On January 27, 1993, "Unsolved Mysteries" profiled the case of Kaitlyn Arquette, a New Mexico teenager who was gunned down on July 16, 1989 as she was returning home from a friends' home. The local authorities began investigating Kait's case as a random act of violence. Kait's family however has always insisted that Kait's death was a premeditated murder that was either carried out or orchestrated by a Vietnamese gang with whom Kait and her boyfriend had participated in an insurance fraud scheme months earlier.

Since the time of the "Unsolved Mysteries" broadcast new evidence has come to light which have raised some interesting questions not brought to light in the UM segment. Much of this evidence was first brought to light by investigator Pat Caristo who participated in an hour long video interview on the case of which I'll provide a link to at the end of this posting.

For those who are not interested in wading through the entire interview: I will provide some of the bullet points below which in enough of themselves should make a good jumping off point for further discussion of the case as almost none of this evidence was known to the Arquette family at the time of the taping of the UM segment:
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- Missing Time - Curiously there seems to be an issue of missing time when it comes to constructing the chronology of events in the hours preceding Kait's murder. Kait departed her parents home en route to her friend's house at approximately 6:15 p.m.. However, Kait's friend made a statement to police that Kait did not arrive at her home until 9:30 p.m.

That would leave three hours of unexplained lost time between Kait's departure from her parents home until her arrival at her friend's home. Nobody has ever been able to substantiate anything regarding Kait's movements during these three hours. Curiously her friend later recanted her original statement claiming to Kait's family that Kait arrived at her home at 7 p.m. stating that Kait had come directly to her home from a matinee movie (scheduled for 5 p.m.). However that would be impossible as Kait had departed her parents home at 6:15 p.m. According to Kait's family no explanation was ever given as to the reason why Kait's friend changed her story so that the missing three hours would be accounted for.

- Bizarre Sequence of Events - Between the hours of ten and eleven p.m. on the evening of Kait's murder, one of Kait's friends received a telephone call from Kait's boyfriend. He was frantic and kept repeating "Kait's dead! They shot her! Kait's dead!" before mentioning that he was on his way to the hospital.

The problem: According to Kait's family, Kait's boyfriend was not officially informed of her death by the local authorities until 3 a.m. the next morning, several hours after he made this phone call.

- VW Bug - On the night of Kait's murder, one of her neighbors noticed that Kait's car was being trailed from her apartment by a VW bug.

Curiously in the moments after Kait's car collided against the pole at the intersection of Lomas and Arno Streets, a VW bug appeared at the scene. The appearance of this vehicle preceded the arrival of any police or ambulance units at the scene. When police arrived at the operator of the VW bug was standing next to Kait's vehicle.

Strangely by this time his vehicle was no longer at the scene meaning that in between the time he arrived at the scene and the arrival of law enforcement someone must have come and collected his vehicle leaving him alone standing next to Kait's wrecked vehicle.

It was later determined by investigator Caristo that this same individual had been responsible for several vicious attacks upon women. Several years later he was subsequently imprisoned for the rape of his fourteen year old stepsister.

Caristo later interviewed this individual whom freely admitted he was the individual seen next to Kait's vehicle after it had crashed into the pole. He also admitted to had been driving a VW bug on the evening in question. However he became agitated when Caristo began asking questions about how his vehicle mysteriously disappeared from the scene prior to the arrival of law enforcement claiming that nobody was with him on the night in question and he operated the vehicle on his own.

-824 Arno Street- This would be the location of an auto body shop where a VW bug was seen shortly after Kait's car collided with the pole. The bug was described as attempting to use the auto body shop as refuge after "fleeing the scene".

Caristo later learned that this auto body shop was a front for both a chop shop and a drug distribution center.

-Vehicle Damage- Kait's vehicle sustained significant damage to the rear bumper as well as bullet holes near the driver's side window. The car was towed to an impound lot where it was photographed with the bullet hole in the side of the car notated with an evidence marker on it as I1 or impact 1.

Caristo attempted to obtain additional photographs displaying these markers but the local authorities denied that the evidence markers were placed there by them. They stated that their evidence workup on the case concluded on the night of the murder and that no markers were ever placed on the vehicle.

-2003 Second Opinion- In 2003 acting independently of the Albuquerque Police Department, the Bernallilo County Cold Case Squad determined that Kaitlyn Arquette was in fact shot after her car had collided with the pole not prior to it as had long been assumed to be the case.

