When Ignacio Garraus began a torrid sex affair with his co-worker Shawna Nelson, he had no idea that it would lead to the death of his beloved wife, Heather Garraus. Married with Secrets , the hit Investigation Discovery documentary, will tell their tragic story tonight in the episode titled “Fatal Fixation.”
Police records show that Shawna Nelson was an unstable woman who would stop at nothing to get and keep the man she claimed as her own. And when she sunk her teeth into Ignacio Garraus, she was unwilling to let go until someone was dead. Heather Garraus was shot and killed in the parking lot of the credit union in Greeley, Colorado, where she worked as a supervisor. Today, Shawna Nelson, her husband’s ex-lover, is serving time in prison.
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Married with Secrets : “Fatal Fixation”
- When flirting turns into a hot and heavy sexual affair between a cop and a dispatcher, someone’s life will take a tragic turn when one of them decides to put the affair on ice.
Greeley police officers were dispatched to the parking lot of the Colorado State Employment Credit union in January of 2007. When they arrived, they found the body of a white female with a bullet wound to the head. The victim was identified as 37-year-old Heather Garraus, the wife of police officer Ignacio Garraus.
Witnesses told police that as they were leaving work, a shadowy figure dressed in a full mask came out of nowhere and began firing directly at Heather Garraus. According to onlookers, the killer was only interested in shooting Heather.
Investigators were quickly directed to Shawna Nelson. Everyone in town knew that Heather’s husband, Ignacio, had been having an affair with her. Several of Heather’s friends also knew that Shawna Nelson was harassing the couple after Ignacio broke off the affair.
Police also learned that Shawna Nelson had a child for Ignacio. Long before Heather found out about the affair, Ignacio tried to break it off. But he was in too deep, and Shawna had already threatened to expose everything.
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Ignacio ended up admitting to Heather that he had an affair with a woman named Shawna and that the affair had produced the baby. He also admitted that Shawna Nelson was the same woman who had the violent confrontation with her at the local store. Ignacio Garraus made the following statements, according to Dateline NBC .
“I had a three-year relationship with Shawna. It produced a child. And I know it’s wrong. I’m sorry. But I’m glad you know. I know you always said, and I threw these words right at her. I said, ‘You always said you were going to divorce me, honey. I did. I screwed up. But I’m sorry.’ It’s almost like it was euphoric as having a weight lifted off of me, because having Shawna no longer have any type of power or leverage upon me was… You said I was emasculated? Well, I felt like a man again. Where I could be back in control of my own life.”
With enough evidence placing Shawna Nelson at the scene, police were able to make an arrest. Shawna Nelson was eventually convicted of murder.
The death of Heather Garraus was a senseless killing all due to an extramarital affair. According to Dateline’s episode, Heather had always warned Ignacio that if he ever cheated on her, she would leave for good. It’s a promise she did not keep and one that could have saved her life if she had followed through.
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According to the Greeley Tribune , Ignacio Garraus said that he feels terrible for what has happened.
“Oh yes, I loathe. And I got to hide it so my kid doesn’t see how bad I loathe myself. Because a beautiful woman’s dead for me having an affair, the chain of events that I had no way of foreseeing. But ultimately if I never had an affair, Heather would be alive. It’s on me.”
Despite having to live with the fact that his affair directly led to the death of his wife, it also meant that their daughter, Victoria Garraus, had to grow up without a mother. If only Ignacio had known how far Shawna Nelson would go to keep him tied to her.
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Some things about Shawna Nelson
- You never wanted to be on her bad side. Shawna Nelson was the type who would stalk and confront anyone no matter where they were.
- Shawna and her friends engaged in intimidation, often calling people names as they laughed and giggled.
- Shawna Nelson’s behavior was so unashamedly disrespectful, no one would never know that Shawna worked in law enforcement.
- Aside from Ignacio Garraus, Shawna Nelson had multiple affairs.
- Court records show that Shawna often stalked and harassed other women who were connected to her husband or her own ex-lovers.
- Shawna Nelson’s husband was also a cop. He was later arrested for tampering with evidence in the crime.
- Shawna Nelson’s best friend, Michelle Dawn Moore, who was also in law enforcement, helped plot the murder of Heather Garraus.
After Heather Garraus’ death, Ignacio and his daughter, Victoria Shea Garraus, moved away. Sadly, 17-year-old Victoria Shea Garraus died in 2015 in a car crash. She’s buried with her mother.
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Watch this bizarre tale unfold tonight by tuning into Married with Secrets : “Fatal Fixation” at 10/9 p.m. Central on Investigation Discovery (ID).
[Featured Image by V.Richard Haro/Pool/AP Images]