FAMILY OF PAULA HERNANDEZ STILL WAITING FOR JUSTICE

UNSOLVED

THEY'VE waited 15-years for justice, but Paula Hernandez's family are still no nearer to finding the cold blooded killer who gunned down their daughter.
Back in 1996, she was executed on the driveway of her of their South Austin home, by a person who cops have yet to find.
Her distraught mom Josie, 70, said: "Our family has been to hell and back. I think about this every day. It's like it just happened. I'm reliving the same thing over and over and over."
On that tragic day, Hernandez was coming back from her new job at Payless ShoeSource the first job she'd had in years and one which she hoped would provide for her family. 
It would be her last thought as she died not long after reaching the hospital, leaving behind four children, ranging in ages from 8 to 12 at the time.
Homicide cold case Detective Mark Gilchrest, who was the original police detective in the slaying, said the case has gone cold because physical evidence and witness information has been scarce.
He told The Statesman: "This is not one of those DNA cold cases, or one where we can solve it if we get a magic fingerprint."
The 29-year Police veteran added that they still think her death may have had ties to the Texas Syndicate prison gang but a federal investigation into that group in the early 2000s made witnesses reluctant to come forward.
Today, Paula Hernandez's children are adults after a  childhood was marked by grief and anger over their mother's death, Josie Hernandez, 70, said.
She and the children desperately want to see the case resolved in some way.

Read more ...

COP HAUNTED BY 1998 DEBRA SUE MURRAY EXECUTION

June 26, 1998 – a day like any other when doting mom, Debra Sue Murray, left her Chandler, Arizona home on her way to work. Murray, a hard-working manager at a local Jack-in-the-Box restaurant, left at 4:30 that morning to get the restaurant ready for the busy day ahead. Murray however, would never make it to the restaurant.
Just as she closed the front door of her house, she was gunned down. Murray was shot several times in the chest, and died at the scene. Cathy Peterson – a nanny to Debra’s son called the cops when she heard the gunfire. When detectives arrived at the scene they found Murray lying in a pool of blood.
They also discovered that there were signs of forced entry and things taken from the garage. Investigators quickly established however that the forced entry was in fact a ruse – an attempt to make detectives believe that the
murder occurred during an interrupted burglary. Instead, detectives believe that Murray was the target of a deliberate and calculated hit. Chandler Police Detective Gary Fuller is still haunted by the case.
He said: "She didn't think this would be any different from any other day, but she walked out to be executed. And she left behind that young son." To date no arrests have been made in the case. An award is on offer for information leading to an arrest. Her son Tim is now 25.

If you think you can help please call the Chandler police Criminal Investigations Section at (480) 782-4400

Read more ...