The came to this conclusion by determining that the accuracy of the shots suggested that they were fired both at close range and at a non-moving target.

They also believed that had the shooting taken place while victim's car was in motion, it would have veered to the right of the roadway due to the left-to-right camber of the pavement. In addition, damage to the left end of the rear bumper suggests the rear of Kait's vehicle was struck and pushed to the right by a second vehicle which veered her car across the median and into the utility pole.
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All information in this post was gleaned from the following sources:

The Arquette Family Website
http://kaitarquette.arquettes.com/index.htm

The Pat Caristo Interview as published by The Arquette Family:

I have removed the YT links for the time being as I await approval from TJ as to whether or not they can be posted here. I should note that for the record that no "Unsolved Mysteries" footage is contained in the interview with Caristo. In fact no attempts to recreate/dramatize the events leading up to Kait's death are included in the interview. Three subjects are interviewed including Lois Duncan and Caristo and since it was uploaded by Kait's family seems to be an attempt on their part to get the word out about the murder of Kait Arquette to a wide audience via YT

I can't believe it that it took 14 years for them to determine that she was hit and crashed into the pole first. The damage to the rear bumper should have told them something.

I'm watching Part 1 right now and everything Lois Duncan said makes me look more suspiciously at the boyfriend and his friends. First of all, violent behavior from the boyfriend? Kicking doors and the boyfriends' friends breaking in? Her fear sounds way deeper than eluded to in the segment. That she would beg to sleep on friends couches really hammers it home for me. She was terrified of these people, she wanted to get away from her boyfriend, and she didn't want her mother to tell her boyfriend where she was that night.

The phone call sounds really weird, too. Why did he call that one friend? Broken English aside, saying "Kait dead" is so weird. She wasn't dead yet and he knew it which is why he was on the way to the hospital. I know when you're upset you may be irrational, but telling someone that someone is dead when they're not is weird. But more importantly, what makes it worse is that the police didn't tell him til 3?! If they can prove the phone call to the girlfriend (I don't know how far phone records go back), that is pretty damning. He shouldn't have known yet.

In a random shooting, I doubt they would put in the energy of chasing you and running you off the road like that. If they really want to get you and have a reason to get you, then they will chase you down and run you off the road and all that, in my opinion. I don't know the trajectory of the bullets but to be shot twice it sounds like they would have had to go up to the car to fire the second shot or something because she would have fallen over after the first shot.

The missing time angle is also bizarre. Firstly, matinee movies are usually much earlier in the day, aren't they? Second, we know the friend was lying about the movie since Kait had been with her parents. And we can probably eliminate that there was a movie Kait planned on going to and then changed her mind because she would have told her friend and the matinee comment is suspicious. Why on Earth would she lie and change her story? Could she have been threatened?

Some further points:

- Regarding the issue of "missing time": The closest Lois Duncan has ever been able to get regarding some explanation as to where her daughter was during the three hours from when she left their house to her arrival at her friend's apartment is when she consulted a psychic.

The psychic claimed that during these three hours Kait went up north (I believe she specifically mentioned "the mountains") and attended a party that was attended by people heavy into the local drug scene. The psychic believed that it was the events that happened at this party which ultimately lead to Kait's demise later that evening.

Granted this is all gleaned from a psychic's vision but Duncan notes that at various times she had consulted three different mediums and all relayed to her a similar story.

- Regarding Kait's boyfriend and his friends: There is another possibility regarding how Kait's boyfriend was aware of Kait's death before being officially informed of it by the authorities.

Lois Duncan believes that if Kait's boyfriend and his friends were not involved in Kait's murder, they may have suspected what was about to happen nonetheless. If this is to be believed Duncan suggested that Kait's boyfriend and his friends may have attempted to locate Kait on the evening of her murder to warn her but obviously were unable to communicate this message to her in time.

Duncan believes it's possible that Kait's boyfriend and his friends came upon the crime scene after the murder had already been committed. This would explain how Kait's boyfriend would've known about the murder hours before he was informed of it by the authorities. It would also cast an interesting light on his frantic phone call to Kait's friend on that evening stating "Kait's dead! They shot her!" (Note the word "They")

Lois Duncan also believes that an attempt was made on the life of Kait's boyfriend in the days following Kait's murder. Kait's boyfriend had his wrists slashed but he has always maintained that it was due to a suicide attempt due to the extreme grief he was experiencing over Kait's death.

