Second Victim In Markham Double Murder Remembered
Posted February 17, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The second victim of a gruesome double murder in Markham was laid to rest Saturday, but the living victims of this strange and tragic case will never forget it.
Paula Menendez’s mother, husband, identical twin and 600 others remembered the slain woman Saturday as an astoundingly compassionate individual.
“She didn’t deserve it, she was a very innocent, very caring, very loving person,” Menendez’s former boss, Krystyna Wilk said.
Menendez’s mother kissed a single white rose and placed it on her daughter’s casket. Hundreds of others looked on, sharing in her sorrow.
“I knew it (the church) would be full,” said co-worker Joelle Goncalvez.
“Every person that spent five minutes with her would consider her a friend.”
One of those in attendance was Paula’s ex-husband, sportscaster Rick Ralph. Ralph is connected to both victims that were found in the Markham home Monday, the other being Ralph’s girlfriend Julie Crocker.
“We’d like to extend our deepest, heartfelt condolences to Julie Crocker’s family,” said Menendez’s brother-in-law Robert Johnston.
Crocker’s estranged husband stands charged with the murders.
When the funeral started Ralph was sitting in the middle of the congregation with friends, but five minutes later Menendez’s family brought him up front to sit with them.
During the service, Menendez’s best friend talked about how she’d recently gotten a tattoo of a butterfly that was suppose represent a new beginning in her life – a new beginning that met its end far too soon.
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