Dumb Luck

Indeed, at eleven o'clock on a recent weeknight, both Eddie and Claudia are home. As the dogs bark, Bernardo Paz's wife stands behind the security bars that protect her front door, clutching the toddler Paz fathered against her pregnant belly. She isn't supposed to speak to strangers without her husband's permission, the seventeen-year-old bride explains. The court cases are a family matter, she adds: "It's my sister against my husband."

In August a process server handed Claudia a complaint for mortgage foreclosure.

All minors mentioned in this story have been given pseudonyms, as has Bernardo Paz's second wife "Alicia." No other names were changed.

Owing to a copy-editing error, early on in last week's cover story "Dumb Luck" the alleged victim "Erica" was misidentified as the former sister-in-law of accused rapist Bernardo Paz. As became clear later in the article, the girl was -- and still is -- Paz's sister-in-law.Info:Published: