Media

She's gonna make that Angel hers

by Dan Kennedy

For a few terrified days this past summer, I was doing my best to keep my distance from Angel Maturino Reséndez, the suspected "Railway Killer" who'd been accused of murdering a couple I knew in small-town Texas -- and who, I feared, was coming after me ("Don't Quote Me," News and Features, August 13).

But it seems that there is a Houston television reporter who just can't get close enough to Reséndez. According to an article on the all-crime-all-the-time Web site APB.com, KTRK-TV reporter Cynthia Hunt -- who attracted national attention in August when she revealed the contents of a rambling letter she'd received from Reséndez -- buttered up the murder suspect afterward with an "oddly personal" 14-page letter.

Hunt's "Dear Angel" letter leaves no doubt as to what she's looking for: an exclusive interview with Reséndez, suspected of brutally murdering nine people along railways, mostly in Texas. According to the APB.com account, "She tells Reséndez that 'Yes, yes, yes!' she loves kids, although she has none yet because she is not married. She sends a photo of her six-pound dog, Maxwell, and images of Reséndez's own dogs that her video crews captured when they visited his home. The letter even includes her cellular-telephone number, which she urges Reséndez to call collect any time. 'I have it with me 24 hours a day!' "

APB.com cautions that it cannot be certain that the letter is genuine because Hunt has not been at work and could not be reached for comment. But assuming the letter is the real thing, it paints a disturbing picture of a reporter who puts the "get" ahead of the anguish of the murder victims -- and, for that matter, ahead of a notorious defendant's ability to receive a fair trial.

The 14-page letter to Reséndez that was apparently written by Hunt is available on the Web at http://www.geocities.com/cynthiaishot.