PART 2: Death at the River of Lost Souls in Purgatory - An uncommon end, an uncommon man and a set of very uncommon circumstances
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Jim and Ann Tatum's adobe-style home in Solitario, located in a valley leading to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and along El Rio de Las Animas Perdidas en Purgatorio (The River of Lost Souls in Purgatory), 25 miles outside Trinidad. The night Tatum was shot, the report came from a deputy sheriff who was present.
To some people in Trinidad, Jim and Ann Tatum weren't exactly a paradigm of marital bliss. "If they weren't screaming and yelling at each other, they weren't communicating," said one local, commenting on their high-decibel arguments.
"I heard him belittle her in restaurants, primarily when he was drinking," said Trinidad native Carol Cometto. "He'd call her 'stupid b----' a lot. He could be pretty nasty to her."
Although some friends claim not to know of any churning rifts in the marriage, others do. They speak of separations, of Ann heading to Texas - alone - for extended periods of time. Ann's coming and goings aside, some of those who claim to have heard the verbal bouts insist that Ann Tatum is no shrinking violet. "With that mouth, she could push anybody's buttons," offered one woman. "I guess any man would get abusive if he had to listen to that mouth."
Although Jim Tatum's alleged trysts with other women in town likely contributed to a volatile atmosphere, many eruptions centered on money. As one person put it, "When the money flow was good, things were OK. When the flow stopped, they'd fight." Once, when one local lawyer remarked on Tatum's increased caseload, he replied glumly, "Ann wants more money."
By most accounts, Ann Tatum had expensive tastes. It was not unusual for her to boast of trips to Paris to update her wardrobe. Sometimes she made more unusual boasts. According to one former employee, Ann spoke about the time Jim came home with a huge amount of cash - "I don't know, she said it was $500,000, $750,000, something like that" - and scattered it on their bed. "Ann told me she took off her clothes and laid down in it because she wanted to bathe in it 'before it got dirty.' "
But money couldn't wash away the stain of violence. Although dark rumors of domestic abuse loomed in Trinidad, not much in the way of official documentation exists. As far as anyone seems to know, the only time anything was noted occurred on April 10, 2004.
According to an incident report, at about 1 a.m. two deputy sheriffs were dispatched to Solitario to look into a report of a "disturbance." The call was made by Deputy Sheriff John Martinez. The report isn't clear on whether Martinez was actually at the ranch house. When the deputies arrived, they were met by Ann Tatum, who was bleeding from a cut to her scalp. She told the officers that her husband and a ranch hand identified only as "Rick" were involved in a "verbal argument." When Ann tried to break it up, she "fell" and cut herself. She, her husband and Rick all told the same story. All denied there had been any domestic violence. Six days later, Ann Tatum was questioned again. Again, she denied there had been domestic violence. No charges were filed.
At least that's what the sheriff's department said, meanwhile refusing to release the incident report. Instead, Sgt. Reynaldo Santistevan summarized the contents.
But Kenneth Haynes didn't need a report to verify what his eyes witnessed. "I've seen her (Ann Tatum) with her eyes busted up - black eyes, yeah. Nose all twisted; looked like it might have been broken. Bruises on her arms. She was what you'd call a battered wife," said Haynes, staring at his cup of coffee. Then, "What I could never understand was why she would keep coming back."
One of Jim Tatum's motives for staying together was clear to the friend who said, "He told me a divorce would cost him millions."
Although some speculated that Ann's motives for remaining with Jim despite the abuse also were linked to money, others pointed to another reason. "Ann told me, 'Loving someone this much shouldn't hurt so bad,' " said a friend. "There is no doubt in my mind she loved that man."
Perhaps to death.
On Nov. 29, about 8 p.m., a call came in to the Las Animas County sheriff of a "domestic disturbance in progress with possible weapons involved" at 12630 Colorado 12. The person who made the call was Deputy Sheriff Martinez, a confirmed house guest at Solitario. While en route, deputies learned shots had been fired and "the male party involved was possibly deceased."
It took them about a half-hour to reach Solitario. There, they found blood - and Jim Tatum's body - in the kitchen. They also found Martinez, who told them he had witnessed what happened.
According to the arrest affidavit, the Tatums were in the kitchen when Jim "suddenly became belligerent with Ann. Ann asked James to be civil at which time James walked over to Ann's location in the kitchen and slapped her in the face."
Hearing this, Martinez left his bedroom and saw "James . . . hit Ann Tatum in the ribs" and grab her by the hair. When he (Martinez) intervened, he was pushed and struck his head, "dazing him momentarily."
Ann broke free of her husband's grasp, crossed a distance of "about eight feet and pulled a revolver from her purse then turned toward James Tatum and began to fire several times."
Wounded, Jim Tatum fell down with a "grunting noise." He then got up and moved for another pistol that was sitting on a counter. He pulled the gun from its holster "at which time Ann also grabbed the revolver pulling it from James and turning the gun at James and firing the weapon."
A deputy who later accompanied Ann Tatum to the emergency room reported she made a "spontaneous statement . . . that she did shoot James again and again."
Also in the affidavit is a notation made by Undersheriff Derek Navarette that Ann "could have continued to flee through a doorway."
Although it seemed like a fairly cut- and-dried incident, as was often the case with Jim Tatum's life, there were swirling currents. First, there was the fact that twice in three years, John Martinez had been the one to call in a disturbance at the Tatums' house.
That Martinez was a house guest was, on the surface, not surprising, given the Tatums' history of taking in people. But the fact that Martinez's wife was Ales Graeff, and they were in the process of divorcing, and Graeff had been Tatum's secretary, and Jim Tatum had reportedly told several people that he had paid for her nursing school education raised some eyebrows.
Another curious footnote was that after the shooting, Ann Tatum was placed under detention by the sheriff and registered in a motel. A warrant for second-degree murder was not issued until 11:10 p.m. Nov. 30 - more than 24 hours after Jim Tatum's death. Ann Tatum finally was arrested an hour later, at 12:15 a.m.
