Heres andrea canning. Memories of a family man. Shes a dancing girl. A doctor. A lover. A good man. He was the ultimate support system for everybody in his life. Finally, saveroring lifes rewards, until he found himself in the cross hairs of someones obsession. There is innuendo, in a small town in west texas. The story on its own is so sensational. It happened in lubbock, a town where texas sized dreams can actually come true. Lubbock texas produces livestock, good schools, great health care. With the right set of skills, people can live large in this little city. Dust storms, tornadoes and other dangers that strike out of nowhere. On july 11, 2012, a brutal hot spell had loosened its grip on lubbock. A warm afternoon was still cooking awayay dr. Joe, becky sherbet and nathan gilmore, when someone pulled up to the house. It was a girl from dr. s lab and they were concerned that he had not shown up. He was chief pathologist at covenant hospital. We rang the doorbell and couldnt get anyone to answer. Certainly dont know his work schedule, but i know him as a person. Would he not be late. A lot of people knew dr. So in. A she admired her big brother. He didnt go halfway with anything. A family presented, who joe treated like a son. Went through med school, dirt pool, lived in a tiny roach filled pardon me, had no money, until he was a successful doctor. He was totally selfmade and had a drive. A successful career and a marriage that brought him a beautiful family. Everything was on track. Then, in 2001, he suffered a huge set back. His wife left him for another man. So he found himself in his late 40s, a sin gailgle man and their kids starting their adult lives. Their dad made a change. Before he had been a buttondown doctor who had been married to his high schoolgirl friend of 30 years, and then all of a sudden, he has to basically start over. Appreciated him. He bought himself a house, made it nice. He even started dressing more fashionly. He was very han some and tall. And he dressed, i mean, he looked great in everything. A bachelor in his late 40s, who had, you know, lets face it arcs i decent amount amount of money. He sounded like a catch. As he reach his 50s, joe seemed to be making up for lost time. How did he do with all the attention he was getting from the ladies . He was very humble. Answered picked up a hobby that turned into a passion. Ballroom dancing. It was social, challenging, answered was good at it. Yes. He really remade he remade his imagine after the divorce. He loved to do every style of dance. Debra owns d venue in lubbock. Everyone wanted to dance with him. He became a regular. And then one day, in 2011, rochelle walked into the door. She is outgoing, loving, friendly. Extremely bubbly. And everybody that i know that came into contact with her really liked her. Rochelle was 49 years old and a divorced mother of four. They had only been going out for a few months, when joe put her to the ultimate test. Meet my kids date. My dad told us that he had been dating a new woman and wanted to bring her to a barbecue we were and thats where we met her. I thought she was sophisticated. I thought she was kind. I thought she was lovely. And our First Impression of her was very good. They dated for close to a year. Show up for work. The landscapers and coworker gave up knocking on the door and decided to look for the doctor out back. And opened the gait, and one whole section of windows had been just laid over in the house. They peered inside. There was a gatorade bottle, which was a strange thing. You could tell something terrible had happened. So the young lady behind us, immediately went in and i went after her. Thats when nathan found ashella shell casing on the floor and they called 911. Somebody has broken a window in the back and the doctor has did not show up for work today. There is a bullet in it was laying on the ground. Okay, was it an actual bullet i didnt pick it up. Somebody else walked in. Im not here. Im not going in. Nathan and the woman from the lab continued searching through the home. She starts looking in the rooms, and it seemed like it took forever to go through the home. They searched further, and eventually made their way to the garage, and thats where they found joe spaawled. She automatically started crying and she said his name, dr. Sonay. He returned to his coworker, and his face told her everything. His face told her everything. Its not good. Oh, no. God. Maam, maam, whats going on. I dont know. But this much was clear. That good man, was lying dead in a pool of blood. Coming up, what happened to the doctor. Rochelle rochelle, the doctors girlfriend think she may know. She said i hope this hurts him as much as he hurt us. knocking on door honey . Im dying my hair mom. Hair dye . No, not in my bathroom. Relax mom. Honey, just let me in. No tiffany no tiffany its just purple. Teenage daughter . Get scrubbing bubbles. Kill 99. 