- The VW bug to me is still the most important piece of evidence in this case. Much like the murder of Rhonda Hinson there was no reason for that individual to be near Kait's car after it had crashed into the pole.

In all the reports regarding this individual never is any mention made of him trying to flag down help for Kait despite the fact that several witnesses noticed him at the scene before and after his vehicle mysteriously vanished. What was he doing there? Where did his vehicle disappear to? Was it the same VW beetle seen at 824 Arno Street after the murder? Why did someone take off with his vehicle leaving him at the scene of the crime?

How long had Kaitlyn been involved in the insurance fraud scheme?

It was later determined by investigator Caristo that this same individual had been responsible for several vicious attacks upon women. Several years later he was subsequently imprisoned for the rape of his fourteen year old stepsister.

Caristo later interviewed this individual whom freely admitted he was the individual seen next to Kait's vehicle after it had crashed into the pole.



Would that be Paul Apodaca? (I may have spelled that wrong). I didn't realize he had admitted he was the mystery cop seen next to the car.

I can't believe it that it took 14 years for them to determine that she was hit and crashed into the pole first. The damage to the rear bumper should have told them something.


I'm sure they did- the idea is that the police don't want to admit what really happened to Kait because members of their own department were involved. The APD has a history of dirty cops and cover-ups.

The missing time angle is also bizarre. Firstly, matinee movies are usually much earlier in the day, aren't they? Second, we know the friend was lying about the movie since Kait had been with her parents. And we can probably eliminate that there was a movie Kait planned on going to and then changed her mind because she would have told her friend and the matinee comment is suspicious. Why on Earth would she lie and change her story? Could she have been threatened?


Kait told her parents she was going to Sharon's (her friend) home when she left, and she told Sharon she was having dinner with her parents. She lied to them both to give herself some free time. This is presumably when she went outside of town to the mountains and saw whatever she saw that got her killed. In one of the psychic readings, Kait insists that who she saw was what got her killed. And at one point, an anonymous caller told the Duncans that Kait was killed because she saw "some big shot buying coke."

Kait's boyfriend had his wrists slashed but he has always maintained that it was due to a suicide attempt due to the extreme grief he was experiencing over Kait's death.


Actually, I believe Dung was stabbed in the stomach.

How long had Kaitlyn been involved in the insurance fraud scheme?



Not long. Her family believes she was feeling guilty about being involved and was trying to get away from Dung and his friends for that reason. However, they do not believe the insurance scam was the reason she was killed.

Anyone interested in this case should really read "Who Killed My Daughter?" by Lois Duncan. It contains tons of new information and is really well-written. The Arquette family website is very good, too. There is a message board where you can communicate directly with Lois. She answers every message personally.

Anyone interested in this case should really read "Who Killed My Daughter?" by Lois Duncan. It contains tons of new information and is really well-written. The Arquette family website is very good, too. There is a message board where you can communicate directly with Lois. She answers every message personally.

I agree with your comments in the post above. I also read Lois Duncan's book and it's very good. As usual, I couldn't remember details so couldn't answer baloony's question, glad you remembered the info from the book and were able to share it.

I agree with your comments in the post above. I also read Lois Duncan's book and it's very good. As usual, I couldn't remember details so couldn't answer baloony's question, glad you remembered the info from the book and were able to share it.

Well, I may have read it a few times. Or more than a few. :)

Lois Duncan was one of my favorite authors growing up. I've always felt personally connected to this case in a way. I've followed it for many, many years.

Follow up book to "Who Killed My Daughter?" has been released as an e-book. It's called One To The Wolves (http://www.amazon.com/One-Wolves-Trail-Killer-ebook/dp/B00DYOC21O/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374591267&sr=1-1&keywords=one+to+the+wolves).

A podcast was just done in this case interviewing Lois Duncan.

http://raasnio.com/GenerationWhyPodcast/one-to-the-wolves/

Very interesting, and a must listen!

A podcast was just done in this case interviewing Lois Duncan.

http://raasnio.com/GenerationWhyPodcast/one-to-the-wolves/

Very interesting, and a must listen!
I'm listening to this right now. I have never seen the segment (or I probably saw it's original airing and don't remember it), but I knew her name from this board. I had no idea of the Lois Duncan connection, and no idea this was a UM case until she mentioned her daughter's name and the fact that she was on UM. The roadblock thrown up by police in this case is really astonishing!

Glad to hear you are listening.
Yes it was a case on UM, it is on one of CD's DVDs Number 8.

