Work in Progress
Privacy and Crime Victims: I am researching how the news media treats
the privacy of serial killer victims and their families. I plan to present
a paper on my analysis at the 1999 national conference of the Academy of
Criminal Justice Sciences.
National Conferences/Presentations
National Association of Hispanic Journalists National Conference, Seattle,
Washington, 1997. I helped plan this conference. As part of the planning,
we researched various issues to present a conference with hands-on workshops
and forums that explored such topics as: Race Reporting and Television
News; the First Amendment and New Media; and Latinos and Access to the
Internet, Technology and the Information Infrastructure.
National Writers' Workshop, Seattle, Washington, 1997. Spoke at this
workshop, which was sponsored by The Seattle Times and The Poynter Institute,
one of the country's most prestigious journalism institutes for the study
of media issues and writing.
National Association of Hispanic Journalists National Conference, Chicago.
Ill., 1996. Traveled to the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern
University in Chicago to plan the conference's Student Campus, which attracts
over 60 college students annually from across the country. I was instrumental
in developing that year's curriculum, which involved introducing students
to cyber journalism, homepages, and issues related to researching nonfiction
information in cyberspace.
National Writers' Workshop, Seattle, Washington, 1996. Presented a lecture
on: Investigative Reporting: Simply Creative Thinking.
National Association of Hispanic Journalists National Conference, El
Paso, Texas, 1995. Organized and moderated a panel on writing and publishing
books.
Seattle University Law Clinic Roundtable Discussion on "Media and the
Courts," Tacoma, Washington, 1995. Participated in this debate.
Seattle Asian American Journalists Association, Seattle, Washington,
January 1995. Workshop panelist.
King County Bench-Bar-Press Annual Seminar debate regarding "The Challenge
of High Profile Cases," Seattle, Washington, 1994. Participated in this
debate.
Research Assistant in the School of Communication at the University
of Washington, 1990. My research focused on the New World Information Order.
Native American Media Association National Conference, Fife, Washington,
late 1980's. Speaker.
Investigative Reporters and Editors National Conference, Portland, Oregon,
mid-1980's. Workshop panelist. Topic: Reporting on Serial Killer Cases.
Persuasive Writing
Wrote several articles for "APB Online," the first all-police and crime
news, information, and entertainment network on the Internet. 1997 and
1998.
Spearheaded the research and writing of an eight-page newsletter for
the Enumclaw School District and a group of parents trying to pass a bond
to build a new junior high school. The newsletter was titled: "Pass on
the gift of a good education." September 1995.
Book Review of "River: A Novel of the Green River Killings." The Seattle
Times. August 1995.
An article entitled "What to Call an American of Hispanic Descent" was
published in a college text, "Speaking of Words: A Language Reader." 1982.
Books
Author of Toxic Love. Nonfiction medical mystery. Published in June
1995 by Dell Publishing. Editor: Steve Ross. The book was translated into
German in 1996.
Co-author of The Search for the Green River Killer. Nonfiction. Published
in March 1990 by New American Library. Editor: Michaela Hamilton. First
printing: 500,000. The book was on the New York Times Best Sellers list
several weeks (No. 3 on March 24, 1990). It also made the Northwest Best
Sellers list for several weeks.
Literary agent: Jane Dystel, New York City.
Journalism
Yakima Herald-Republic, Yakima, Washington, 1996. During several lengthy
in-person and telephone sessions, I helped a reporter develop much of the
strategy to investigate nonprofit groups that claimed to assist Hispanics
in the Yakima Valley. The newspaper published its investigative package
in November 1997.
The Seattle Times, Seattle, Washington, 1980 to 1994. General Assignment
and Investigative Reporter. Some of my major projects-assignments:
In 1994 I spearheaded an investigation that illustrated how dysfunctional
crime laboratories nationwide resulted in criminals going free and innocent
people sitting in jail for months.
In 1991 I played a key role in revealing that Seattle School District
children were being driven to school by prostitutes, drug users, thieves,
and individuals with extensive criminal driving records, including DWI.
The series, "Who's Driving The Kids?", led to dismissals and the revamping
of state guidelines used to hire bus drivers.
For over ten years I was The Seattle Times' lead reporter on the Green
River serial murders, this nation's largest serial murder case in modern
history. The killer remains at large.
In 1985 I covered the eruption of the volcano Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia,
South America. It was the third worst volcanic disaster in history. Over
27,000 people died.
In 1982 I reported on the eruption of Mexico's volcano El Chichon. I
dispatched daily stories during the eruption and wrote a special section
after the disaster.
Omaha World-Herald, Omaha, Nebraska, December 1977 to November 1979.
Police, municipal court and county government reporter.
Tucson Citizen, Tucson, Arizona, May 1974 to November 1977. Police,
general assignment and criminal justice reporter.
Nuestro-the Magazine for Latinos, March 1977 to November 1977. Tucson
stringer for New York-based magazine with regional editions. Contributed
600-word articles about Tucson Latinos.
Broadcast
In 1987 I wrote and narrated five television "news inserts" on the Green
River case for national distribution prior to the airing of a national
docu-drama on the case. I produced the inserts for LBS Communications Inc.
of Los Angeles, Calif.
