John S. Munday

This short story is excerpted from my novel, Cilantro, Not Coriander, that will be published in mid 2009 by Plain View Press, Austin, Texas. This story, and the novel, is a fictional account of what happened in my life. My wife, Fran Wohlenhaus-Munday and I were courting when her daughter, Marlys Ann Wohlenhaus, was struck down in her home by a person or persons unknown. She died two days later, on May 10, 1979, never regaining consciousness.

Like the narrator in my story, I tried to help Fran with her grief. In time, she and I were able to fit the right combination of our demands for justice, a cooperative media, and proper law enforcement investigations. In 1998, the person responsible for murdering Marlys was convicted of first degree murder. Later, in 2000, he was convicted of four more murders.

As a victim of crime, I have sought to understand what Fran and I have gone through. This story, and my life, expresses an understanding that I would have to become bereaved and mourn Marlys’s death. If I didn’t, Fran and I would have become estranged. I believe that is an important message for all crime victims.