After graduation, Wendi and Tristan moved to Abilene. Although she was still ninety miles away from San Angelo, she was now close to home by West Texas standards. That same spring, Marshall graduated from Angelo State University with a major in Animal Science and a minor in Range and Wildlife Management. It was his turn to move far from home. He accepted a park ranger position at Lake Corpus Christi State Park and moved to Mathis, 320 miles away.
Wendi got a job as a veterinarian at Abilene Animal Hospital. In October of that year, Dr. Larry Ellis purchased the clinic and kept all of the existing employees. He owned extensive real estate holdings in the area and offered his veterinarians a place to live in one of his properties in addition to their salaries. Wendi accepted this perk and moved into an Ellis-owned house with her son.
About a week after she started working there, Ryan Goode, a clinic employee and the teenage son of another veterinarian who worked for Ellis, came by Wendi’s apartment to drop off a pager. She invited him inside to watch a movie. Before the night was over, they were in bed. Within a week, Wendi was discussing a long-term relationship. “I just graduated from high school and I’m going to Texas Tech in the fall,” he objected.
“I can move to Lubbock with you,” Wendi offered.
At that point, Ryan was blunt, “I am not interested in a long-term relationship.” Wendi was in tears. Ryan was stunned by the depth of her attachment to him. He realized he was in too deep. Two weeks after it started, the personal relationship was over.
She dated the brother of a co-worker for a few weeks. When she told him she was pregnant, he disappeared. She claimed later that she’d had a miscarriage.
Wendi transferred her affections to a sick schnauzer. He needed regular medication that the pet owner could not afford. Wendi was supposed to euthanize the animal. Instead, she spirited him out of the clinic and into her home.
Any time an animal was scheduled for euthanasia, Wendi ranted, raved and argued against the decision. One staff member described her behavior as a temper tantrum. She preached against the practice to all who would listen, claiming that the only unconditional love possible on this earth came from the animals in our lives. Children were the next best thing, she said, but they always grew up.
It was one of many issues she had with Dr. Ellis. Whenever he tried to tell her how to do a procedure or instruct her on correcting a mistake, she appeared to be paying attention—and then disregarded what he’d said. Although Ellis had thirty years of experience and Wendi was fresh from veterinary school, she gave the impression that she regarded herself as the expert.
Her next sexual relationship lasted longer than the last two. Jeremy Gonzales moved into her place. They were together for nine months and Wendi claimed they were in love. All was well until Jeremy lost his job. According to Wendi, that’s when he started using drugs and fell into a deep depression. The final straw came when he beat on her dog. She tossed him out of the house. Some questioned her version of events, blaming the end of the relationship on pressure from her parents. They were very displeased that their daughter would get involved with a Hispanic male.
One night after work, she was watching television when there was a knock on her back door. She grabbed her gun and chambered a bullet. Now, the knocking was in the front of the house. Jeremy kicked that door open. He got in her face and yelled at her, but she could not bring herself to pull the trigger. He took the gun away.
Holding it to his head, he swore he was going to kill himself. She coaxed the gun out of his hand and he ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife. He continued to threaten to kill himself while Wendi pleaded with him.
The disturbance was loud enough that it attracted the attention of an off-duty police officer who lived across the street. He talked Jeremy into leaving. After the officer went back across the street, taking the gun out of the house when he left, Jeremy returned, raging again. Wendi called 9-1-1 and a uniformed officer talked to him outside, warning him to leave and never return.
A co-worker introduced Wendi to Joel Bird, from Robert Lee, a small town in between San Angelo and Abilene. Wendi got pregnant again. Her parents met with Joel’s mother to make wedding plans. Judy was half-hearted about the marriage. She didn’t think Joel was good enough for her daughter. She said that Joel was lazy and didn’t help out Wendi at all.
Soon, with Judy’s encouragement, the wedding was off. Judy claimed that Wendi had broken up with Joel because he was using drugs.
Judy was picking up Tristan for a visit in San Angelo when Joel stopped by the house. According to Judy, he was very upset, crying and begging Wendi to resume the relationship.
According to Wendi’s brother Marshall, though, his sister was the one who was distressed about the end of the romance. She could barely talk when she told him about the break-up because she was crying so hard.
“What’s the matter, Wendi?” he asked.
“I think I loved him,” Wendi sobbed.
Wendi terminated that pregnancy and found a Chihuahua to love. After his broken leg would not heal, Dr. Ellis ordered Wendi to euthanize the dog. She told Mandy Ellis, the business manager, that she’d put the dog to sleep; in reality, she’d taken it home.
She kept him in her bathtub because of the pus oozing from his leg. Wendi eventually conquered the dog’s infection and gave him to Candy Branch. Candy made an appointment with Dr. Ellis and brought him into the clinic, where he amputated the leg. The Chihuahua went home with his new owner and thrived.
Then one night near Thanksgiving 2003, Wendi went out to a bar and picked up an Air Force staff sergeant at Dyess Air Force Base. Michael Severance was a long way from home. After joining the Air Force, he’d left the woods of Maine when he was stationed in dusty West Texas. Although he had fallen into the rural rhythm of the area with alacrity, after meeting Wendi, his life would never be the same.