Sex. Murder. Mystery. (60 page)

One Shorewood teacher couldn't rule it out, though she thought it was unlikely.

Twelve-year-old Vili Fualaau was a popular kid in Mrs. Letourneau's sixth-grade class. Teacher and student shared their first kiss not long after this photo was taken in Shorewood's classroom 39.
(Katie Hogden)

Mary Kay Letourneau, pregnant with her student's baby and her world falling apart, was all smiles when she posed for this class picture in the fall of 1997. Her baggage handler husband Steve Letourneau had already discovered proof of the sexual relationship between his wife and her student.
(Jose Avila)

Mary Kay's was the only bedroom with an ocean view in the Schmitz home on exclusive Spyglass Hill in Corona del Mar, Calif. Family friends wondered what role the tragedy of little Philip, who drowned in the pool, might have played in Mary Kay's life.
(Author)

Like father, like daughter – John Schmitz and favorite daughter “Cake” shared many similarities. Both had two children by students. Both published memoirs.
(Author)

John Schmitz's ultra-conservative politics brought demonstrators to the Congressman's house. No one would dispute that Mary Kay was her father's staunchest defender.
(Irv Rubin)

Mary Schmitz, lawyer Gloria Allred and Hank Springer as they appeared on KNBC's “Free For All” public affairs television show in the late '70s and early '80s.
(Pat DeAndrea)

Not long after it was learned that he had fathered two children with Carla Stuckle, John Schmitz, disgraced and no longer a viable political candidate, lived in this trailer park in Tustin – a mile from his mistress's home.
(Author)

Steve and Mary Kay Letourneau and their children lived in this modest home in Normandy Park, Wash. Ultimately, marital infidelities on both sides and financial pressures would cause them to lose their dream house.
(Author)

Sixth-grader Katie Hogden considered her favorite teacher a friend and spent hours on the phone chatting with her. After Mary Kay's arrest for rape, the teacher asked the girl to relay an important message to Vili. She refused.
(Judy Hogden)

Some teachers at Shorewood Elementary School in Burien, Wash, were embittered by what they considered a lack of support from the district administration during the scandal.
(Author)

Defense lawyer David Gehrke represented Mary Kay through her second arrest. He infuriated Mary Kay's friends by calling them “groupies.” The friends, in turn, begged Mary Kay to dump the lawyer.
(Noel A. Soriano)