Asked about the delay, Sheriff James Casias deflected questions to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. When contacted, CBI Agent Marc Micciche said, "I have no information that I can share with you, as this is an ongoing investigation."
Still, according to Las Animas County District Attorney Lee Hawke - who recused himself from the case - a 24-hour lag in arresting someone who had already admitted to a shooting "is unusual."
Ann Tatum's bail was set at $175,000 - curiously, cash only - but she didn't stay in jail long. On Dec. 5, bail was paid by her father, Robert Fechtel. Prior to meeting bail, she had hired prominent Denver attorney Pamela Mackey to represent her. Mackey successfully defended professional basketball star Kobe Bryant in his 2004 rape case in Eagle County.
The next step in the case against Ann Tatum is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Jan. 11, when prosecutor Rodney Fouracre, the district attorney of nearby Otero County, files formal charges in the Las Animas County Courthouse - the same building where County Attorney Jim Tatum once had an office.
Between now and Jan. 11 - and probably longer - opinions and gossip will continue to bubble. Most of the talk will be off the record. Trinidad is a small town, and people don't want to risk censure by their neighbors for talking out loud to strangers. There is also the fact that, as one man who knew both the Tatums well said, "Hey, man, this is a murder case."
But not talking on the record isn't the same as not talking.
There is, for instance, anger: "The consensus around here is, 'If it was one of my daughters that got beat like that, she wouldn't have had to take care of it. I'd have done it myself.' "
There is conflict: "Part of me goes, 'How could she do that to him?' And part of me goes, 'She wouldn't have shot him just because she was mad, would she?' "
There is resignation: "I was shocked by the shooting, but not really surprised that something happened. You could see something coming for a long time."
What a lot of people didn't see coming was Ann Tatum arranging and attending her husband's memorial service, a service that was attended by not one of his blood children.
As such affairs go, it was low-key. A few stories, a few more tears, some poems and some songs, including a country- western number called Common Man. Which was kind of ironic considering that very little about Jim Tatum - the way he lived, the way he died - was common.
But it figured that there would be ironies clinging to Jim Tatum right to the end. That there would be inconsistencies in his Texas-sized folklore. Loose threads that twist and meander across the landscape, like onrushing tributaries of the River of Lost Souls in Purgatory.
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Posted by sherrie4fr on December 24, 2007 at 9:02 a.m.
Today
I'll be
first.
In
total,
the
story
was
pretty
good;
not
perfect
but
pretty
good.
I can
tell you
I will
be glued
to the
next
part
which is
the
arraignment.
It does
not
surprise
me that
none of
Jimmy's
daughters
were
there at
the
memorial,
but
perhaps
they
went to
where
ever his
remains
were
spread
or burried.
Jimmy
was with
them,
the same
way he
was with
Liz and
Ann and
a who
knows
how many
other
women.
You just
don't
beat a
woman -
period,
end of
story.
Over my
life,
I've
been mad
at a few
of them
- sure;
but
never
beat a
woman.
No brag,
just
fact.
rj
Posted by natashatatum on December 24, 2007 at 11:44 a.m.
I would like to start by saying that none of Jim's girls were in attendance at the memorial service because we were not informed of the service in time to get there. Furthermore, we were told that if we did make it, there would not be room for us to stay at the house. Lastly, when the daughters asked if the service could be held just a little later in the day so that one of us could make it there we were told that "there was no room for negotiations".
The article states that his remains have been sent back to Texas. I would like to make it known to everybody that despite Colorado's law that states "A person who has been arrested on suspicion of having committed... any felony offense... involving the death of a deceased person shall not direct the final disposition of the deceased person or arrange the ceremonies for the deceased person...", Mr. Murphy (the funeral director) has released my dad's remains to Ann and she is refusing to give them back.
Unfortunately, we have learned the hard way that Texans are not well liked up there because despite every exhausted effort for help (law enforcement and otherwise), and despite the fact that the law is as clear cut as it is; we will be having our dad's memorial service without his remains.
Both Mr. Murphy and Mackey have lied to us and our attorney about the return of my dad's remains.
Sad
isn't
it! Ann
kills
him and
then
gets the
opportunity
to say
farewell
and yet
we, his
own
children,
do not.
Our
intent
was to
lay him
to rest,
in
Graham,
with the
rest of
the
Tatum
family.
Colorodo
may hate
Texas,
but at
least
our laws
exist
for a
reason
down
here.
Posted by sherrie4fr on December 24, 2007 at 12:38 p.m.
I'm so
sad that
the
Memorial
in
Trinidad
went
down the
way it
did as
explained
by
Natasha
Tatum.
I feel
as she
does
that
something
isn't
right
with the
handling
of the
memorial.
It was
wrong
and the
people
in
charge -
as it
has
happened
- should
feel
ashamed.
Other
comments
have
been
rough
with
their
wording
on
Texans
but do
they
condone
this
type of
Law
Enforcement
in
Trinidad,
Colorado?
Jimmy,
good or
bad, is
gone but
he
should
at least
receive
the
decency
from
those
making
arrangements
to
coordinate
with his
daughters
that
wanted
to be
there
for the
memorial.
I surely
believe
this
makes a
pathetic
statement
on the
part of
the
persons
involved,
with
such
ludicrous
and
downright
ugly
decision
making.
rj
Posted by coyote on December 24, 2007 at 1:21 p.m.
He was
born in
Graham,
Texas,
let him
return
to
Graham,
Texas to
be with
his
parents
and
other
kinfolks.
Give the
children
their
father's
ashes.
It seems
the
right
and
proper
thing to
do.
Posted by Braided on December 24, 2007 at 2:44 p.m.
Natashatatum-
your
father
was our
attorney.
And we
loved
him. I
am from
Trinidad,
my
husband
from
Texas
and I
want you
to know
that you
are
welcome
here
anytime.
Since
the
horrible
death of
your
father,
we have
learned
that Ann
has
taken
his
remains
to Texas
- most
likely
to the
home she
very
recently
purchased,
she also
transported
all the
liquor
(?) and
a
classic
car with
her. We
have
also
been
informed
that
your
father's
belongings,
including
horses
are
being
sold.
