In February, 1991, the Willoughby family was on vacation in
Puerto Peñasco (aka “Rocky Point” and “Arizona’s
beach”), Mexico, a
tourist town on the Gulf of California popular with Arizonans. The
couple and their three
children had rented a condominium at Las Conchas beach a short distance from Puerto Peñasco
itself.
The day after the family arrived, Daniel Willoughby and the
children went to visit a nearby museum. Trish stayed
behind because
she was tired and wanted to rest.
After Daniel and the children boarded their van for the museum,
Daniel returned to the condo, saying he forgot
his
passport. He remained in the condo for about five minutes. While he
was inside, his oldest daughter tried to
enter, but
the door was locked. When Daniel came out of the condo, he was
adjusting his belt and tucking in his
shirt. After
Daniel returned to the van, he and the children went on their trip.
When they returned some two hours later, Daniel's ten-year-old
daughter Thera rushed in to tell her mother
about the
trip. She found her mother unconscious in the bedroom. Trish had
been stabbed, bludgeoned, and
strangled, and a knife was
protruding from her head. Daniel gathered the children outside for
prayer and
then drove to the Red Cross station for
help. Trish died that evening.
The kitchen
The kitchen
Yesenia Patino said she went into the house after Willoughby left
with his children, who had been outside.
She said she then stabbed Mrs. Willoughby with a butter knife,
pulled two rings from her fingers, stole $13
from a purse and scattered papers to make the crime look like a
robbery.
Daniel Hayden Willoughby
Daniel Hayden Willoughby
Daniel Hayden Willoughby was sentenced to two consecutive life
terms on January 14, 2002 for murdering
his wife, a crime for which he spent seven years on death row before
his original conviction was overturned.
Daniel and his wife Patricia "Trish"
Willoughby.
Thera Huish and Trish Willoughby
The victim
Patricia "Trish" Toland Willoughby, 42.
Patricia "Trish" Toland Willoughby, 42.
Patricia "Trish" Toland Willoughby, 42.
Yesenia Patino biography
