On September 1, 1996, five-year-old Nathalie Yazzie was fatally shot inside her family’s trailer in Dennehotso, Arizona. An 11-year-old brother, Rhyan, was also shot but survived by playing dead.

Earlier that evening Norman Yazzie had reportedly been drinking and set two vehicles on fire near the trailer; his parents, drawn by the smoke, found him with the rifle and the children’s bodies inside the trailer, which smelled of gasoline. He was captured the next morning hiding in a nearby hogan and a note was found attributing his motive to despair over his failing marriage. In December 1996 he was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and, on March 11, 1997, sentenced to life without parole plus 85 years.

Did anyone in Dennehotso at the time notice warning signs in the family or the community that could shed light on what led to this tragedy?