Several
horses
have
been
sold for
$100
each. We
feel
that
your
father
is being
disgraced.
And it's
a shame
that
despite
the
charges
Ann is
facing,
she has
been
allowed
to leave
the
state at
this
time. We
are very
outraged
how
everything
has
happened
and has
been
handled.
Your
father
would
not
stand
for all
this
injustice
and
small
town BS.
Please,
please,
please
let us
know if
we can
help you
and your
family
in any
way
possible.
We are
more
than
glad to
act as
an
extended
hand for
your
family.
We feel
that
your
father
needs to
be with
your
family.
Posted by hand on December 25, 2007 at 7:41 a.m.
Regardless,
of all
Jim’s
faults,
Ann had
the
opportunity
to walk
away,
but
leaving
would
mean
starting
over
again,
in all
aspects
of life,
the most
important
one
would be
loosing
the
money
and she
was not
about to
do that.
Ann
found
her self
in the
same
position
as Liz,
and Ales
Graef
was
sitting
were Ann
sat
twenty
one
years
ago. Ann
witness
first
hand
Jim’s
talents
as an
attorney
when he
represented
him self
against
Liz back
in
Houston,
she new
if they
divorced,
she was
walking
away
with her
shirt on
her back
and Ales
was on
the move
to be
the next
Mrs.
Tatum.
That
left her
with
only one
option.
Jim had
to die.
But how?
She
needs a
strong
alibi.
The
answer.
Deputy
Martinez.
John
Martinez
is Ales Graef’s
husband,
and he
to
wanted
to see
Jim dead
for
steeling
his
wife.
So what
better
than to
have a
deputy
sheriff
as your
accessory,
or
witness
depending
on what
you
believe
or witch
side of
the
fence
you’re
standing
on.
I don’t
know how
this
became a
Texan
issue,
Texan or
not, Jim
Tatum
didn’t
need to
die.
Ann and
John had
the
opportunity
and took
it.
Posted by natashatatum on December 25, 2007 at 8:51 a.m.
Hand,
you are
absolutely
WRONG;
there is
no
comparison
between
my mom
and Ann.
My mom
had to
make the
decission
to leave
with 6
children
in tow
and take
on the
responsibilty
to do
that on
her own.
Most
importantly,
she did
walk
away
with
only the
shirt on
her back
and her
children.
Posted by BigHorse on December 25, 2007 at 4:26 p.m.
HAND, Your posts are quite interesting and very much to the point. Further, you don't seem to be the least bit bothered by such insignificant issues, as per se defamatory statements, or libelous publications.
Nor do you seem to understand that "an alibi" is only useful when one is not present at the scene of the alleged crime. There seems to be no dispute that Ann Tatum was present at the scene and at the time of Jim's death, thus negating the need for Mr. Martinez to provide her with an "alibi" as you suggest.
Some, though not all, of what you say seems obviously based on your first-hand knowledge and I don't doubt that you know from which you speak.
By the way, there have been plenty of photos of Jim and Ann in the paper, since this all happened, I wonder why there are no photos of the deputy or his wife.
Just out of curiosity, I, for one, would like to know what a woman, who was "allegedly" having an affair with the "older man" in the photo at the top left hand corner of "Part 2" of this article, and who, "was on the move to be the next Mrs. Tatum" (your quote Hand), looks like. I assume she is a very nice person or Jim would not have chosen to spend his time with her, in the manner as you Hand, have stated in your post above. A picture would just be useful to round out the reporting.
Jim's "Kirk Douglas look-alike" days were definitely behind him. At his age, he looks more like Kirk Douglas's grandfather, (this statement is not meant to be a slight to Jim's looks in any way, just a reference to his nearly 70 years of age).
I'd also like to know what the deputy, who was staying at the home of the very man who was "allegedly" having an affair with the deputy's wife, who, "was on the move to be the next Mrs. Tatum" (your quote Hand), looks like. This statement is in no way meant to be disparaging to Mr. Martinez, who I assume is also a very nice person.
The whole situation just seems to defy credulity to me, anyway, but then truth is often stranger than fiction.
Posted by Barbaratatum on December 25, 2007 at 9:20 p.m.
I'm wondering if any of the people who say that they saw Ann with a bruised-up face know whether or not Ann has had any plastic surgery. I want to make it clear that I have absolutely no personal knowledge of whether or not she has; I merely thought that the question was worth asking, since plastic surgery can leave one with black eyes, an apparently broken nose, and horrific-looking bruises, in short, looking like a domestic-violence victim. Just a thought.
Posted by BigHorse on December 26, 2007 at 10:36 a.m.
Hand, I am sorry if I hurt your feelings in my earlier post. I did not mean to do so, but in re-reading it, I can see where I might have. I should have pointed out that you later correctly stated the concept that you meant to say when you used the word "alibi." Further in your post, you used the term "witness" and a "fact witness" is is what you were trying to get across, and it did come across that way.
I also was wrong to take you to task for the way you presented your scenario. I am certain that everyone understood that you meant that it was your opinion of how it might have occurred.
I hope I have not discouraged you from future posting. A forum should be a free exchange of ideas and thoughts, but we should all be careful, including me, not to get carried away and we should all remember that a man is dead and be respectful in that regard. Please accept my apology if I offended you in any way.
Posted by FromTrinidad on December 26, 2007 at 12:51 p.m.
This is the typical cover up work that authorities in Trinidad and Las Animas County should be accountable for. From the Sheriff, Bob Parsons to Mr. Hawke. There are some payoffs going down. This is funny. You used to see the two couples double dating around Trinidad. Now the deputy is getting a divorce, Ann has killed off the wealthy husband there are guns laying around everywhere and the deputy (who is living there?) witnessed the whole incident? People in Las Animas County need to open there eyes and get something done about this!
Posted by sugarbear on December 26, 2007 at 3:22 p.m.
