08x15 - Within Arm's Reach

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: a police officer and
his estranged wife have a fight

In their bedroom.

A shotgun goes off.

[ g*nsh*t ]

He says it was su1c1de.

Investigators said
it was m*rder.

Ollom: there's only two people
that know,

And one can't speak with us.

Narrator: it took ballistics,
a last will,

And the physics
of a shot-cup petal

To tell what really happened
in the bedroom that day.

In the desolate beauty
of northwest new mexico,

The city of farmington is
one of the few green spots.

The streets are generally quiet.

Traffic problems are
usually handled by police

On motorcycles.

Paul dunn used
to be one of those officers.

Dunn: I loved my job.

I always used to say there was
only two things I was good at --

Being a traffic cop
and being a dad.

And I enjoyed most
all the simplicity

Of being a motor cop
because everything you do

In accident investigation,
accident reconstruction,

It's just math.

Narrator: cliff ollom worked
alongside paul dunn.

Ollom: he was a good motor
officer, good police officer,

Took his job real serious.

Narrator: paul was
married to monica sanchez dunn,

And together, the couple had
two children.

Dunn: she was singularly
the most beautiful woman

I'd ever seen in my life.

Narrator: but after
several years of marriage,

There were problems.

Monica discovered paul was
having an affair

With another woman,
and the couple separated.

Early on the morning
of april 4, 1994,

Cliff ollom was on duty
and heard a police radio call

About a sh**ting
at paul and monica's house.

Ollom: I saw paul performing cpr
on monica,

And he was
just covered in blood.

Paul: she shot herself!

Narrator: monica was rushed
to the hospital,

But it was too late.

She was pronounced dead
on arrival

With a g*nsh*t wound
to her abdomen.

[ g*nsh*t ]

Paul told police he went
to the house

To have breakfast
with his daughters.

As he walked in, monica was
just about ready

To leave for work.

When they met, tempers flared.

Filing charges for what?

Dunn: she said,
"I'm filing charges on you."

And I said, "what?"

She said, "I'm filing charges
on you for battery."

And then she stormed off
down through the living room

And down the hallway
and into the bedroom

And slammed
the bedroom door.

Narrator: paul followed monica
to the bedroom.

[ g*nsh*t ]

Paul said he picked her up,
ran to the garage

To drive her
to the hospital.

But he wasn't
sure there was enough time.

Dunn: I felt her shudder,
and I knew what that meant.

Narrator: his friends
on the police force

Didn't
believe the su1c1de story.

Ollom: you know, I suppose
anything's possible,

But I always have
that philosophy --

There's only two people
that know,

And one can't speak with us.

Narrator: investigators needed

To analyze the forensic evidence
in the bedroom

To determine whether paul's
incredible story was true.

Narrator: since paul dunn was
a farmington police officer,

His wife's suspicious death
was assigned

To another department --
the new mexico state police.

Investigators couldn't
find any usable fingerprints

On the shotgun.

And they removed the back wall
containing the shotgun pellets

For later analysis.

In monica's van,
investigators found

A domestic-v*olence
complaint form.

Just a day before her death,
monica had gone

Into police headquarters
to have photographs taken

Of injuries she said
paul inflicted during a beating.

Egger: she had a bruise
on her cheek.

She had a bruise
on her...thigh

And a couple of other places
on her legs.

She was gonna
file these battery charges,

And that was
gonna cost him his job.

Narrator: when police
photographed monica's injuries,

They violated
standard procedure.

A witness said a male officer
photographed monica's injuries

Alone in his office
with the blinds closed.

Egger: they would have a woman
officer come in

And take the photos,
and he didn't do that.

And he didn't have anybody
in the room with them.

It was just him and monica.

So they're alone,
and it took him about 10 minutes

To do these photos,
so there's kind of questions

On what happened in that room
during that 10 minutes.

Narrator: at monica's autopsy,
the pathologist noted

Two abrasions
near the entrance wound

Identical to those caused
by a shotgun.

Unlike a r*fle, a shotgun fires
several projectiles at once --

In this case, nine pellets.

A plastic cup with four equally
spaced cuts

Holds the pellets together
in the shell.

When fired,
this shot cup opens

Like a flower with four petals.

Dr. Fackler: it will catch air,
and this will open the petals.

You'll see the shot cups opening
and being spread out

In the form of a cross relative
to the path of the b*llet.

Narrator:
since the shot cup opened

Before entering
monica's body,

This meant that the muzzle was
one to three feet away

From monica's body.

From muzzle to trigger,
the g*n was 29 inches long.

If the muzzle was 12 to 24
inches away from her abdomen,

Monica's arms would have
had to be

Almost twice as long
to pull the trigger.

Paul vehemently denied
k*lling his wife

And offered
to take a lie-detector test.

Man: did you ever
physically injure monica?

Paul: no.

Man: did monica sh**t herself

while you were standing about
six feet away from her?

Paul: yes.