Just realised nowheregirl that you were the first to put something up about the podcast.

Just wanted to say thank you, the podcast is absolutely fascinating! I just listened to the zodiac killer one, which was very different.

Just watched this one again a few days ago. Though I've gradually come around and now accept the "Occam's Razor" explanations for many cases - this one seems to go against the grain.

Kaitlyn, wanting to get away from her boyfriend & the shady stuff he was involved in, went to blow off some steam and forget about him at a party somewhere where drugs were in play. Then, just by chance, she happened to see someone important (a high ranking cop, businessman or politician?) buying some of those drugs.

Now granted, I haven't read Lois Duncan's book (or that follow on e-book mentioned above), but if this theory does hold true, why was Kaitlyn the only one killed? Unless everyone at the party was stoned/drunk out of their minds, I would think there would be a few other people at least who saw this 'VIP' and his drug transaction.

Here is the update from this case.





Solved. In 1995, private investigator Pat Caristo watched The Sally Jessy Raphael Show which featured this case. She contacted the show and said she had information that Lois apparently had missed. Caristo had started her own private investigation business in Albuquerque and was hired by a lawyer who was working on an insurance claim relating to this case. Caristo began researching it and learned from the police reports about twenty-one-year-old Paul Apodaca.
Apodaca was found standing next to Kaitlyn's car when police arrived at the scene. He was driving a primer-gray Volkswagen Beetle which was parked nearby. Other witnesses saw it near the scene. He told police that he "happened to be passing by". His contact information was taken down, but he was allowed to leave. The police did not run his name and he was never interviewed about the case.
Caristo discovered that he had an extensive criminal history, with multiple convictions for violent attacks against women. In 1990, he fired a .22-caliber pistol from the window of his car at a person walking down the street, striking the victim in the back. In 1995, he was convicted of raping his fourteen-year-old stepsister and sentenced to nine years in prison. He allegedly did this so that he could be in prison together with his brother, who was serving time for murder.
Lois hired Caristo to investigate this case further. Caristo discovered that Kaitlyn's car had most likely been hit by at least one vehicle and forced off the road, as evidenced by the damage to the left rear bumper and side panel. Only after she crashed into the light pole and put her car in park was she shot, likely at close range. Caristo also noticed a large bullet hole near the driver's side window which appeared to have been created by a large-caliber bullet. This suggested that two guns had been used in the shooting. This evidence is contrary to the police's version of events.
Lois suspected that the Albuqeurque police department was involved in a cover-up involving this case. For years, they maintained that the suspects initially arrested were responsible and that this case was "closed". Lois and Caristo never understood why no traces of the bullets that killed Kaitlyn or impacted her car were ever found. They also did not understand why police left the scene before an ambulance arrived. Also, the first officers at the scene gave conflicting accounts of their encounters with Apodaca.
In 2003, the Bernalillo County Cold Case Squad looked into this case and determined that Kaitlyn had been shot after her car collided with the light pole. This was based on the accuracy of the shots, which suggested that they were fired at a non-moving target at close range. This confirmed what Caristo had previously determined from reviewing the evidence.
In 2012, Apodaca was convicted of attacking his girlfriend and stealing her car. He was sentenced to twelve years in prison but later released. In July 2021, he was arrested by University of New Mexico campus police officers on the UNM campus for a probation violation. Almost immediately, he confessed to them that he murdered Kaitlyn and two other women. He claimed that he committed them because he "hated women".
One victim was twenty-one-year-old UNM student Althea Oakeley, who was attacked and stabbed to death in June 1988 as she walked home from a party near the campus. It was discovered that Apodaca had been working as a security guard on campus at the time of her murder. The other victim was thirteen-year-old Stella Gonzales, who was shot to death while walking home with a friend from a party near Tingley Beach in September 1988. He also confessed to three rapes that took place in the early 1990s. DNA evidence linked him to one rape from 1993.
In August 2021, Apodaca, then fifty-three, was arrested and charged with Althea's murder. In December, he was also charged with Stella's. Finally, in February 2022, he was indicted for Kaitlyn's. According to police, his confession contained details that "only the killer would know". He is currently awaiting trial. It is no longer believed that Kaitlyn's death is related to the insurance scam or the other men that were previously arrested.
Sadly, Lois passed away at the age of eighty-two on June 15, 2016, without seeing this case solved. Kaitlyn's sister, Kerry, later went on to become a criminologist because of her murder.