I did know Jim.I am from Graham, I do also know Jim's family. I would so pray that for his children that they can find peace for all this wrong doing. Jim was good to Ann, I know of one time that she had a pair of dogs disappear when they lived on the ranch close to here. Jim had put out a $25,000.00 reward for the return of Ann's dogs. He did take good care of her. They had their moments but I never seen any sort of abuse to her. I would like to see his ashes be brought back to Graham, or Jean where his aunt lives. This poor woman help raise him, and hurts just as much as to loving daughters.We continued waiting to hear of any return of his body, we finally found out that Ann had him cremated. There are others that would like to say goodbye to him.
Posted by Braided on December 27, 2007 at 1:09 p.m.
I would think that Colorado Law Officials would correct the funeral home director's mistake. If in fact Colorado's law states "A person who has been arrested on suspicion of having committed... any felony offense... involving the death of a deceased person shall not direct the final disposition of the deceased person or arrange the ceremonies for the deceased person..." then shouldn't someone step in VERY SOON before Jim's ashes are scattered - before it's too late? Come on! Why is there so much slack in this case? This reminds me of a Las Animas County case where a woman was found growing a large amount of marijuana by Law Enforcement - they seized her crops the day of discovery but did not arrest her until almost 8 months went by. Where is the Law? Is Mrs. Tatums attorney THAT intimidating? Come on! I assure you that if it were a poor minority that faces the same charges as Mrs. Tatum - the minority would not have privilages of leaving the state or having the remains of the deceased.
I understand there may be some underlining issues in this case - it is emotional for the family - the local law enforcement probably doesn't have expericence in this kind of case - the high profile lawyer - the large amount of money the Tatum's acquired - but come on! The Law IS the LAW. Cut and dry.
Posted by Braided on December 27, 2007 at 1:21 p.m.
I pray that this case doesn't turn out as how one of the LAC/HC judges said during a hearing, "Well Mr. Tatum, there is the law and then there is the law."
Posted by hand on December 29, 2007 at 5:37 p.m.
BigHorse, I don't have easy access to the net, but anyway my statement was not to bash Liz Tatum in anyway, it is my frustration in regards to Ann and Martinez. I've spent a lot of time with both Ann and Jim. To me Jim was always a stand up guy. Sorry to all Jim's daughters and ex. I hope that more people will stand up for Jim.
Posted by BigHorse on December 30, 2007 at 6:27 a.m.
Hand - No problem. I can tell that you are just trying to stand up for Jim, and you have every right to do that. Since Jim is not here anymore to defend himself, he needs your help, and yes that of others too.
Post the truth as you know it from your own knowledge, or if what you post is based upon your opinion or speculation, then state it that way, so others will know the basis behind what you are saying and so there will be no misunderstandings. You sound like a good person Hand, and a good friend to Jim.
Posted by Braided on December 31, 2007 at 12:22 p.m.
I just learned : When the Colorado attorney who was handling your case dies, you should contact the
Colorado Supreme Court Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel, 1560 Broadway, Suite 1800, Denver, Colorado 80202, Phone: (303)866-6400 or Toll Free: 1-877-888-1370. If you call, speak to the operator, tell her that you were Jim Tatum's client, he died, you need your case. You will then be forwarded to someone who will help you.
I have been informed that the counsel is aware of the situation and that they are trying to gain access to Jim's caseload. Once they are able to get in there, you will be contacted to get your file. However, I suggest you just call the counsel now and let them know who you are. If you have your case number - give it to them when you call.
Posted by kimtatum on December 31, 2007 at 8:28 p.m.
I would like to suggest that unless you have the guts to use your real name, keep your opinions to yourself. You may want to feel self important, but you are helping no one with your rhetoric.
I for one, don't feel the need to hide behind false names, why do you? Are you afraid that what you say may be false, and therefore get you sued? I wonder.?
All of you hiding behind user names need to ask yourselves why.
Posted by concerned on January 6, 2008 at 11:59 a.m.
what is amazing to me is that with all that is going on in the world today you have to post comments about this causing more hurt to the family and friends. I am disgusted at the fact that the Rocky Mountain News only interviews people that think they know the family and then expand on the comments in a self serving way. I would like to know where your getting the pictures as some of them were private. Your damm lucky you cropped one of them, but I am sure your interests were to protect the interest of Jims family.
Jim cared for his dogs just as much as Ann did. He use to travel with several of them. Jim cared about his family and yearned for them. Ann was the one that would shop for presents for Jims family, wrap them, and have him sign a card. She tried for years to build relationships.
The bottom line is they both cared and are and were great people. I ask you to think about the long term psycholicial stress that articles like this cause and the blogs that do nothing but build up the author.
Let Jim lie in peace and let the family and friends grieve and move on.
If you want to add your thoughts to this ongoing discussion, here's the direct link to the RockyMountainNews.com article: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2007/dec/24/death-at-the-river-of-lost-souls-in-purgatory
Previous Articles/Photos/Comments:
Death at the River of Lost Souls: Folklore of Jim Tatum, a larger-than-life Texan, flourishes in Colo. as suspicions swirl around wife
Saturday, December 22, 2007
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El Rio de Las Animas Perdidas en Purgatorio - the River of Lost Souls in Purgatory - runs through Solitario, the ranch Jim Tatum bought near Trinidad in 1983. Tatum, who "always thought he was 10-feet tall and bulletproof," was slain at his Colorado ranch Nov. 29.
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PART ONE OF A TWO-PART SERIES
TRINIDAD - It was a cold, raw day - temperature barely flirting with 30, gray sky not sure if it wanted to spit snow or freezing rain - when 60 people gathered on Main Street to say goodbye to a man who was part legend, part gunslinger, part SOB and 100 percent Texan.
In a way, it was surprising that the chapel at the Mullare-Murphy Funeral Home wasn't even half-full for Jim Tatum, a guy who "always thought he was 10-feet tall and bulletproof." Then again, maybe it wasn't surprising. For in the 24 years that Tatum had swaggered, blustered, charmed and just-plain made his presence felt in Las Animas County, he had generated friends and enemies as effortlessly as most people blink.