Narrator: the results --
paul passed the polygraph.

But based
on the forensic evidence,

He was arrested
and charged with m*rder.

Whitehead: police officers
take an oath

To protect and serve
the public,

And that's very disheartening

When a police officer engages
in this kind of conduct.

Narrator: since he was
a police officer,

He was separated from the
rest of the prison population.

Dunn: I was locked up


For 8 1/2 months.

I paced an "x" in the paint
on the floor.

Narrator: the police department
turned against him.

Once he gets charged,

And once he's
out of the group...

Then I think they pull ranks
and stay together.

Narrator: paul hired
a family friend, victor titus,

To defend him.

Ironically, titus had been a
pallbearer at monica's funeral,

And he couldn't understand
why the family asked him.

Titus: I mean, they're
very, very family-oriented,

And they would have picked folks
solely within the family.

And it wasn't just me,
but the other folks that were --

As pallbearers as well
let me know

That those were hand-chosen
by monica somehow.

And it
just didn't feel right.

Narrator: but how could monica
have chosen her pallbearers

If she was dead?

Titus suspected monica had
left a su1c1de note,

And that it had been
withheld from the defense.

At a pretrial hearing,
titus demanded

To know
whether a su1c1de note existed.

Mr. Sanchez, monica's father,
was in the courtroom,

And judge rich
asked him directly.

He stood up and said, "yes,
I have something at home

In my file cabinet."

Narrator: monica had given
the note to a family member

Almost a month
before her death.

It named pallbearers
for her funeral

And designated who should
get her belongings

When she died.

Narrator: prosecutors said
the note didn't say anything

About su1c1de.

It was monica's
last will and testament.

Prosecutors refused
to drop the case,

Based on the forensic evidence.

It would be left to a jury
to decide...

[ g*nsh*t ]

...whether monica dunn's death
was a su1c1de...

[ g*nsh*t ]

...or cold-blooded m*rder.

Narrator: in preparation
for trial,

Paul dunn's defense team hired
dave pfeffer,

A private investigator with


To examine the crime scene.

The evidence showed
that the shotgun pellets

Went through monica's body,
through the sheetrock,

And hit the brick wall
and wooden studs beneath.

Pfeffer conducted
a crude experiment.

Pfeffer: we lined up
the indentations in the marks

On the 2x4 with the indentations
on the brick

And ran them straight
in a line.

And it indicated to us
that the line --

All three lines came
directly to the foot --

Actually, about a foot
into the water bed itself.

That was very unscientific,

But it gave us
a good general idea.

Narrator: this contradicted
the state's theory

That monica was
standing when shot.

For a more detailed
ballistic examination,

Pfeffer contacted nelson welch,

The former
chief firearms investigator

For the new mexico crime lab.

In examining
the autopsy photographs,

Welch noticed
a substance called grex

In and around monica's wound.

Welch: now, grex is
the white buffering material

That's loaded in
with a double-aught buck

To prevent
them from being deformed

When they're
shot at high pressure.

Narrator: but welch was
troubled by the fact

He could find no grex on
the outside of monica's dress.

Welch test-fired a shotgun
into ballistic gelatin

Covered with a cloth
about two feet away,

Which is where prosecutors
say paul was standing

With the shotgun.

The grex coats the outside
of the material.

Welch: none of this was
on the outside of the dress

At the entry hole.

There was a large amount
of grex on the inside

Of the dress, both on the front
and on the back

Intermingled
with the blood.

And so almost all
of the grex that I could find

Had entered the wound.

There was none outside.

Narrator: the absence of grex
on the outside of monica's dress

Told welch that the g*n was
pressed against monica's abdomen

And wasn't two feet away
when fired.

Dr. Martin fackler,
a career army surgeon

Who had been the military's
expert on g*nsh*t wounds,

Also examined
the autopsy photographs.

Prosecution experts identified
to shot-cup-petal impressions

On monica's skin, proving,
they say,

That the g*n was
two feet away.

Fackler says if the g*n was
two feet away,

All four petals would
have been visible,

Each 90 degrees
from one another.

Fackler says
this second impression

Didn't line up properly

With where a shot-petal mark
would occur.

But this is, oh,


From where it would have
to be if it were a shot petal.

And besides, it doesn't
look like a shot-petal mark

Because there's a little mark
that most certainly

Is the front sight,

And so they just
misinterpreted that.

Narrator: precise measurements
matched this impression

To the bead sight
of the muzzle of the shotgun.

Paul dunn's defense experts were
convinced

That the g*n was
against monica's stomach

When it went off.

[ g*nsh*t ]

But regardless
of the g*n's position,

They would still need
to prove that paul dunn

Did not pull the trigger.

[ Crying ]
my beautiful baby.

Narrator: monica dunn's family
insisted

That their son-in-law, paul,

Be held in prison without bail
until the m*rder trial.

He didn't see his daughters,

And he was fired
from the police force.

Dunn: they broke me.
They broke me.


Confinement will break anybody.