KOLD-TV (CBS), Tucson, Arizona, October 1971 to the summer of 1973.
Night asst. news producer and night news producer.
University Publications
The Spectator, Seattle University campus newspaper, 1994 to present.
Adviser.
Arizona Daily Wildcat, University of Arizona campus newspaper, May 1972
to December 1972. General assignment reporter.
Special Recognition
The Search for the Green River Killer book was one of six semi-finalists
in the 1991 Helen B. Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism, a national
contest sponsored by The New York Public Library.
Listed in Who's Who Among Hispanic Americans in the 1991-1992 edition.
The September-October 1988 issue of the "Columbia Journalism Review"
cited Carlton Smith and me as some of the first journalists to use computers
in investigative reporting.
Awards
Pulitzer Prize finalist for investigative reporting, 1988. Seattle Times
reporter Carlton Smith and I were one of three finalists for the Pulitzer
Prize for a series of stories on the Green River Killer investigation:
"Green River: What Went Wrong?"
Silver Gavel Award winner in the 1995 American Bar Association investigative
reporting competition. The entry was "Overwhelming Evidence," a series
which revealed that crime labs across the nation hinder police investigations
and obstruct the judicial process because of poor quality control, inadequate
staffing and a burgeoning backlog of cases.
One of ten national finalists for the Associated Press Managing Editors'
Public Service Awards competition in 1994. The entry: "Overwhelming Evidence."
First place in investigative reporting in the 1991 National Education
Reporting Awards sponsored by the Education Writers Association. The entry:
"Who's Driving The Kids?"
First place in investigative reporting in the 1991 Society of Professional
Journalists Pacific Northwest Excellence in Journalism Competition. The
entry: "Who's driving The Kids?"
First place in investigative reporting in the 1991 C.B. Blethen Memorial
Award for Distinguished Newspaper Reporting. Entry: "Who's Driving The
Kids?"
Third place in investigative reporting in the regional 1989 Sigma Delta
Chi competition for stories on problems in the Seattle Fire Department.
Third place for spot news reporting.
First place in investigative reporting in the regional 1988 Sigma Delta
Chi competition for the series: "Green River: What Went Wrong?"
Second place in investigative reporting in the 1988 C.B. Blethen Memorial
Award for the series: "Green River: What Went Wrong?"
First place in feature writing in the 1979 Nebraska Associated Press
Annual Awards.
Tucson Citizen merit award for an article on a Mexican national who
confessed to a murder during our interview. 1975.
Communication Department
Participate in "Brown Bag Seminars" in which department faculty and
students gather over lunch to share stimulating, but informal conversations
about a variety of communication topics.
Assist in hiring new faculty and ongoing discussions on upgrading the
curriculum. Specifically, during a trip to Washington, D.C., in 1995 I
visited American University to study its class offerings.
College of Arts & Sciences
AMICI: Help hire the editor for this college newsletter.
Matteo Ricci College: I keep an open-door policy for students wishing
to visit my classes during recruitment efforts.
Criminal Typology and Geology: Guest lectured in both classes. 1996.
Seattle University
Urban Newspaper Workshop: Instrumental in bringing this high school
summer writing program to Seattle University in 1997. The students publish
a 36-page newspaper.
Office of Minority Student Affairs: On the Search Committee to select
a new director. Summer 1997.
University Coordinating Council for Diversity: Served on this council
in 1995.
Western Conversation of Seattle University: Delegate in 1995
President's Advisory Council: Member 1994, 1995.
Spectator: Faculty advisor since 1994.
Journalism/Authors
Moderator of the Democratic Candidates for Governor Community Forum,
Seattle, Washington, May 1996. The forum was sponsored by Northwest Journalists
of Color and Seattle University.
Pacific Northwest Writers Conference, "Ask-A-Pro," Seattle, Washington,
June 1995.
Judge for the 1994 Mystery Writers of America "Edgar" Best First Novel
for Mystery Writers of America Inc.
Society of Professional Journalists, Western Washington Chapter, author
seminar/book-signing, Seattle, Washington, December 1994.
Northwest Chapter Mystery Writers of America, speaker, Seattle, Washington,
1994.
Judged 1992 Print Journalist of the Year for the Arizona Press Club.
U.S. Naval Air Station Hispanic Heritage Month luncheon speaker, Whidbey
Island, Washington, 1991.
Northwest Chapter Mystery Writers of America, panelist, Kirkland, Washington,
1990.
Seattle Community
Latino Media Association of Seattle and the National Association of
Hispanic Journalists. I drafted a proposal to raise funds to develop a
"Community Based Computer Learning Center" for Hispanic children, Seattle,
Washington, 1997.
Enumclaw High School Honor Society, luncheon speaker, Enumclaw, Washington,
1996.
Literary Lions Dinner. I was one of several Pacific Northwest authors
who were asked to attend the dinner to raise money for the King County
Library System, Bellevue, Washington, March 1995.
The Municipal Court of Seattle. Helped the court's public information
officer prepare a presentation for the National Association for Court Management
Annual Educational Conference, Seattle, Washington, February 1995.
Vancouver Police Pipe Band GENTLEMEN'S REGIMENTAL DINNER '92, keynote
speaker, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, 1992.
