Troubled law officer turned to crime
Standout officer urged other cops to shoot her
May. 20, 2003. 01:00 AM - Respected investigator piled up gambling debts
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—As a criminal investigator, Karen Yontz was a standout — the kind called in on big cases and sought out by colleagues for advice on tough legal questions.
In her personal life, she was a devoted stepmother and a generous friend who once surprised a co-worker's son with a boom box.
So Yontz's death May 2 at the hands of police came as a shock and a puzzle: Why would the career law enforcement officer drive her state-owned car to a bank, rob it while only lightly disguised, then point her service revolver at pursuing officers and urge them to shoot her?
The answer, at least in part, according to friends and official records, was that the 50-year-old investigator with the New Mexico attorney-general's office was a troubled woman who developed a gambling habit, ran up heavy losses and turned to crime in a desperate attempt to cover her debts.
Her standoff with police ended in what was, in effect, a suicide. "This was someone who was in a lot of pain and this was the only way she knew to end everything," said Angela Pacheco, a former co-worker and long-time friend.
Yontz's trips to play video poker at nearby Indian casinos had at first been a diversion from personal stresses but had turned into a darker routine, friends say.
"She was very open in the beginning" about gambling, said Cindy Romero, Yontz's former partner when Yontz worked in the district attorney's office in Santa Fe. "And then as it became an addiction, she wouldn't even say she was going. But different people would see her there."
Her husband, Jim Yontz, told an Albuquerque TV station his wife had lost more than $100,000 (U.S.). "She had so much pride, it just ate her up," he said two days after her death. He also told investigators she had fraudulently written cheques on his bank account.
As her losses piled up, her world got messier. The May 2 bank robbery came the same day paperwork to deduct money from Yontz's wages to help pay off a debt was sent to a judge for approval. Court records showed that as of Feb. 28, she owed about $8,000 to a finance company for a loan taken out in 2000.
She also was under investigation for allegedly obtaining a credit card in someone else's name, and Yontz's supervisor told police he found downloaded cheque-making software on her work computer.
On the day of her death, the attorney general's office had planned to suspend her with pay. Meanwhile, the FBI had released a sketch of a female bank robber in an April 25 heist. Authorities now believe it was Yontz.
Her personal life appeared troubled in other respects. The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department had been called to the Yontz home on a family disturbance call in 1996 and to check on the couple in 2000, according to records. Her husband resigned from his prosecutor's post in 1998 after police allegedly found him in his truck with a "known prostitute," records show. He later was rehired. No charges were filed.
Yontz's 18-year-old stepdaughter, Tammara Yontz, said she just wishes she had known how desperate her stepmother had become. "I would have done anything to have helped her. I still really love her."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Copyright 1996-2003. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved.
Standout officer urged other cops to shoot her
May. 20, 2003. 01:00 AM - Respected investigator piled up gambling debts
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—As a criminal investigator, Karen Yontz was a standout — the kind called in on big cases and sought out by colleagues for advice on tough legal questions.
In her personal life, she was a devoted stepmother and a generous friend who once surprised a co-worker's son with a boom box.
So Yontz's death May 2 at the hands of police came as a shock and a puzzle: Why would the career law enforcement officer drive her state-owned car to a bank, rob it while only lightly disguised, then point her service revolver at pursuing officers and urge them to shoot her?
The answer, at least in part, according to friends and official records, was that the 50-year-old investigator with the New Mexico attorney-general's office was a troubled woman who developed a gambling habit, ran up heavy losses and turned to crime in a desperate attempt to cover her debts.
Her standoff with police ended in what was, in effect, a suicide. "This was someone who was in a lot of pain and this was the only way she knew to end everything," said Angela Pacheco, a former co-worker and long-time friend.
Yontz's trips to play video poker at nearby Indian casinos had at first been a diversion from personal stresses but had turned into a darker routine, friends say.
"She was very open in the beginning" about gambling, said Cindy Romero, Yontz's former partner when Yontz worked in the district attorney's office in Santa Fe. "And then as it became an addiction, she wouldn't even say she was going. But different people would see her there."
Her husband, Jim Yontz, told an Albuquerque TV station his wife had lost more than $100,000 (U.S.). "She had so much pride, it just ate her up," he said two days after her death. He also told investigators she had fraudulently written cheques on his bank account.
As her losses piled up, her world got messier. The May 2 bank robbery came the same day paperwork to deduct money from Yontz's wages to help pay off a debt was sent to a judge for approval. Court records showed that as of Feb. 28, she owed about $8,000 to a finance company for a loan taken out in 2000.
She also was under investigation for allegedly obtaining a credit card in someone else's name, and Yontz's supervisor told police he found downloaded cheque-making software on her work computer.
On the day of her death, the attorney general's office had planned to suspend her with pay. Meanwhile, the FBI had released a sketch of a female bank robber in an April 25 heist. Authorities now believe it was Yontz.
Her personal life appeared troubled in other respects. The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department had been called to the Yontz home on a family disturbance call in 1996 and to check on the couple in 2000, according to records. Her husband resigned from his prosecutor's post in 1998 after police allegedly found him in his truck with a "known prostitute," records show. He later was rehired. No charges were filed.
Yontz's 18-year-old stepdaughter, Tammara Yontz, said she just wishes she had known how desperate her stepmother had become. "I would have done anything to have helped her. I still really love her."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Copyright 1996-2003. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved.