"I bet a lot of people would go to a funeral for him just to make sure the SOB is finally dead," said one longtime resident who didn't show up to the memorial service and didn't like Tatum.
The man didn't much care for Ann Tatum, either. That was Ann over there, in the front row of the chapel, gazing at the easel adorned with Jim's cowboy hat and spurs, sometimes softly weeping, head resting on her son's shoulder. For those of you who aren't from Trinidad, Ann was Jim's wife, now his widow, and - if the charges stick - his killer.
Of course, the trial is a long way off, probably a year or so. The murder charge hasn't even been formerly entered, even though, according to the sheriff's arrest affidavit, Ann Tatum told a deputy that on Nov. 29, in the kitchen of their home, she shot at her husband "again and again."
Six times. With two different guns.
With so much time to go before a trial, the vacuum has been filled with speculation and gossip, with old rumors of infidelity and violence. And joining the gossip and the rumors is the folklore of Jim Tatum, a folklore he helped create and artfully embellished. A folklore of a lawyer, ladies man, hunter and rancher. A folklore that sashays across 68 years, between Texas and Colorado. A folklore as sinuous as the river that flows through his ranch, the river they call El Rio de Las Animas Perdidas en Purgatorio - the River of Lost Souls in Purgatory.
Wherever Jim Tatum's soul resides - and its precise location is a subject of vast dispute among those who knew him - his ashes are back in Texas. What remains in Colorado is his myth. But even that has started to crack a little.
After all, if there's one thing we know for sure about Jim Tatum it's this: In the end, he was not bulletproof.
It wasn't like Trinidad was a virgin when it came to characters. At one time or another, Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday - even Al Capone - had resided in Las Animas County. Still, even some of the area's more jaded citizens had to scratch their heads when Jim and Ann Tatum rolled into town in 1983.
Physically, you couldn't overlook Jim: 6-1, maybe 6-2, broad shoulders, an easy 240 pounds, sharp blue eyes, granite jaw, still traces of the rugged good looks that led one friend to liken him to Kirk Douglas.
For her part, Ann was nothing to sneeze at either: a 5-foot-8 blue-eyed blonde, easy on the eyes, always dressed sleek and stylish.
But there were other reasons you couldn't miss the couple.
It wasn't rare to see them out and about, decked out in cowboy hats and chaps, spurs jangling, six-guns nestled in holsters, "strutting around," to one local's way of thinking, "like they owned the world. They were bossy, too, always wanting something. And not just right now, but five minutes ago."
Of course, truth be told, most anybody from Texas arrived in Las Animas County with two strikes against him.
"People here have always had a hard time with Texans," said native Brian Mondragon. "For some people, it didn't matter how good a person you were - and I think Ann and Jim are wonderful people - if you were a Texan, you weren't worth s---. I've seen bumper stickers like, 'It's hunting season, shoot a Texan.' "
Not that any of this seemed to bother Jim Tatum.
"Oh, he was a Texan through and through," is how Raymond Mondragon, Brian's father, saw it. "And proud of it."
But Tatum wasn't just a Texan, he was, said a native, "a real cowboy, a Wild West guy, a throwback to another time." Added another, "He was all bluster and bravado."
Take those big cigars of his. You hardly ever saw him without one jammed between his teeth. Sometimes he'd be smoking it, sometimes not. Just have it jutting out of his mouth, like it was his own portable headline.
The cigar was only part of the gunslinger package. His clothes were another. Sure, lots of lawyers wore cowboy boots to court, but Tatum went them one better. You'd never see him without his hat, his jeans, his tan leather jacket. A tie? Not likely, partner.
To a lot of people, Tatum's cigar, his outfits were just ways to get him noticed. Apparently, it was important to him to be noticed. Didn't matter if the room held one person or 20, Tatum had to be the center of attention. You sat down, he'd stand up. You showed up on time, he'd be late.
But it wasn't just the attention.
"He tried to be imposing, he tried to intimidate you with his size," is how one man put it. Even when he sat down, he had this way about him - casual but emphatic. Like how he would plop down in a chair in your office and prop his boots up on your desk. It wasn't unusual for those boots to have spurs attached. Kind of like he was leaving his mark.
He could be cordial and good-old-boy you to death, but more often than not he was loud - "adamant, he didn't care what people thought about him" is how local attorney Nancy Lake put it. You could disagree with him, but only at your own peril.
"If you thought you knew something, and he thought another way, he'd fight you to the last ditch," said Robert Parsons, an 89-year-old rancher who had numerous dealings with Tatum.
Contentiousness was part of his DNA. During his stormy two-year tenure as Las Animas county attorney from 2001 to 2003, Tatum was frequently embroiled in sharp disagreements with the county commissioners.
According to one county insider, Tatum's style showed guts. "Jim simply would not tell the commissioners what they wanted to hear; he was brutally honest."
But others say Tatum's idea of truth wasn't always so pristine.
More than that, when confronted he could turn combative. During one heated meeting, he challenged commissioner Robert Valdez to a fistfight, an odd thing to do since Tatum worked for the commissioners. Not that anybody in Texas would have found that behavior unusual.
"He was a talented trial lawyer because he had absolutely no fear of any man or beast, but he was also mean and crazy," said Dick DeGuerin, the lawyer for Tatum's first wife in their divorce. "He'd fight at the drop of a hat."
In September 2003, to no one's surprise, Tatum's contract was not renewed. He claimed he'd been fired, but county administrator Bill Cordova told the Pueblo Chieftain, "He was not fired or terminated, we just couldn't reach terms on a new contract."
In truth, it wasn't just about money. Although he made more than $70,000 in salary and perks from the county, Tatum insisted on using his office in the courthouse to conduct his lucrative private law practice, which annoyed the commissioners who were already fed up with his combative style. They rescinded his free office, angering Tatum. And he was not a man to suffer in silence.
