by The Latino SLant

So part one uniquely reminds us of the history of Selena, her rise and the particulars of the actual homicide while introducing Yolanda Saldivar‘s family and again herself in this network documentary. Also the investigative team and the hostage negotiator at the time where quickly introduced, so there’s already some fascinating insight that I myself did not know. Now if I could watch this without being infuriated then the better I can give you a non-partial judgment on the documentary.

Here are my thoughts & critiques while watching.
Besides, raising potential new developments, secrets between the two supposedly, this is also a glorified defense for the court of public opinion to perhaps grant Yolanda that parole in 2025. What they’re trying to paint is interesting , what were the contents of the purse in the Hotel safe? Which included a resignation letter that the prosecutors were trying to throw under the rug. What this letter proves is that Yolanda prior to the meet up, tried to clean her hands of the professional relationship with Selena and get clear away from the Quintanilla family.
Journalist Cat Cardenas even admits that it adds confusion to what was a clear cut case of murder. Curious as to why this was not part of the trial and Chris Perez’s admission that Selena did, in fact receive the letter.
What’s further interesting is the investigators that were involved in the case. One pokes holes in the weak police work; from not recording initial interviews with Saldivar to not following up on the resignation letter. On the other side, the detectives, who work the case of Saldivar, in fact, stated that if she turned in the resignation letter and wanted to resign, she would’ve just walked away, and Selena would still be alive.

One chilling segment is when Saldivar‘s family is listening to a tape from Saldivar‘s home voicemail machine. She already had moved out and took a job as a nurse that was going to begin orientation in another town. Shocking to heart were the many messages that Selena herself. She Left many messages for several days, trying to find Yolanda; so it seems indeed, Yolanda was trying her best to distance herself. Did the public or authorities ever hear this tape before until this documentary? Absolutely intriguing. The playing of the of tape brought tears upon hearing the voice of Selena, to Tina Saldivar the niece of Yolanda, is further resolute that Yolanda was, indeed, trying to distance herself, while Selena was, indeed trying to bring her back into the fold

As this first episode was winding down , which is about two hours in length, I had more thoughts. Suppose that Yolanda was threatened by people that did not want her around Selena. Suppose all that is true, that’s got nothing to do with the fact that she killed her friend in cold blood, and that she is still not taking responsibility for that other than it was an accident and “I miss my friend.” I think about celebrities and the people they keep close to them which you hear about from bodyguards to agents to secretaries. These are people that become part of their families for many years based off of loyalty and trust. That being said, the dynamic of the relationship started off as one of professional, then later became a friendship, those same people working for celebrities might be master manipulators sociopaths as well praying upon the light of said talent from Bob Marley‘s manager money laundering issues to other various celebrities you hear these horror stories all the time unfortunately, this one ended in death. So while some of these points in part one are interesting, that maybe could prove to be more of a manslaughter level of crime, the fact is this is being done a year before the possibility of parole for Yolanda Saldivar .

What are your thoughts? I want to know and stay tuned for my review of part two entitled room, 158.

Last thought…
I was surprised that the Univision reporter who had been one of the interviewee subjects refused to speak at why Abraham Quintanilla was intimidating to her. She refused to answer that on camera interesting.