5:00 P.M.,

  600 block of Cavalcade Street,

  Houston, Texas.

  Dana and Dianna had been living with Dianna’s brother, John, for one week. It was to be a temporary fix for the girls. They did not have intentions of staying long.

  Dianna had a busy evening ahead of her. She was planning a birthday party for her nephew, and she and Dana were going to stop by the nearby shopping mall and buy some clothes for themselves and a gift for her nephew.

  Dianna arrived back at John’s apartment around 5:00 P.M. Dana was already there. Dianna walked into the bedroom and saw her best friend combing her long, thick, dark brown hair. Dana was dressed for the evening. She wore white coveralls over a brown-and-white-striped bodysuit. Her feet sported black Nike low-tops and she carried a black purse that looked like a mini backpack.

  Dana told her best friend that she was not going to be able to go shopping with her. She had, instead, made other plans. First she needed to pick up her paycheck from the company where she worked as a receptionist that summer. Then her boyfriend Michael Castillo’s mother was going to pick her up and take her back to his house on Greenyard Drive, which was almost fifteen miles away from the apartment.

  Dianna, disappointed, left without saying a word to Dana. It would be the last time she would ever see her best friend.

  * * *

  Not much is known about Dana Sanchez’s last hours. Apparently, she was spotted approximately one mile away from her apartment at Airline Drive and Interstate 45 at a pay phone in front of a Mr. Quick convenience store at 7:00 P.M. She never did meet up with Mich
ael Castillo’s mother, nor did she make it to his house. She also never called her best friend, like she normally would.

  No one—not her family or her best friend—had a clue where Dana Sanchez had disappeared.

  Friday, July 7, 1995,

  4000 block of Watonga Boulevard,

  Houston, Texas.

  Fidelina Sanchez, Dana’s mother, insisted that her daughter was not the type of girl who would accept a ride from a stranger—not even if she needed a ride to get to her boyfriend’s house. She was too careful.

  Fidelina was worried sick over the disappearance of her daughter. She tried everything she could think of to locate her. She contacted all of Dana’s friends that she knew. She created flyers with her daughter’s photo and distributed them everywhere and she drove in circles looking for her daughter.

  Her search lasted for eight days.

  Friday, July 14, 1995, 2:35 P.M.,

  17000 block of Northview Park Drive,

  North of Houston, Texas.

  After receiving a call from KPRC’s Barbara Magana, Detectives William “Bill” Valerio and Bill Taber, along with Sergeant Roger Wedgeworth, located the severely decomposed corpse of sixteen-year-old Dana Sanchez.

  Her remains were dumped off Northview Park Drive, east of I-45 and south of Richey Road.

  Friday, July 14, 1995, 9:00 P.M.,

  4000 block of Watonga Boulevard,