Paul Dunn

I learned about this case from an episode of Forensic Files called Within Arms Reach. I was quite disappointed that I could not find a lot of information on this case because I feel like it is an extraordinary story that needs to be told. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from this case, not just about the law and legal proceedings but also about human behavior.

In July of 1994 Paul Dunn was a sixteen year veteran of the Farmington New Mexico police department. He and his wife Monica had separated over the recent months after she discovered he had been unfaithful. It was not made clear in my research how long Monica and Paul had been married but they had two daughters together. Monica also had a daughter before she and Paul were married. As would be expected Monica was obviously not happy about Paul's adultery and while it has been a while since I have seen the Forensic Files episode and I did not watch again while doing the research for this case, as I recall this was not the first time he had been unfaithful.

It is often stated that you never divorce the person that you married, no matter who it is. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard couples who are going through a divorce continue to maintain their soon to be ex spouse would not do something vicious or manipulative. It often takes people a long time before they realize that is exactly what they have done. We hear stories all the of cases where a divorce is filed and suddenly one parent is accusing the other of abuse or even molestation against one of their children but had never mentioned it before. But, it is not always about the children either, sometimes one spouse will suddenly accuse the other of abuse. Now of course I am not saying that none of these accusations are ever true but I have seen it enough to be a tactic used. Some spouses just simply thrive on revenge out of anger or emotional pain and this has been alleged in this case.

On the morning of April 4, 1994 Paul, who had moved out of the home he had shared with Monica had gone to the house. There are two different rumors as to why he was there. One says that he was simply there to see his daughters before school while the other was that he was there to confront Monica about the fact that she was allegedly planning to file a domestic abuse allegation against Paul that had happened recently, since their separation. It was said that Paul disputed the allegations but he knew being a police office any such allegations would put his job at risk.

According to Paul they began to argue and Monica went into the bedroom. Some reports state that Paul was physically in the bedroom with Monica when there was a shotgun blast while other reports say he was not in the room but in the next room where he heard the gun go off. Paul called 9-1-1 and some of his fellow officers were the first on the scene. They say that he was performing CPR on Monica when they arrived. One report indicated that he had moved Monica's body into the garage of the home, but to be fair I am unsure if this is true.

Paul would always maintain that Monica had shot herself and he was not involved.

Monica was transported to the hospital where she was pronounced DOA. An autopsy and an investigation was done. Now, I will be the first to admit that suicide by shotgun is not an extremely common thing, but it has been and can be done. I will also admit that it is more rare for a woman to commit suicide with any sort of gun, but again, it does happen. Investigators at the time as well as the doctor who performed the autopsy did not believe Paul's story. Monica had been shot in the abdomen and first investigators, and later the prosecutor would claim that it was impossible that she shot herself.

Obviously Paul was accused. He was taken in for questioning. He was even given at least one polygraph test and it was said that he passed. I say “at least one” because there was an indication that he took more than one and had passed them all. The prosecutor took the case to a grand jury who indicted Paul for murder and he almost immediately lost his job as a police officer. His in-laws were said to be wealthy and well connected with influential people. It has been said that they were instrumental in having Paul accused and for what has been called a “shotty” investigation as well as gaining custody of Paul and Monica's children.

Paul's trial began in December of 1994. Due to pre-trial publicity it was moved from Farmington to Gallup New Mexico. The most influential evidence in the case did not come from the prosecution, but from the defense. It was a suicide letter. Now, as I stated from the beginning I was quite disappointed at how little information could really be found online about this case. I was able to find multiple references to a book that Paul later wrote in collaboration with a local reporter, a few references to the Forensic Files episode and one appeal record. However, the appeal was in a case that Paul had file against “various state agencies and their employees who had been involved in the investigation. I have also stated that I did no watch the Forensic Files episode again and so I do not recall how the defense was able to find this suicide letter. I can only assume however that not only was it verified to be true and Monica's handwriting but was shown to the prosecutors at least at some point. It was said that the letter had been written about a month before she died and stated “I just don't have any more strength or power to go on” and it included information about funeral arrangements. The defense was also able to prove through forensics that not only was it possible that Monica had shot herself but that the blood splatter proved Paul's story.

After a ten day trial the jury took one hour to deliberate before returning with a not guilty verdict. The foreman from the previous grand jury would later say that if they had been shown the suicide letter they would not have voted to indict Paul on murder charges.

I believe this case should be more widely known than it is and should be studied more. Some believe that while obviously Monica had been suicidal during that period of time that she may have accidentally shot herself “while trying to manipulate her husband with a suicide threat.” Others believe that she purposely committed suicide with him there, and in the way that she did so that he would be suspected, and possibly charged. Then, as is the case in many suicides, there are still those who believe that Paul really did murder her and got away with it. The latter, in my opinion, is not a plausible answer. Family members often do not want to believe that their loved ones would commit suicide. You often hear how they would not have left their children in that matter or claim they were not suicidal at all. And, to be fair there have been some people who have committed murder and claimed it was a suicide, when in fact it was not, the case of Matthew Baker comes to mind right away. However, I honestly do not believe that is the case here. Now, I am not one who necessarily likes to talk “bad about the dead” but I am also a very blunt person who believes that just because someone dies they do not suddenly become a saint. It seems that many that believe that Paul was unjustly prosecuted also believe that it was Monica's plan to ruin his career and his life and I am unsure that is not a fair representation based on what people know. It is obvious that he was not a good husband and as I recall Paul openly admits that but just because he was a bad husband does not mean he was a murderer. This case just seems so important to me because it proves that things are not always as they seem or as predictable as we often think.