Student murdered by ex thought she was meeting him one last time

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Sneak peek: The Boy Across the Street

Sneak peek: The Boy Across the Street 03:03

When 18-year-old Catina Rose Salarno arrived astatine the University of the Pacific successful Stockton, California, to statesman her freshman twelvemonth successful September 1979, she thought she was starting beingness anew. She had breached up with her precocious schoolhouse sweetheart, Steven Burns, and was excited to prosecute her imagination of becoming a dentist. But connected her archetypal time of college, helium amazed her by showing up connected campus. He asked to conscionable her for 1 past clip aboriginal that evening, said Catina Salarno's assemblage roommate, Joanne Marks.

"She was not looking guardant to gathering with him, but she was looking guardant to it being the past time," Marks told "48 Hours" analogous Erin Moriarty successful this week's all-new episode, "The Boy Across the Street," airing Saturday, May 3 astatine 10/9c connected CBS and streaming connected Paramount+. "She believed that helium would halt bothering her," said Marks.

Around 8 p.m. that evening, Burns led Catina Salarno to a acheronian and secluded portion of field to speech astir their relationship. But erstwhile she refused to get backmost unneurotic with him, helium pulled a weapon from his waistband and changeable Catina successful the backmost of the head, leaving her to dilatory bleed to death.

"My full satellite got taken from maine in, really, the flash of the gun, I mean, everything was gone. My beingness was ne'er the aforesaid again," Catina Salarno's youngest sister, Nina Salarno, told "48 Hours." She was lone 14 years aged erstwhile Burns was convicted of second-degree execution successful 1980, but her sister's decease and its aftermath changed the people of her life.

Nina Salarno went connected to go a authoritative specializing successful home unit cases and has served arsenic the territory lawyer successful Modoc County, California, since 2023. "I chose … to marque that my vocation due to the fact that I believed, similar my sister, truthful galore victims are either not heard, acrophobic to beryllium heard, oregon conscionable don't recognize the magnitude of what's happening to them," she said.

In 1977, Burns and his household moved crossed the thoroughfare from the Salarnos' San Francisco home, and a romance blossomed betwixt Catina Salarno and Burns – some sophomores successful precocious school. While Catina Salarno attended the all-girls precocious school, Burns became the skipper of his school's shot team. Burns had a strained narration with his ain father, and the Salarnos took him successful arsenic 1 of their own. He was idiosyncratic each subordinate of the household grew to trust.

By the extremity of their elder year, Catina Salarno wanted to interruption disconnected their romanticist relationship. When she started to propulsion distant from Burns, his demeanor towards Catina became much aggressive, said Nina Salarno. And that behaviour continued to escalate. Both of Catina's sisters told "48 Hours" astir troubling incidents erstwhile Burns had threatened to termination Catina. But Nina Salarno said Catina ne'er took those threats seriously. Neither did her sisters.

"We conscionable figured helium was conscionable saying it. And due to the fact that of what our narration was implicit the years, wherefore would we judge that?" Catina's mediate sister, Regina Salarno-Novello, told "48 Hours." "He enjoyed being portion of the family. Why would helium destruct a household that helium loved?"

Nina Salarno said it's communal for victims to miss the informing signs.

"I deliberation this is what's truly hard for home unit victims — they truly don't deliberation the person's gonna termination them … successful a batch of the situations they deliberation … they cognize this idiosyncratic … And I deliberation that's precisely what happened with Catina is she conscionable figured his remark was conscionable his comment. Even though helium had made threats, she could grip it, 'he's ne'er gonna transverse that line' benignant thing," she said.

Which is wherefore Catina Salarno agreed to conscionable Burns that night, Nina Salarno said.

"I deliberation she gained spot arsenic she was leaving the narration … she was not gonna fto him ruin wherever she was headed oregon interfere with her beingness anymore. And truthful that's wherefore I judge she went retired to conscionable him," Nina Salarno said. "And I deliberation she did astir apt 1 of the astir courageous acts. But besides successful the past of home unit successful relationships, it's the astir unsafe time. And unfortunately, she was killed."

According to Nina Salarno, erstwhile an abuser starts to consciousness similar they person mislaid power implicit their partner, she says that is erstwhile the highest complaint of wounded oregon execution occurs successful a home unit relationship. Nina Salarno emphasizes the value of avoiding these "last time" encounters by urging victims to marque a cleanable interruption from their abuser and avoiding situations wherever they mightiness beryllium unsocial with them.

"I deliberation the biggest happening that a unfortunate needs to recognize is erstwhile they marque that break, you've gotta marque that break. Don't spell conscionable them by yourself, don't instrumentality the telephone calls, don't instrumentality the texts. Cut it off," Nina said. "Everything you tin bash to forestall being one-on-one with that person."

If you oregon idiosyncratic you cognize is experiencing home unit oregon the menace of home violence, telephone the National Domestic Violence Hotline for assistance astatine 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).

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