

Some also believed that there was a cover-up surrounding the case. Many community members believed that Art Gonzales was receiving special treatment because of his work as a former FBI agent, stating that upon his arrest the same judge had issued a bond amount that was several hundred thousand dollars less than other criminals that had court dates around the same time. In October, 2013, he is supposed to head for trial, but the case is postponed. In May, 2013, Art Gonzales is finally arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the death of Julie Serna. She is later shot and killed in the home of her estranged husband. On Friday, April 19, 2013, Julie finishes up lunch with a friend.

Others say that he concocted a plan to murder his wife for his own benefits.Ī short timeline of events makes the case a bit easier to understand. Some believe that a jittery and stressed out Gonzalez reacted too quickly due to the pressures that were going on in his life at the time. Those who support Julie Serna Gonzales don't buy his story.Īrt and Julie Gonzalez were married for almost 20 years and had just bought the home in Virginia in 2010, before the tragic twist of events. She was also described as a woman who liked to smile and keep physically fit.Īrthur Gonzales has maintained that he did not plan to kill his wife but felt compelled to protect himself after she violently confronted him with a weapon in hand. Julie Serna was described by people who knew her as a wonderful woman who loved her kids. A Facebook page has been created in her memory. Family and friends took up donations in order to establish some sort of trust fund for the two sons that she left behind. She was buried by her loving family a short time later. The dispatch call also came in to the Las Cruces dispatch center, instead of the one in Virginia, according to the Las Cruces Sun News.Īn autopsy report concluded that the Julie Serna Gonzales had sustained four gunshot wounds to the chest. The 911 call was heavily criticized because the dispatcher was unable to get the correct spelling of the street name. In the infamous 911 call, Arthur Gonzales, casually told the operator that he had to shoot his wife because she attacked him. Before the killing that day, Julie Serna had just finished having lunch with a friend. The dead woman was identified as Julie Serna, aka Julie Serna Gonzales. To protect himself, he shot her with his.40-caliber Glock. Gonzales told law enforcement officials that he shot his wife in self defense after she came at him with a knife. The home belonged to the victim's estranged husband, Arthur Bernard Gonzales, a former FBI agent. Police were dispatched to a home located at 59 Alderwood Drive in Virginia, where they found the body of a Hispanic woman lying dead on the kitchen floor. The Art Gonzales case has been in the news since April, 2013, and has gone through three trials. Dateline NBC has been following the case for years and has watched closely as new details have emerged. This latest episode entitled, "The Agent's Wife," will look into the terrifying events that led to the fatal shooting death of the former Las Cruces, New Mexico, mother-of-two. Julie Serna Gonzales, the mother-of-two who was shot and killed by her estranged husband, former FBI agent Art Gonzales, will be the next interesting story to make the cut for Dateline NBC.
