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Carla Leigh Salazar
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Carla Leigh Salazar: Sometimes Nice Folks Do Finish LastMany murders of transgendered individuals involve sordid details of prostitutes being murdered after their “John” discovered them to be physically male, or similar stories. But there are exceptions: people who lived ordinary and quiet lives, who were friendly and nice, and did all the “right things.” Carla Leigh Salazar was such an individual. Born in Victoria, Texas in the mid-1950s, she was shunned by other youths due to her behavior. According to an Orange County Register article from shortly after Ms. Salazar’s passing, an aunt encouraged her to cross-dress, “to relieve frustrations,” when she was younger. Still, the ostracism of her peers was probably very frustrating to Carla, and may have contributed to her moving from Texas to Costa Mesa, California in the mid-1970s, when she was 19 years old.. Once she moved to California, she took a job as a fulltime female impersonator, though later turned from such, taking a job as a Telephone Operator for Orange County Radio and Telephone. Money gained went into her transition, and helped her get sexual reassignment surgery in 1979, at Downey Community Hospital. She kept some ties with the gender community after surgery, including having some involvement with the Gender Dysphoria Program of Orange County. Carla had also married after her surgery, but was separated at the time of her passing, and living alone at 1600 North Bush Street, in Santa Ana. She was known as a friendly person, who would “give the coat off her back if she thought it would help.” According to her lawyer, Bill Urban, “She was a nice person... she was not a wealthy person, but she paid me in installments... That was the most regular $50 a month I ever got. And if she would be late, she would call.” In the end, it was one of her strong friendships that led to the discovery of her death. Carla was someone who was very good about showing up at her job with Orange County Radio and Telephone, so when she failed to show up for work on the 29th of June, a friend grew suspicious, and came by her apartment. Dixie Turner, the apartment manager was contacted after Carla’s friend had knocked several times, but received no answer. “I knocked and knocked, but no one answered,” said Turner, “Finally, I opened the door with my key and yelled, ‘Manager.’ The television set was on but I didn’t hear anything else. I got kind of scared.” Carla’s friend discovered her after stepping in, and exclaimed “Oh my God, call 911!” Carla was lying on the floor of the apartment. By then, it would have been too late for emergency services, however, as investigations done at the time indicate that she died around 11:30 p.m. the night before. Dixie Turner told the Orange County Register that one of her tenants had told her that he had seen Carla going to her fourth floor apartment on the elevator with a man about 11:15 p.m. The neighbors who lived below Salazar’s apartment indicated that they heard Salazar playing her stereo after 11 p.m. — but did not hear anything unusual. Investigators believe Salazar was stabbed to death during a scuffle, but gave precious little other information about the case. Carla’s funeral service took place on Wednesday, July 5, 1989, in Santa Ana. A friend of hers indicated that her remains were later shipped to Texas for burial. Days after the murder, and shortly after it was revealed that Carla had been a transsexual woman, Santa Ana police spokeswoman Maureen Thomas said “We’re working around the clock. We’re hopeful we will arrest someone soon.” To this date the case remains unsolved, with no suspects ever charged, and no arrests ever made. We may never know how a friendly, nice, telephone operator in Orange County ended up the victim of an unknown killer. |
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