9 of germs and destroy dirt and grime. You only need scrubbing bubbles disinfectant cleaners for 100 problem solved. We work hard so you dont have to. Shoulders dont just carry pads. They carry your fans passions, hopes, and dreams and maybe, a chance at greatness. Because shoulders were made for greatness. Not dandruff in our house, imagination runs wild. But at my table, i keep the food real. Like country crocks recipe made with real simple ingredients. And no artificial flavors or preservatives. Real Country Fresh taste from real ingredients. Welcome to crock country. Check this out, bro. Whats that, broheim . I switched to geico and got more. More savings on Car Insurance . Yeah brofessor, and more. More ways to save. Nice, brotato chip. Thats not all, brotein shake. Geico has motorcycle and rv insurance, too. Oh, thats a lot more. Oh yeah, im all about more, teddy brosevelt. Geico. Expect great savings and a whole lot more. Lets get these dayquil liquid gels and go. But these liquid gels are new. Mucinex fastmax. Its the same difference. This one is max strength and fights mucus. Mucinex fastmax. The only branded cold and flu liquid gel that is maxstrength and fights mucus. Lets end this. They say when mr. Clean saw all the Different Things his new smart phone does. It reminded him of his magic eraser. Its not just for marks on walls. Its tough on kitchen grease. And bathroom grime too. Hes your. All aroundtoughcleaner, mr. Clean. Degree motionsense is the worlds first deodorant activated by movement. As you move, fragrance capsules burst to release extra freshness all day. Degreeit wont let you down. Dr. Joe sonay was handsome, well liked and successful. Lubbock, texas was a crime scene. His body riddled with bullets garage floor. Weve got the chief why . Thats my first question. Why is this man dead . How did you all get the terrible news of what had happened . They said your father was found killed in his home. Can you please let your family know, and would you please come to lubbock. We need to sit down with you and the family members and talk. The news was devastating enough, but even more tragic, the second murder in this family. The worst part was, my mother was killed two years, almost to the day, before my dad was murdered. Their mother had been killed by her second husband. Looking back on it, the phone departments for each of their deaths was so similar, that i felt like it could have been the same phone call repeated twice. When detective johnson showed up, the garage door was closed. But graphic evidence of joes killing was apparent to anyone who got close enough. The blood had actually traveled from underneath this body all the way underneath the garage door. What happened . The first guest guess was an easy one. It could have been a botched burglary. Your first instinct is somebody broke into the house, take things of great value and surprised by the homeowner. But nothing was missing. The crime seemed to center on joe so innay. How many times was he shot . Five. Stabbed . 11. The detective moved through the house, trying to imagine what happened. Visualized the point of entry. And from where i was at, i could see that the window was pushed in. There was no broken glass, which is very curious to me. Investigators also noticed something about that gatorade bottle on the floor. A projective traveled through it. I made the determination it was possibly a silencer. We had bullet casings in the immediate area. The people close to joe were in for scrutiny, including his girlfriend, who rushed to the house when she heard the news. What was her demeanor. How was she acting. Distract. No makeup. You know, clothed, like she had been doghouseing housework, got in her car and flew to where we were. He asked her to come to the place station. Relationship with him . Hes the love of my life. I cant imagine who would want do this to him. Hes the kindest man. Rochelle wasnt the only person who thought he was a keeper. She told police that the doctor left a number of broken hearts in his past, including a relationship he ended just before he met rochelle. They had an on again off again relationship. She wasnt happy about it. So the women in rochelles eyes were maybe looking for revenge. She felt she had been shorted out by dr. Sonay. Another woman couldnt get over her break up with the continually left messages, sometimes full of vulgarities on joes phone. Called. To the point where he had to hang it up, or had to turn off the ringer. Joseph would get these horrible Text Messages, you know, calling him [ bleeping ]. You know, youre such a [ bleeping ], whatever. The next day, it was like hi, do you miss me . Do you know when the last time