There was also the matter of Tatum's secretary, Ales Graeff. When Graeff requested permission to attend classes at a local junior college during office hours, the commissioners refused. Tatum gave her permission to attend the classes anyway.
Of Tatum's departure, one county insider would say, "It was his demeanor, his persona. If something wasn't done his way, he'd find reasons to oppose it. He was belligerent." His exit brought a feeling of "relief."
Tatum's legal modus operandi caused him grief with the courts on at least three occasions for threatening to file a grievance against a judge if he didn't issue a continuance, co-mingling a client's business funds with his own funds, and misconduct in a water case. Twice - Colorado in 2006, Texas in 2007 - his license was suspended for three months.
Again, his dust-ups with the court system weren't stop-the-presses news in Texas.
"Jim Tatum was an anachronism," said Houston attorney and friend Ted Hirtz. "He had this macho attitude, almost as if he were a Viking taking on modern civilization . . . . He adopted the persona of the toughest hombre on the block and that no one should mess with him."
The toughest hombre on the block liked hanging with some pretty rough customers in Texas.
Said DeGuerin: Tatum "ran with some really rough, known criminals. Toward the last of his time in Houston, he was running with a crowd with a known hit-man and some other pretty disreputable people. He was really a dangerous person."
Neither was he secretive about his clients. During the many years he moved between Texas and Colorado, Tatum would occasionally bring them to Solitario, his ranch near Trinidad.
"He told me a lot of his clients were drug cases," said Kenneth Haynes who, along with his wife, Beverly, lived at Solitario when both worked for the Tatums. "They were mean-looking guys."
That Tatum would meet with a violent end didn't surprise many people. That he would meet with a violent end allegedly at the hands of his spouse wasn't shocking, either. After all, Tatum's first wife put a bullet in him.
James Eddie Tatum was born Jan. 9, 1939, in Graham, Texas, although he mostly grew up in El Paso. As a teen he was, according to remarks read at his memorial service, mostly interested in "hot rods, horses, guns and girls."
His love of fast cars was so strong that his first career choice was to race them. For a time, he and his father ran a hot-rod shop, although W.H. Tatum's main business was overseeing his string of condom vending machines - samples of which would be in great supply at Solitario. Eventually, he steered his son away from racing. After graduating from the University of Texas, Jim earned a degree from the South Texas College of Law in 1966.
He quickly became a colorful icon in Houston courts, known for impassioned defenses of drug dealers, tax protesters and - in one juicy case - a topless dancer. Here, his strategy hinged on the woman performing in court, to show that her dances weren't lewd.
DeGuerin said Tatum "knew the judge was an irascible guy who would enjoy seeing some girl shake her t--- at him."
Sometimes, it seemed, he generated as much litigation as he handled. Tatum, said Hirtz, "got into a dispute with almost every business dealing he went into - land deals, cattle deals, everything he was involved in."
His litigious side wouldn't diminish in Colorado. Over the years, Tatum was no stranger to the plaintiff's role in court, suing Las Animas County over road access on his property, as well as a mining company - more than once - for damages to his home. He mostly won, too.
Away from court, Tatum was a notorious ladies man, which wouldn't have been a problem if he hadn't been married and the father of eight children, seven with Liz, his wife whom he married in 1961. Tragically, in 1973, their 15-month-old son, Greg, accidentally drowned in a pool.
Some said Jim blamed Liz. Never forgave her. Never got over the boy's death. The marriage went into free fall. There were his affairs, his hard drinking. There were, by many accounts, his violent attacks on Liz. Attacks on his daughters - like the time he hit Sheryl, 16, and broke her rib, finger and ear drum.
It all came to a head April 6, 1981. Liz and Jim were divorcing. She was tired of the beatings, tired of his philandering. He was livid at the affair she was having.
Jim had been drinking and, as Liz would testify, he called her a "whore and a slut."
She slapped him. He kicked her out of the bed, knocking her to the floor. She ran to the den where a gun was kept - guns were all over the house; "more guns than a gun store," said one friend. She loaded it. Returned to the bedroom. Cocked it.
"Go ahead and shoot me," he shouted, cursing at her from bed.
She did. Right in the chest, near the heart, with a .22 Magnum.
The shooting would become one of the fundamental tenets of Tatum's folklore, a story he told over and over, sometimes enlarging the bullet to a .357 Magnum, sometimes concluding his tale with the boast, "There isn't a bullet tough enough to kill me."
Apparently, there wasn't sufficient cause to try Liz for a crime. The case went to the grand jury, which declined to file charges.
During the bitter custody hearing that followed, the Tatum girls sided with their mother, backing her stories of violence with tales of their own. According to Jackie, 14, her father was "violent and mean. He's scary. He's really big. He threatens to break your arm, knock out your teeth. He grabs me by the throat. He terrifies me."
The court's psychiatrist believed them. His report said Tatum had a "moderately serious" narcissistic character disorder, concluding, "Mr. Tatum is an extremely aggressive, very forceful and very intimidating man," unable to control his anger.
With Liz in the rear-view mirror, Tatum began dating a divorcee named Ann Fechtel Neville, who he married in August 1983. That same year, he bought land in Weston on Colorado 12, about 27 miles from Trinidad, "up the river," is how locals put it. Although their primary residence would remain Houston for two decades - many people remember them in Colorado only about three months a year - their ties to this state would grow thick as rope.
Tatum's cowboy soul was nourished at Solitario. He loved raising cattle, loved his horses, loved his 20-odd dogs that barked up a storm from their kennel. "My alarm clocks," he'd call them.
As much as he loved raising animals, Tatum savored shooting them even more. A zealous hunter, he went on safaris in Africa; the walls of his home and office were festooned with heads of exotic game like lion and water buffalo. Not that he wasn't happy with more prosaic prey like deer, elk and coyote, frequently hiring Brian Mondragon to guide the hunts he arranged for himself and the friends he invited up from Texas.
Oddly, Mondragon wouldn't have any stories of Tatum not paying him, making him something of a rarity in Las Animas County. For, as Parsons would say, "Jim Tatum was a man who wouldn't keep his word."