Narrator: he decided
that if he were convicted,

He would k*ll himself
rather than do hard time.

Egger: he did keep
part of a plastic razor.

He got rid of the plastic part
of the razor and just kept,

You know,
the little, tiny razor.

And he just decided,
you know,

He was
not gonna go to prison

Because what, you know,
inmates do to cops in prison...

Narrator: at the trial,
prosecutors presented

Their theory that paul shot
monica from two feet away

While both were standing.

The defense presented a very
different version of events.

In the courtroom, they
re-created monica's bedroom

Using the actual bed and wall.

Nelson welch
showed the jury

That the path
of the shotgun pellets

Were inconsistent
with the prosecution's theory.

Welch: we would
start at the brick wall.

That is
where the pellet impacted.

Where it came from --
from the sheetrock --

The angle is downward
and slightly towards the bed.

Narrator: from the brick wall
through the sheetrock

To the exit wound in monica's
back to the entrance wound

To the muzzle.

The lines converge much lower
than prosecutors say.

Welch: the only way
to get all of these lined up

Is in the position
in which we have it now.

Narrator: which meant that
monica was sitting on the bed

With the butt of the shotgun
resting on the bed

When it went off,

Which was consistent with paul's
original statement to police.

Using a model the same size
as monica,

The defense showed
that monica

Could have easily reached
the trigger

By leaning forward.

The evidence showed
that the g*n was upside down

And pointed upward,
making it virtually impossible

For paul
to have pulled the trigger.

Welch: he'd have had
to have been down

At the foot of the bed.

He'd have had to be down low
in order to reach the trigger

'Cause it's way down
on the bed.

And monica would have
had to have allowed that g*n

To be pointed into her stomach
area at contact...

While all this was
going on.

Narrator: nelson welch was
so convinced of paul's innocence

He made an unusual promise
to a colleague.

Welch:
I made a comment to her.

If I was wrong on this case,

I would never work another
firearms case in my life.

They overlooked all the evidence
that absolutely contradicted

The distance of fire
being anything but contact.

Narrator: paul's first wife
and girlfriend

Both testified in court

That he had
never been physically abusive.

The jury had to decide between
two competing theories --

Whether monica k*lled herself

Or whether paul shot her
standing two feet away.

The jury reached a verdict
within minutes.

They all indicated --

They went in,
they took an initial vote.

They all agreed it was
a "not guilty,"

And everybody went
to the bathroom,

Combed their hair,
and basically k*lled time

Because they were afraid

That the judge was
gonna be mad at them

If they didn't
take a little time.

The prosecution has the burden
of proof

Beyond a reasonable doubt,

And in this case,

It was the defense
who proved innocence --

Not just
beyond a reasonable doubt.

They proved it beyond all doubt
as far as I'm concerned.

Narrator: paul dunn embraced
his daughter

And was
rushed from the courtroom.

Dunn: I smelled fresh air.

Jail's not nice.
Jail doesn't smell good.

And I smelled fresh air.

Narrator: paul dunn didn't
return to his job

On the police force,

And he now works as a foreman
for an oil company.

He says this case changed many
of his long-held beliefs.

As a cop, he used to believe
everyone in prison was guilty.

And although he denies
ever hitting his wife,

He concedes his infidelity

Brought some of these problems
on himself.

Dunn: you don't go to jail
for singing too loud in church.

You can bleep this out.

Was I an [bleep]
yeah.

Am I proud of the person
I was then?

No.

Did I know the difference?

No.

It's the mentality --

Police officers assume
by the nature of the beast.

Paul: monica.

Narrator:
the question remained --

Why did monica commit su1c1de?

Many believe she simply couldn't
stand losing paul

To another woman,

Despite evidence
she had been unfaithful herself.

Medical records show
monica had an abortion

During her marriage,

Long after paul
had a vasectomy.

Dunn: and now I'm gonna
tell you --

I'm not gonna malign the dead.

It's not for me to judge.

Narrator: just how monica
got the bruises remains unknown.

And the letter she left behind
raises more questions.

Egger: "the bruises on me
will show."

She writes that a month
before her death.

How do you know a month
before you die

That you're gonna
have bruises on your body?

Statements like that
just make it look like

Not only did she plan
to k*ll herself,

But she planned to set him up

To, you know,
be charged with m*rder.

Narrator: a misinterpretation
of the crime scene

Almost sent paul dunn
to prison for life.

But a more complete
forensic examination

Ultimately set him free.

Dunn: I was scared to death
because they're big brother.

My pockets were tapped,

And my father's pockets were
tapped,

And big brother has
endless supplies,

And...they wanted
to put me in prison

For the rest of my life.

Knowing that I didn't do it

Didn't...
Didn't make it easier

For me
to sit through the trial.

I was scared to death.

The most difficult thing
for people to do

Is to say,
"I made a mistake."

And they just never --

I don't know
that they will do it today.

But the jury sure found out
that they made a mistake.