he received any communication from her . It wasnt that long ago. So another, if i cant have him, no one can. Correct. She also told police about a strange letter she received in the mail. In it, a woman named tina claimed she had a sexual relationship with the doctor, and he had broken his promises to her. Rochelle described the letter. She met joseph on the internet, and that they had sex for money basically. And she and her daughter lived been paying, and shes going to lose her place. She said i hope this hurts him as much as he has hurt us. Rochelle said that she and joe thought the letter was a prank. Still, it was another possible lead for police. Youve got all these lights going off in your head. And so youre just trying to balance out how these people are involved. Rochelle was also concerned about a strange incident a few months before the doctors murder. She thought a burly stranger was watching her. A creepy looking guy. Heas looking for someone or watching someone. Not long after that, Something Else happened one night at joes house. And so while theyre standing in the kitchen talking, they see a flash. Which they believed to be a flash on a camera. Investigators checked out those weird incidents, and the exgirlfriends, but they also at this point, rochelle is not a suspect. Shes more of an involved person. However, i dont have that luxury of not looking at her as a possible suspect. Detective johnson learned the family felt rochelle was pushing joe hard for a marriage proposal. I just dont believe that she let her foot off the throttle very often. Shes putting the clamps on him to get married. So he wasnt digging that . That was stressing him out. Rochelle said she and joe talked about having a longterm committed relationship, but never discussed marriage. Still, it raised a red flag for police. Until they got a tip that the killer might be someone the doctor had never even met. Coming up, a growing list of suspects. Is one linked to rochelle. Ill be honest, i love, love, i really did. Rochelle seemed lost, exhausted, as she talked to police about the man she loved, and about who might have killed him. She told them about women in joes past. She said some of them were angry. But joe wasnt the only one with past relationships. Rochelle had a few too. And one in particular came to mind. Dr. Thomas michael dixon. He was rochelles old boyfriend. Well to do and wellknown plastic surgeon, with a beautiful home, thriving practice, at at one time, his own local talk show. I get the patients who come in and say i want to look like j he had three kids when he first met her at a spa he owned. When his wife found out, she divorced him. Mike and rochelle dated for about a year and a half, but she says it wasnt always easy. It was volatile. It was up and down, and he would, i believe, that he was seeing other women and he denied it. But the final straw, was a Birthday Gift that fell flat. He signed me up for tea of the month, and he had it mailed to me. I was just, like, really . You know, you couldnt hand me something. You had it mailed to me. By all accounts, she broke dr. Dixons heart when she dumped him. She says that he begged her to come back, even after she started dating dr. Sonnier. She went to his house the night after the murder. What was his face like when he opened the door . He was a little surprised to he invited them in. They recorded the meeting. Im shocked. Believe me, youre on a list of like eight, nine people. This is a huge, a huge who done it for sure. Well, i didnt. He was calm, even chatty. Never met joe, their only connection, rochelle. If he carried a torch for her, it was over. Ill be honest, i really loved, loved, loved her. In fact, i had fallen head over heels. Made a lot of life changes for her, but just wouldnt have it just wasnt going to work. In fact, he already moved on to a younger girlfriend, who was with him the night he was questioned. Most of all, he had a solid alibi. Yeah, we didnt think he was involved. We had checked him out as far as the information, we had solid. Surgery, this is where i was, so on and so forth. For the killer. It was just a few days later that police got the break they needed. They got a call from a man with a crazy story that would launch a murder mystery into the headlines. Hes been relating stories about this things that he did. His name was paul reynolds, a veteran studying to be a nurse and still in his scrubs. He lived in amarillo, about two hours away. An old friend from high school, a guy with problems. He can be very bombastic, pompous, ar grant, obnoxious. According to reynolds, this guy was a blow heart, could barely hold a job and a talked a big game. But reynolds was concerned his latest story might be more than talk. His friend was telling him that he killed a doctor in lubbock. Just