There was, for instance, the time Parsons agreed to harvest and bale hay on Solitario. In return, Parsons was to receive some of the hay plus grazing rights for his own cattle. Only that wasn't how Tatum remembered the deal when it came time to settle up.
Haynes knew all about that side of Tatum. He'd be working at Solitario, seeing his boss when he came up, usually during haying season. "He'd tell you what a good job you'd done. Give you a bonus. But then there'd be no paycheck for three months."
It wasn't just the hired hands who had issues with the Tatums. One local merchant was forever butting heads with them over unpaid bills, sending and resending invoices that went ignored. Finally, the exasperated merchant asked Ann what she intended to do about the debt. The reply? "Sometimes you just have to bend over and take it."
Not that there weren't personal kindnesses. The Tatums were known for taking in strays - and not just the four-legged kind. Folks down on their luck had a good chance of finding a bed at Solitario, even if it meant lending a hand with ranch tasks.
Then there was that time in 2004. Nadine Mondragon had long been suffering from severe abdominal pain that baffled local doctors. Hearing of this, the Tatums took Nadine and her husband, Raymond, to Houston.
"They put us up at their house and made all the arrangements for us to see doctors at the Houston Medical Center. We stayed for three weeks. That's the kind of people they were," said Raymond, tearing up at the memory.
To many, Ann Tatum was a force, a woman who was, said a friend, "one of those people who just makes the party."
According to Dick Makloski, who ran a car repair shop, Ann was a "a go-getter. She's the kind of person who's dealing with the day after tomorrow; really getting after it."
Maybe a little too much.
"She could be awful graspy," said Parsons. "When she wanted things, she wanted 'em now."
Ann Tatum became a candidate for county commissioner in 2004 - the year after Jim had been let go as county attorney. She made a spirited run, too, becoming the first candidate ever to open a campaign headquarters, proving to be very serious about winning.
Former District Attorney Frank Ruybalid said, "Anne asked me a lot of questions about funding and budget issues. It really impressed me how she tried to educate herself."
Despite losing, Ann Tatum was apparently undaunted. Several people, including current DA and family friend Lee Hawke, heard "she was planning to run for commissioner again."
But where friends saw a spirited, aggressive go-getter, others saw someone else.
"If she could make you feel two inches tall she'd do it," said Beverly Haynes, more than once the target of Ann's caustic tongue.
Others described her as vulgar, someone who "when it came to cursing could make most of your sailors, Army, Air Force and Marines look like timid kids."
Like her or not, few people were inclined to underestimate her. As Makloski said, with more than a trace of admiration in his voice, "One thing about Ann - she's not afraid to look the devil in the eye."
As it turned out, there may have been times when it seemed that the devil was the man she married.
Posted by Andrea on December 22, 2007 at 11:21 a.m.
"part SOB, 100% Texan"....how about if I wrote an article that said, ..."part SOB, 100% Journalist" or "part SOB, 100% Mexican" - I've experienced so many rude comments about being from Texas since I moved to Denver last January. There is WAR in Iraq but Coloradoans....still don't get that we're all from ONE Nation...and there is no such thing as being 100% Texan anyway. And whatever "100% Texan" is supposed to connotate here is ridiculous...it's purposely a prejudicial statement meant as a stereotypical insult. I resent buying your newspaper and being from Texas and having a story written this way. Use your education and use your gift for words...not to help perpetuate a stereotype and a hatred...but to show that this man had an anger mgmt issue. Who were his parents? Where were his parents from? I got to Texas because my Greatgrandfather was a Journalist from Wisconsin who went to cover the 1900 Galveston Texas storm. He got hired by the newspaper in Galveston and then was tranferred to Dallas because Dealy owned both....that doesn't make ME 100% Texan. I've never seen anyone else referred to as "100% Mexican" or "and he was 100% African American...wore his cap backwards, had a ghetto blaster with rap music coming out of it all the time...just your typical black person." So HOW DOES THAT FEEL? Does that feel good? That is symbolic of how this story is wanting to portray a tall man with an anger problem who wore rancher clothes - same as they do up in the mountains here and in Wyoming and California....and anywhere else, where you work on a ranch.
Actually
writing that
"anyone from
Texas
already had
two strikes
against
them" ...
imagine if
you were to
write that
about any
other person
from any
other state
besides
Texas or
another
nation.
There are
much more
creative
ways to
write about
this man
than to
ddescribe
him as the
devil and
equate that
with it
being
because he
was from
Texas. Give
me a break.
Slain attorney was shot at by first wife too
Incident occurred when Jim Tatum was high-profile trial lawyer in Houston
By
Sue Lindsay, Rocky Mountain News
- December
6, 2007
But, by all accounts, this isn't the first time Tatum was shot at by a spouse.
Tatum's current wife Ann, 57, was arrested in his murder last Thursday on a charge of second-degree murder. She was released Wednesday afternoon after her father posted a $175,000 cash bond, according to court records.
In the early 1980s, Jim Tatum's first-wife, Elizabeth, grabbed a .22 from the nightstand in their bedroom and shot Tatum, who ran out of the house naked to a neighbor's house for help, said Dick DeGuerin, the Houston lawyer who represented Elizabeth Tatum in the divorce.
"His death is 27 years overdue," DeGuerin said. "He was slapping her around and she reached for a gun. Unfortunately, she got a .22 instead of the 9 mm next to it."
Tatum was shot in the forearm and the bullet exited the back of his upper arm, DeGuerin said.
"He ran away, thinking she might take another shot," he said. "He ran down the street naked to a neighbor's house and called police. By the time they got there, Liz had left."
DeGuerin said he can't remember what, if any, charges were filed against Liz Tatum, but thinks "we kept her from being charged." If a charge was filed, the case was ultimately dismissed, he said.
Tatum was representing himself in the divorce and showed up a few days after the shooting with a bandage on his arm for a deposition of his ex-wife's alleged lover.
