Resurrection Walk

I wondered why Sanz hadn’t asked for a public defender instead of paying for a midlevel lawyer, but that was water under the bridge. I moved on to the next pocket and here I found a transcript of the interview Lucinda had given the sheriff’s investigators assigned to the Roberto Sanz case.

I read it from the top, the moment Lucinda foolishly waived her rights and agreed to talk to investigators, identified as Gabriella Samuels and Gary Barnett. The investigators had asked general, open-ended questions and let Lucinda run with them in her answers. It was a familiar ploy. The prisons were filled with people who had literally talked themselves through the gates. That is, instead of keeping their mouths shut, they decided to explain their actions or reasons. But once they waived their rights, they were done for.

During the interview, Lucinda told the same story Bosch had pulled from the presentencing report. At least that was a good thing. Her story of what happened that night in Quartz Hill had been consistent over time.

Samuels: He left through the front door?

Sanz: Yes, the front.

Samuels: And what did you do then?

Sanz: I slammed the door and locked the dead bolt. I didn’t want him coming back in and I knew he had kept a key even though he wasn’t supposed to.

Samuels: Then what?

Sanz: I was standing there and I heard a shot. And then there was another shot. I was scared. I thought he was shooting at the house. I ran back to my boy’s room and we hid there. I called 911 and waited.

Samuels: How did you know they were gunshots?

Sanz: I don’t know. I guess I didn’t know for sure but I’ve heard gunshots before. Growing up. And when we first got married, Robbie and I went to the gun range a few times.

Samuels: Did you hear anything else besides the two shots? Any voices? Anything like that?

Sanz: No, I didn’t hear anything. Just the shots.

Samuels: I saw that the front door has a peephole. Did you look out after the shots?

Sanz: No, I thought maybe he was shooting at the door. I backed away.

Samuels: Are you sure?

Sanz: Yes, I know what I did.

Barnett: Do you own a gun, Mrs. Sanz?

Sanz: No, I don’t like guns. When we divorced, I told Robbie to take all the guns. I don’t want them.

Barnett: So you’re saying there were no guns in the house?

Sanz: Yes. No guns.

Samuels: What did you do after you called 911?

Sanz: I waited in the bedroom with my son. And then when I heard the sirens coming, I told him to stay in the room and I went to look out the front window. That’s when I saw the deputies, and Robbie was on the ground.

Barnett: Did you shoot him?

Sanz: No. Never. I wouldn’t do that. He’s the father of my son.

Barnett: But you see what we’re looking at here, right? You two argue, he leaves the house and gets shot in the back twelve feet from the front door. What are we supposed to think?

Sanz: I did not do this.

Barnett: Well, who did it if it wasn’t you?

Sanz: I don’t know. We’ve been divorced three years. I don’t know who he was with or what he was doing.

Barnett: Where’s the gun?

Sanz: I told you, I don’t have a gun.

Barnett: We’re going to find it, but it would be better for you if you just told us and cleared this up right now.

Sanz: I didn’t do it.

Samuels: Were you afraid that he was going to the car to get his gun?

Sanz: No. I thought he already had his gun and shot at the house.

Samuels: But you said before that you were afraid. What were you afraid of in that moment?

Sanz: I keep telling you. I was afraid he was shooting at the house. We’d just had a big argument. I could not take Eric to my mother’s, because we had missed dinner because he was so late.

Samuels: Did he tell you why he was late?

Sanz: He said he had a work meeting and I know he lied. The gang team never works on Sunday.

Samuels: So you yelled at him?

Sanz: A little bit. I was mad at him, yes.

Samuels: Did he yell at you?

Sanz: Yes. He said I was a bitch.

Samuels: Is that why you got mad?

Sanz: No, no, don’t put words... I was mad at him because he was so late. That’s it.

Samuels: Lucinda, if this was about you feeling threatened, we can work with you on that. You’re scared. He has guns. Did he tell you he was going to his car to get a gun?

Sanz: I told you, no. He was leaving. I told him to leave and he was leaving. I locked the door and that was it.

Barnett: It doesn’t add up, Lucinda. You have to help us here. He’s in your house. He walks out and he is shot from behind. Was somebody else in your house?

Sanz: No, nobody. Just me and Eric.

Barnett: Do you know what gunshot residue is?

Sanz: No.