Fatal Visions

Behold, I speak unto you as though I spake from the dead...

Book of Mormon, Mormon 9:30

By the time he questioned Doug Grant in the summer of 2002, Detective Sy Ray had developed a strong suspicion that Doug murdered his wife, Faylene.  There was just one problem.

Josh Mankiewicz: Pretty hard to charge somebody with murder when the victim writes a bunch of letters telling everybody goodbye.

Det. Sy Ray: It is.  It's very hard.

That's exactly what had happened. In the days just before her death, September 2001, Faylene had written to virtually everyone in her and Doug's family, as well as to close friends.  Dozens of letters.  Letters that seem to say, "farewell."

"I've had the knowledge given to me that my time on earth is very short."

"Well girl, this is it! My last letter since I don't think they have mail delivery from where I'm going."

"I do know we'll still be together in the spirit & that comforts me. I also know the time will pass quickly & then we'll all be together!"

Faylene didn't just envision her death in those letters ... She named her successor for the title of Mrs. Doug Grant:

Tammy Fuentes: It says, "Tammy, please express to your family my love for Hilary." 

Hilary-- the young woman Doug married just weeks after Faylene died.

Tammy Fuentes: "The deepest desire of my heart is that she and Doug will be together immediately so that all of your family, my family, and the children can feel the bonding and the love and respect I have for Hillary."

... As if Faylene were King Arthur in "First Knight" -- handing Guinevere off to Lancelot. Faylene wrote an even stronger letter directly to Doug and Hilary with an almost inconceivable request.

Faylene: "I know I will be here w/my body until it is buried... this desire for you to be married immediately & to see you sitting together as husband & wife at my funeral has been so strong.

Josh Mankiewicz: How do you explain that?

Det. Sy Ray: You can't. There is no reasonable explanation for a letter like that. 

Remember, over the years, Faylene had written in her journals a number of times about suicidal thoughts.

Faylene: I felt I should just drive off a cliff & quit wasting space & air on this planet.

Her family insists she was never really suicidal.

Jody: Who in their life hasn't at least once thought, you know, life would be easier if just, you know, drove my car off a cliff? It's just a figure of speech. 

But they acknowledge Faylene sometimes felt death was near.

Glenna: She didn't think she was gonna be here very long.  And that was all she ever said 'cause I said, "Faye, you're h-- young, you're healthy.  You have all these little kids."  And we just went on with what we were doin' makin' dinner or whatever it was.

Josh Mankiewicz: That didn't strike you as odd or alarming?

Glenna: No, I mean, as a mother, I didn't wanna dwell on it.  But, no.  Faylene-- she was close to the Lord.

Faylene's closeness to the Lord, if that's what it was, manifested itself in other ways.  Here's a journal entry from May of 2001, two months before she decided to re-marry Doug.

Faylene, 5/6/2001: I was kneeling and praying to know why the girl I'm going to have is going to be "Nicole" -- why this name?"

Mormons believe in a state called the pre-existence, where all souls live before being born.  Faylene seemed to think a baby girl was waiting for her there. These two different visions, or feelings-- one that she was not going to live long, the other that she was supposed to have a baby girl, seemed to coalesce after Faylene remarried Doug in the summer of 2001.  One way we know that is through a series of letters Faylene wrote to, of all people, Hilary.

Det. Sy Ray: Hilary made it very clear that after couple days when she found out that they had been remarried, she wanted to talk to Faylene.  She felt that Faylene owed her an explanation.  And--

Josh Mankiewicz: I would be thinking that the guy owed me an explanation.

Det. Sy Ray: A reasonable person would.

But Hilary and Faylene spoke... And, strange as it may seem, started talking regularly by phone and writing letters to each other. Hilary was also Mormon... And Faylene took on the role of spiritual mentor.

Faylene:  I can relate so much with your feelings of being "different"! Growing up my mom worried so much about me thinking I was too deep and a fanatic.

She took Hilary into her confidence...

Faylene: "There are things I want to share with you and I have to know first that they will be kept between us because they are not of a trivial nature!"

She said God had singled Hilary out...

Faylene: "I have had extremely deep feelings that Heavenly Father has and is continuing to prepare you for a major calling in this earth life."

And then... She revealed what she believed Hilary's calling to be.

Faylene: I want you to be the mother of my children.  I want you to remind them that they are not only precious to Heavenly Father, but to their mother who has been physically called to serve her mission elsewhere ...

The sum of the letters is this-- Faylene expected to die, and wanted Hilary to marry Doug as soon as possible and help raise their children.  She even wrote in her journal that Hilary would bear the baby girl Faylene believed was waiting in the pre-existence.

Faylene 9/5/01:  "I know that it is wise for heavenly father to let her come to a mom (Hilary) who will be with her and not die and leave her with someone else."

Faylene and Doug applied for extra life insurance... Faylene wrote a will.  She died two weeks later. Did Faylene kill herself?  Doug's family, who'd seen her depressed-- thought it was possible.  And, they say, on the day she died. Faylene's family thought so, too.

Danny Fuentes: I was there when Faylene's parents arrived.  And-- she said, "Faylene finally did it this time, didn't she."

Josh Mankiewicz: Faylene finally did it this time?

Danny Fuentes: Right.

Josh Mankiewicz: This is her mother talking about Faylene?

Danny Fuentes: This is her mother.

Glenna:I never said such a thing. They say a lot of things now that are not true.  And I don't know what else to tell ya, except that I never said anything cl-- nothing like that.  I was bawling.  I was upset.  Never.

Josh Mankiewicz: Well, is it possible you said that and don't remember?

Glenna: No.

Josh Mankiewicz: It certainly seems plausible to me that you don't wanna believe that Faylene committed suicide.  Even if you think that she did that you wouldn't want to admit it.

Jody: No-- no. I think all of us could admit that. Because there's nothing we did wrong. 

But imagine you're a police detective, investigating a suspicious death.  You discover that the deceased had been anticipating, even planning her demise.  You might conclude you had a suicide on your hands.  But reading hundreds of pages that Faylene wrote, Detective Ray began to suspect something quite different.

Det. Sy Ray: I believe Faylene is very susceptible to being manipulated.

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