"In the deposition, he kept pulling out this lock-blade knife, about 4 inches long, opening it up and cleaning his fingernails with it as if he was going to cut my throat," DeGuerin said.
Elizabeth Tatum, through her family, has declined to be interviewed.
The shooting incident is described in the book Sleeping with the Devil, a 1991 account of a Houston murder in which Tatum is mentioned as serving as a lawyer for some of those involved.
As author and lawyer Suzanne Finstad describes it, Tatum had recently filed for divorce from his then-wife, Elizabeth, and was asleep in bed when she "picked up a .22 revolver, pointed it at him, fired and missed."
Tatum "leaped out of bed and ran down the street, naked, screaming for help," Finstad wrote.
The book describes Tatum as a "criminal lawyer with a major reputation in Houston" in the 1980s. Finstad said he was referred to as "the cowboy of the legal profession." She said he wore cowboy boots to court "with his blazers and shirt boldly unbuttoned to reveal a muscled, machismo chest."
DeGuerin says that lots of attorneys in the West wear cowboy boots, but he recalls Tatum showing up for a deposition wearing jeans and spurs.
Tatum had a free-wheeling reputation as a lawyer.
"He was a talented trial lawyer because he had absolutely no fear of any man or beast, but he was also mean and crazy," DeGuerin said. "He'd fight at the drop of a hat. He was always armed and he ran with some really rough, known criminals. He often had a .45 stuck in his belt."
Tatum told a number of his friends about the shooting, although in their accounts, he was shot in the chest, the buttocks or other parts of his body.
Jobeth Hines, who knew Ann and Jim Tatum in Houston, said Tatum told her that his wife had chased him with a shotgun as he ran naked down the road and shot him in the buttocks.
She said Tatum told her about this while she and her husband were contemplating a divorce in 1995.
"He advised us not to get a divorce because we made too much money," she said.
When Hines told Tatum that her husband would have to give up his girlfriend, she said Tatum replied, "Oh, honey, this is Texas. You can't make a man give up his girlfriend."
He said, "My wife and I were married 22 years before she shot me." He laughed it off like it was a big joke, Hines said.
"He was the kind of a guy that would drive a woman crazy like that," she said.
Mary Heafner, another Houston friend and lawyer, said she visited Tatum in the hospital after the shooting.
"Jim was standing in front of Liz naked and she came in with a gun and threatened to shoot him," Heafner said. "Jim told her to go ahead and shoot and she did. He went to a neighbor's house for help, and fortunately for him, she missed all his vital organs.
"Ann is a better shot than Liz was," Heafner said. "I went to see him in the hospital and he said that he guessed that he was 'now certified bulletproof.' Apparently that was not the case. He was a wonderful and fascinating man who did not deserve to be gunned down by Ann."
Hines said she was sorry to hear about Tatum's death.
"He was a pretty colorful character," she said. "It's a shame. I really liked him a lot.
"He was just a typical Texas kind of guy, a hard-drinking two-fisted guy. There are a lot of them down here. He made his own rules."
Comments
January 7 2009, 5:20 a.m. - ruffryde997 writes:
So someone beats you up and you are allowed to shoot them? even under the given circumstances she murdered the man and although she probably shouldn't spend the rest of her life in jail or anything, she should be charged with something....
6:22 a.m. - Denverboy1 writes:
chances are this event was not an isolated case...He most likely had beaten her before...So you could charge her with SELF- DEFENSE......
8:43 a.m. - OldSailor writes:
Anyone who kills a bully, "a**hole" like that should be given a medal. There should be a bounty paid for killing mean people like that. Women, nor anyone should be expected to put up with mean treatment like that.
8:55 a.m. - Hoppin4 writes:
We're talking about a grown up woman in her 50s who'd lived with this alleged bully for many years -- IF HE BULLIED HER, BEAT HER, MISTREATED HER, WHY DIDN'T SHE JUST LEAVE?? I'll tell you why, $$$$$$$$ -- Jim made a lot of money and Ann wanted it all. Ann is a conniving murderess and should be charged as such. Most people in this town are upset that Ann is getting off scott free, she must give great head is all we can figure, and maybe she's sharing her blood money profits.
9:34 a.m. - littlebitofjustice writes:
I am sure all was justified. I wounder if this was dismissed as a crime of passion?
1:24 p.m. - El_Guapo writes:
The State of Colorado would save money (and perhaps generate revenue) if it simply issued licenses to kill to any woman who requested one. The woman would swear under oath the intended victim was "abusive." She could then hire a peace officer, such as a deputy sheriff, to off the victim for compensation. She could even sell the movie rights to help offset the cost.
No need for 13-month CBI investigations that waste everyone's time. After all, every woman has the legal right to kill any man she thinks deserves it. It's somewhere in the Constitution, I'm certain.
1:27 p.m. - HowieStupid writes:
So when is Ann going to marry the deputy that witnessed this? Why did the deputy let her shoot him? Was the deputy neglectful in his duties? Most law enforcement officers shoot anyone that even pretends to have a gun. Just a bunch of questions still remain.
2:06 p.m. - SICKANDTIRED74 writes:
And what was the deputy sheriff doing while she ran to her purse, got the gun and fired multiple shots killing her husband in "self defense"???
If a man was to shoot his abusive wife he'd be spending life in prison!! I'm not saying that this woman deserved life but I think there should have been some consequences for taking a life (whether he was abusive or not). If she was able to get to her purse to get a gun, she could have gotten to her purse, grabbed her keys and got the heck out of there leaving the deputy there to handle the husband and throw his butt in prison for abuse!!
There are so many questions that remain!!! El Guapo wrote "It's somewhere in the Constitution, I'm certain." but now we know that the Constitution doesn't mean anything in Colorado!!!
7:15 p.m. - Hand writes:
I've known Jim and Ann for a long time and have spent many nights at their home over food and drink. If anyone was abusive it was Ann! Oh did we forget, Jim was close to the Deputies wife. There was motive allover the place, unfortunately this county is blind with corruption and incompetence. Jim's and Ann's friend