NATION/WORLD UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, October 24, 1995
5A
Former fan club president guilty of murdering Selena
The Associated Press
HOUSTON — The former president of the Selena fan club was convicted yesterday of murdering the Tejano singing star. The jury rejected Yolanda Saldivar's claim that the gun fired accidentally.
The jury was told to return today to decide on a punishment. Saltivar, 35, could receive a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Selena, whose full name was Selena Quintanilla Perez, was 23 when she was killed March 31 at a Corpus Christi motel.
Prosecutor Mark Skurka had told the jury during closing arguments that the shooting was deliberate. Saldivar "took the gun out, cocked the hammer, pulled the trigger and killed her. What could be a worse way to die than to be shot in the back in a cowardly manner?" Skurka asked.
"Selena left her mark on the world," he continued. "The defendant left her mark on Selena with a bullet hole in the back."
But defense attorney Fred Hagans, pulling the trigger of the 38-caliber pistol several times as he addressed the jury, described Saldivar as inexperienced with weapons and said that the trigger required virtually no pressure.
"The defendant left her mark on Selena with a bullet hole in the back"
Mark Skurka prosecutor
"Time and time again, consistently unrehearsed, ... she said. 'This was an accident; I didn't intend to hurt her.' "Hagans said.
Prosecutors contended Saldivar shot Selena when the singer went to retrieve records that would have supported her family's suspicion that Saldivar had embezzled $30,000 as manager of Selena's boutiques.
The jury was not given the option of considering lesser charges, such as manslaughter. To find Salvivar guilty, the jurors had to find that she shot Selena deliberately.
Saldivar does not face the death
penalty because the crime contained none of the aggravating circumstances necessary to Texas law, such as a multiple slaying or a murder committed during a rape or robbery.
After the shooting, Saldivar held police at bay outside the motel for 9 1/2 hours, holding a gun to her head. The jury heard almost six hours of recordings made during the standoff as Saldivar spoke on a cellular phone to police negotiators.
"It just went off," she said on the recording. "I didn't mean to do it. I didn't mean to kill anybody."
But police took a signed confession from Saldivar that makes no mention of an accident. The defense contended police left out that claim.
Undermining Saldivar's claim, motel employees testified they saw a bleeding Selena run from a room to the lobby with a calm Saldivar in pursuit with a gun in her hand.
A firearms expert testified that the Brazilian-made five-shot revolver Saldivar was carrying could not have fired without pulling the trigger.
Witnesses said that after collapsing, Selena used her final words to identify Saldivar as her attacker.
Quebec causes financial upset
The Associated Press
TORONTO — Fears that Quebec will vote for independence next week rocked Canadian financial markets yesterday. One federalist leader said the province would plunge into a black hole if it voted to secede.
The Canadian dollar, which traded last week at nearly 75 U.S. cents, took a large one-day tumble to slightly above 73 cents yesterday as traders fretted over the possibility of a "Yes" victory in the Oct. 30 referendum.
"Referendum fears dominate the financial markets," Sherry Cooper, chief economist at investment dealer Nesbitt Burns, told a conference call of clients and staff.
The Toronto Stock Exchange also quavered. Its composite index lost about 2 percent of its value in trading yesterday. Nationwide banks and the Montreal-based conglomerate Imasco Ltd. were especially hard hit.
"That's what you call political instability," said Prime Minister
Jean Chretien, in New York for the United Nations' 50th anniversary ceremonies. "It will be a lively week."
Chretien, a native Quebecker who staunchly opposes secession, said he remained optimistic despite recent polls showing a slight lead for the separatists. He noted federalists won by a 60-40 margin in 1980 despite final opinion polls showing a tight race.
One of the leaders of the federalist campaign, Progressive Conservative Party chief Jean Charest, urged his fellow Quebeckers to weigh their vote carefully.
"The choice and the consequences are overwhelming for people and are irreversible," Charest said in Ottawa. "We'd be in a black hole. Where would it go from there?"
In Quebec City, capital of the mostly French-speaking province, separatists were buoyant after one of their biggest, liveliest rallies of the campaign Sunday night.
More than 4,000 people waved flags, sang nationalist songs and chanted, "We want a country."
At one point, the mayor of Quebec, Jean-Paul L'Allier, asked the crowd for silence.
"Listen to your heart beat, and you can hear, at the same time, the beat of your new country," he said.
Many financial analysts predict major economic upheaval if Quebec votes to secede, including a further plunge for the Canadian dollar, higher interest rates, and a possible exodus of businesses from Quebec.
The head of a leading Quebec polling firm, Jean-Marc Leger, said the dollar's weakness may persuade some Quebeckers that a "Yes" victory would be too costly.
"I'm sure people will think twice when they see the dollar go down," Leger told the telephone news conference organized by Nesbitt Burns.
Lucien Bouchard, one of the two top leaders of the separatist campaign, said the financial markets would be reassured if Chretien publicly pledged to negotiate an economic partnership with an independent Quebec. So far, Chretien has refused to discuss the possibility of a "Yes" victory.
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Wed., Nov. 1st 7:00-10:00pm Hashinger Hall Theatre
If you want to perform, sign up at the SUA box office, 4th floor Kansas Union by 5pm on Oct.27th
SPECIAL SHOWING OF
ANDY WARHOL'S
SHORT FILM
"EAT"
It's
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for more information,
call the sua box office
at 864-3477
BEFORE 4 PM ADULTS $1.00
(limited to SEATING)
SENIOR CITIZENS $3.00
Now and Then PG-13 4:457:19:30
American Quilt PG-13 4:387:19:35
Scarlet Letter® 4:387:19:50
Never Talk to Strangers® 4:457:25:94
Get Shorty® 4:457:29:45
CINEMA TWIN
3170 IUWA BEL SIPI :
$1.25
Apollo 13¹⁶
5:15:8:00
Indian in the Cupboard²⁴
5:00:7:15:9:15
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