Inside the Gonzales case
Art Gonzales and Julie Serna met as students at New Mexico Highlands College in 1991. In 1995, they were married.
Arthur "Art" Gonzales
That same year, Art Gonzales was hired by the FBI as a field agent in San Jose, Calif. He would remain with the FBI for almost 20 years.
Julie and Art Gonzales
Art and Julie Gonzales had two sons. After moving from El Paso to Las Cruces, New Mexico, Art was offered a position as an ethics instructor at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
Julie & Art Gonzales
The family moved again and settled in Stafford, Va. Art and Julie’s relationship began to deteriorate quickly.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/48-hours-presents-eliminating-the-threat/
A New Relationship
Art Gonzales met Cara Kast on her first day of work as a civilian employee at the FBI Academy. They began dating, and Art told Julie that he did not love her anymore. By 2012, Art and Julie had started the divorce process, and Julie moved out of the family home.
Julie Gonzales
On April 19, 2013, Julie Gonzales, who had been staying with a friend, decided to stop by the Gonzales’ marital home to visit with her dog. Art Gonzales returned home to find Julie in the kitchen and shot her four times in the chest after he said she came at him with a knife.
VIDEO: Hear excerpts of the 911 call
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/48-hours-presents-eliminating-the-threat/
WATCH: “48 Hours”: Eliminating the Threat?
On April 19, 2013, Julie Gonzales, who had been staying with a friend, decided to stop by the Gonzales’ marital home to visit with her dog. Art Gonzales returned home to find Julie in the kitchen and shot her four times in the chest after he said she came at him with a knife.
Art Gonzales Taken into Custody
Art Gonzales told the 911 dispatcher that Julie had attacked him with a knife, and that he had shot her in self-defense.
Knife Found in Julie's Hand
Julie Gonzales was dead. Paramedics found her on the floor with a knife in her hand. In the interrogation room, Art Gonzales told a detective that he “just reacted.” He argued that his reaction was consistent with his FBI training.
VIDEO: FBI agent questioned about fatal shooting
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/48-hours-presents-eliminating-the-threat/
The Trials of Art Gonzales
Just three weeks after police marched him from the house where he shot his estranged wife to death, Special Agent Arthur Gonzales was arrested and charged with murder.
Two trials ended in a hung jury. Gonzales’ third trial, in July of 2015, was a bench trial with no jury and the same judge who had presided over his previous two trials.
A Free Man
The judge found too little evidence to disprove that Art Gonzales had shot Julie Gonzales in self-defense, and he left court a free man.
Gonzales lost his job with the FBI due to his “lack of candor” during the murder investigation.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/48-hours-presents-eliminating-the-threat/
Remembering Julie
Julie Gonzales’ friends and family still do not believe that she would have come at her estranged husband with a knife, telling “48 Hours” she couldn’t hurt a fly. They think that Art Gonzales got away with murder.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/48-hours-presents-eliminating-the-threat/
Remembering Julie
Julie Gonzales’ parents remember their daughter as active and confident. “She would tackle anything in the world. And she’d be successful at it,” her father, Rey Serna, told “48 Hours.” “She could do anything.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/48-hours-presents-eliminating-the-threat/