Just last week, authorities in California had a difficult time agreeing on the meaning of a suicide note written in Spanish. The writer of the note was a Lancaster County Prison inmate who had murdered a woman, Karen Crowley. Authorities were baffled because some interpreted the Spanish note to mean the dead inmate, Pedro Fuentes Flores, desired to be buried with the woman he killed.
During his trial for the murder, Flores used a court-appointed interpreter. Flores was convicted and became despondent in prison. He hanged himself in his cell with a sheet wrapped around a towel rack.
The beginning of the suicide note is not in dispute and reads, "Goodbye to all my brothers, especially to my mom. I am leaving but I don't want you to cry because I am leaving happily with my love, Karen..." In dispute is the next portion of the note, that reads, "and I want to be buried with her" or alternatively it reads "and those who lied about her."
Flores' court-appointed interpreter, Luz Davila, was called in to translate the note one last time. According to Davila, the interpretation that reads, "I want to be buried with her" is the correct translation.
Flores' note ends, "I am asking for forgiveness from her family. I hope that one day they will forgive me. I don't know how this happened but since I can't live without her, that's why I'm leaving too."
21 July 2008
