Johnny Volpato Trials: 1981 & 1986

But Johnny Volpato had a wild side. Beyond the duties of his drugstore, his family, and his political career, Volpato spent long, boozy hours in Carlsbad's nightspots with his pals. His womanizing exploits became well known, even to Elaine. Not long before her death, Volpato walked out on his wife. She filed for divorce. But after a year of separation, Volpato convinced her to give the marriage another try, and he moved back into their fashionable home on the Pecos River. The Volpatos appeared to be a happy couple again. Still, ugly rumors of Johnny's marital infidelities persisted.

By the time Volpato returned home from his Dallas hospital stay, local police had tough questions for him. Why had the robbers only wounded Johnny in the hand and shoulder, yet shot the fleeing Elaine four times, twice from behind, and strangely, twice from the front? Where was Johnny's own Colt 38 revolver, a gun like the one used to kill Elaine? Why couldn't he produce it for police? Was the popular pharmacist trying to avoid a costly and embarrassing divorce by murdering his wife?

A search of the Volpato home yielded a bullet that proved similar to the bullets lodged in Elaine's body. Careful inspection of The Corner Drugstore revealed a small niche under a wooden staircase, where police believed Volpato could have hidden the Colt 38. Splintered wood suggested that Volpato later pried the gun from its hiding place and disposed of it.

A year after Elaine's death, police arrested Volpato, charging him with first-degree murder. The news divided the people of Carlsbad into warring factions: You were either for Johnny Volpato or against him.

In his trial, Volpato took the stand to claim police framed him. He called the trial a "political execution" maneuvered by the same people who had once befriended him. Prosecutor Ernest Carroll presented a circumstantial case. He described what he termed "silent witnesses," including the incriminating bullets found in Volpato's home, the coroner's report revealing how Elaine died, and the break-up of his marriage.

The jury debated 20 hours before returning a guilty verdict on October 8, 1981. Volpato was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for 30 years.