A Cortez Acquaintance Speaks Out

Someone who went to high school with Paul Cortez emailed me some reflections that she would like to share anonymously:

I've been reading the posts on your blog about Paul Cortez and the Catherine Woods murder. I am fascinated by this case because I wonder what lunacy possessed this guy to do something so horrible. My heart goes out to Catherine's family, and although nothing can bring back their daughter, they must feel relief in police finding the likely perpetrator.

I know Paul from high school and thought you might find some of the observations below interesting.

I went to Poly Prep with Paul for 3 years. When I first met him (we had a class together), he was a sophomore, having arrived to Poly (a small private school, 600 people grades 5-12 at the time, in which it's almost impossible to NOT know somebody. He seemed very friendly, very serene and happy with himself. He was on the football team, part of the Spanish club, and immediately scored a leading role in one of the school plays, a huge feat for a sophomore because those roles were always given to seniors.

We never became friends because we had different schedules, although we were involved in similar activities, like theater. But, now that I really think about, I remember that a certain gradual darkness was taking over him, the more I saw of him and the closer he became to other people at the school. This is something I didn't really think about (especially since I haven't seen the guy in years) until I started processing what I remember of him from high school days. The happy-go-lucky popular guy that I describe when he first got to Poly did exhibit some strange behavior.

The first "incident" I remember is that he locked himself in one of the dressing rooms back stage during rehearsal and did not come out for about 15 mins or so, until he finally let in a friend to talk. He was really upset about something, I don't quite remember what, I think it had to do with not getting some part or something to that effect.

Another "incident" I remember is a fight that he had with another guy, a friend of his over a girl, both of whom did theater. The friend was dating the girl and Paul began to get close to her and hooked up with her, after which he wanted to date her despite the fact that his friend was fairly seriously dating her. I remember a verbal fight between the two that almost resulted in a physical fight (instigated by the upset boyfriend). Through it, I remember Paul to have remained very calm and confident in himself, as thought what happened between him and the girl was just fate and he was not guilty in any way.

Through high school, he was definitely a big flirt, but I more remember most girls falling all over him, and him focusing on only a couple of girls through the time. One was the girl I speak about over. Another was a pretty girl that most guys in our high school drooled over, but who didn't seem to give him much time of a day. A third was an Argentinian girl he met while he was on a 3-week exchange program in Argentina and who came to our high school when she was in NY for 3 weeks.

The last thing I remember is that, close to graduation, he stopped speaking to all of his friends, and would sit by himself at the lunch table, or with a teacher. He was very close to many of the teachers, both male and female, and spent an unusual amount of time with them, to be ridiculed by some as a "kiss-ass." Of course I am sure part of that was jealousy, as in high school it was not considered "cool" to be a good student. I think before graduation he did patch things up with his friends. I saw him briefly the year after he graduated and he looked a bit run down.

Anyway, that's all I can remember for now. I hope this might give some insight into what caused this guy to do what he did, or whether the dementia was part of his personality all along.

Please feel free to post any of this on your blog, but I would ask to please remain anonymous.

Technorati Tags: Paul Cortez, Catherine Woods