The 3 Billboards Murder of Kathy Page Notes:

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"On May 14, 1991, Page, reportedly a mother and waitress, was found dead inside her car in Vidor, Texas — but her death was no accident, state authorities say. Page had been strangled and the scene was staged, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety: Her car was nose-down in a ditch 100 yards from her home in an attempt to make it appear she had been in an accident. Despite evidence of a homicide, no arrests have ever been made in Page’s death.

Vidor Police Chief Rod Carroll told PEOPLE the case is very much still open and that authorities have always had an unnamed person of interest. Carroll characterized Page’s death as a likely “crime of passion.” Frustrated by the lack of resolution, however, Page’s father, James Fulton, began putting up billboards along I-10 in the Vidor area. In 2012, he erected one accusing Page’s estranged husband, Steve Page, of her murder and claiming the Vidor Police Department had taken bribes instead of working to catch the killer, according to the Beaumont Enterprise.

“Steve Page Brutally Murdered his Wife in 1991,” the billboard stated. “Vidor P.D. Does Not Want to Solve This Case. I Believe They Took A Bribe. The Attorney General Should Investigate.” According to the Enterprise, other billboards that Fulton has put up include “Vidor Police Botched Up the Case,” “Waiting For Confession” and “This Could Happen To You!”

Kathy and Steve were recently separated at the time of her death, according to DPS. Chief Carroll says that Steve declined to cooperate with police during their investigation. Though police say Steve has never been charged in Kathy’s death, a civil jury found Steve liable in a wrongful death suit brought by Fulton, according to a later appellate decision in the case reviewed by PEOPLE. The civil jury “found Steven Page killed Kathy Page,” according to court documents reviewed by PEOPLE. (In a civil trial, a jury need only find it more likely than not that the defendant is responsible — while in a criminal proceeding, the jury must find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.)

Kathy’s family was awarded $150,000 in the suit. According to court documents, a detective testified during the civil trial that when police informed Steve his wife was dead, he “became emotional, throwing himself on the couch and crying, but in the light of his flashlight [authorities] noticed that Steve had no tears at all.” Grand juries have declined to indict Steve in Kathy’s death, the Enterprise reports. “The investigation never closed,” Chief Carroll told the paper earlier this year. "There has always been a person of interest. We need evidence for probable cause. Sometime, someone will grow a conscience and come forward. It’s the human psyche.""

— Source: People.com article by Harriet Sokmensuer

San Ysidro McDonald's Massacre Notes:

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"The San Ysidro McDonald's massacre was a mass shooting that occurred in and around a McDonald's restaurant in the San Ysidro neighborhood of San Diego, California, on July 18, 1984. The perpetrator, 41-year-old James Huberty, killed 21 people and injured 19 others before being fatally shot by San Diego Police Department SWAT officer Chuck Foster. The shooting ranked as the deadliest mass shooting committed in the United States until the 1991 Luby's shooting. It is currently the seventh-deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

On July 15, 1984, James Huberty commented to his wife, Etna, that he suspected he might have a mental problem. Two days later, on the morning of July 17, he called a mental health clinic requesting an appointment. Leaving his contact details with the receptionist, he was assured the clinic would return his call within hours. According to his wife, he sat quietly beside the telephone for several hours, awaiting the return call, before abruptly walking out of the family home and riding to an unknown destination on his motorcycle. Unbeknownst to Huberty, the receptionist had misspelled his name as "Shouberty." His polite demeanor conveyed no sense of urgency to the operator; therefore, she logged the call as a "non-crisis" inquiry, to be handled within 48 hours. Approximately one hour later, Huberty returned home in a contented mood. After eating dinner, Huberty, his wife, and their two daughters (aged 12 and 10) cycled to a nearby park. Later that evening, he and Etna watched a film together on their television.

The following morning—Wednesday, July 18—Huberty took his wife and daughters to the San Diego Zoo. In the course of the walk, Huberty told his wife that he believed that his life was effectively over. Referring to the mental health clinic's failure to return his phone call the previous day, he said, "Well, society had their chance." After eating lunch at a McDonald's restaurant in the Clairemont neighborhood of San Diego, the Hubertys returned home.

Shortly thereafter, Huberty walked into his bedroom as his wife lay relaxing upon the bed. He changed his clothing by putting on a red T-shirt and green camaflouge slacks. He then leaned toward her and said, "I want to kiss you goodbye." Etna asked him where he was going, to which he replied he was "going hunting... hunting for humans." Carrying a bundle wrapped in a checkered blanket, Huberty looked toward his elder daughter, Zelia, as he walked toward the front door of the family home and said, "Goodbye. I won't be back." He drove down San Ysidro Boulevard. According to eyewitnesses, he drove first toward the Big Bear supermarket and then toward a U.S. Post Office branch, before entering the parking lot of a McDonald's restaurant located approximately 200 yards from his apartment.

At approximately 3:56 p.m. on July 18, Huberty drove his black Mercury Marquis sedan into the parking lot of the McDonald's restaurant on San Ysidro Boulevard. In his possession were a 9mm Browning HP semi-automatic pistol, a 9mm Uzi carbine, a Winchester 1200 12 gauge pump-action shotgun, and a cloth bag filled with hundreds of rounds of ammunition for each weapon. A total of 50 customers were present inside the restaurant.

Approximately 10 minutes after the first 9-1-1 call was placed, the police arrived at the correct restaurant. They imposed a lockdown on an area spanning six blocks from the site of the shootings. The police established a command post two blocks from the restaurant, and deployed 175 officers in strategic locations. (These officers were joined within the hour by SWAT team members, who also took positions around the McDonald's restaurant.)

At 5:17 p.m., Foster perched on the post office roof obtained an unobstructed view of Huberty from the neck down for a few seconds through his telescopic sight attached to his rifle; he fired a single round from a range of around 35 yards (32 meters). The bullet entered Huberty's chest, severed the aorta just under his heart, and exited through his spine, leaving an exit wound one inch square and sending him sprawling backwards onto the floor directly in front of the service counter, killing him almost instantly.

The incident had lasted for 77 minutes, during which time Huberty fired a minimum of 245 rounds of ammunition, killing 20 people and wounding as many others, one of whom died the following day. Seventeen of the victims were killed inside the restaurant and four in the immediate vicinity. Several victims had tried to stanch their bleeding with napkins—often in vain. Of the fatalities, 13 died from gunshot wounds to the head, seven from gunshots to the chest, and one victim, 8-month-old Carlos Reyes, from a single 9mm gunshot to the back.The victims, whose ages ranged from eight months to 74 years, were predominantly, though not exclusively, of Mexican or Mexican-American ancestry, reflecting local demographics.

Although Huberty had shouted at the beginning of his shooting spree that he had "killed thousands" in a comment indicating he was a veteran of the Vietnam War, he had never actually served in any military branch..."

— Source: The San Ysidro McDonald's Massacre Wikipedia