got up, he had this gun and then he said something about pushing in a window. Did he say that the window was broke . It is that theshattered. It didnt break. That got his attention. This detail matched what happened at joe sonniers. Nobody knew that. We didnt release that information. Thats huge. He also used a gatorade bottle gun. Once again, we hadnt released that information either. The guys name was Dave Shepherd, and that rang a bell. Police remembered that when they interviewed dr. Mike dixon, he said he knew a guy named Dave Shepherd. Detectives learned they were best buddies and business partners. I dont know how they met, but they were just good friends. Did he go into any other mike . Why did he do this . Right, right. Paul reynolds said dave might have something about a triangle. Possibly a love triangle. But something happened between these two that made dave think that he needed to avenge. Apparently dixon was not only going along with it, but he was going to pay him. Police put aside any suspicions, and focused on this unlikely pair, this doctor and shepherd. Coming up, a doctor in denial. I had no idea what is going thanks to dave, police do. And a belt. Stand how much they move,. And created degree with motionsense. The worlds first antiperspirant activated by movement, it has unique microcapsules that break with friction to release bursts of freshness all day. Keeping you fresher with every move. Motionsense. Protection to keep you moving. Degree. It wont let you down. Dont use windex to make windows spotless and clear go see my big fat greek wedding 2 and learn how to use windex the right way on weird stuff not on windows whos got tickets . I do enough pressure in here for ya . Im gonna take mucinex sinusmax. Too late, were about to take off. These dissolve fast. Theyre new liquid gels. And youre coming with me. You realize i have gold status . Mucinex sinusmax liquid gels. Dissolves fast to unleash max strength medicine. Lets end this. One day a rider made a decision. The decision to ride on and save money. He decided to save money by switching his motorcycle insurance to geico. Theres no shame in saving money. Ride on, ride proud. Geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. It reminded him of his magic eraser. Its not just for marks on walls. Its tough on kitchen grease. And bathroom grime too. Hes your. After dr. Joe sonniers brutal murder, his family was inundated with sympathy. Waiters at restaurants wer coming up to us, knowing who they were and expressing their deep condolences, and when my dad used to eat there, and how nice he was to them and they remembered that. By now, police had their big break. A tipster implicated rochelles ex. It was enough to charge them with murder. Mike dixon seemed surprised. I have no idea whats going on here. Was dumbfounded. He was somebody that valued the human life. But neither mike nor dave were talking. Dave cut a deal with the d. A. The Death Penalty was off the table if he told his story in full and if the d. A. Believed him. I would like for you to tell me how it is that you ended up meeting up with dr. Dixon, michael dixon. We were at a smoke shop maybe four years ago and we connected and hooked up. It was an unlikely friendship. Dave shepherd, the likeable loser, always chasing the next thing. And dr. Dixon, prominent plastic surgeon, wealthy, they were the odd couple. These quick women, smartass and we hit it off. Both men were getting involved with rochelle. She was around 49, 50 years old. Smoking hot. I thought she was just lovely. I thought she was a sweetheart. Mike was cries aeazy about her, according to dave. When rochelle took up with another man, another doctor named joe sonnier, mike didnt like it one bit. The two buddies tossed around some things to he told dr. Dixon, if you want to get to sonnier, you need to order him some gay porn magazines and you have to send it to his office. That would destroy him. And immature. Immature. Did they do it . No, they dont do that. Dr. Dixon is like no, i dont want do that. Another scheme to embarrass him, hiring a woman he knew from a Gentlemens Club named shina. He said a friend, dr. Dixon, had been dating a woman, and that she was now dating a doctor in lubbock and he wanted me to call the exgirlfriend and lie to her, say that i was having sex with her boyfriend as well for money. Shina said no, but mike wasnt giving up. He sent dave to lubbock repeatedly to spy on them. Full on stalking. Stalking, committed, were going to do this. And so david pretty much commits that im going to go ahead and do this for you. But then, dave said, mikes evil intentions towards joe sonnier escalated, all the way to murder. Tell me how he told you or how you all discussed killing dr. Sonnier . To break in his house to make it look like, y