A Cruel Homicide Reveals a Headline-Making Secret
(‘South of the Border,’ Forensic Files)
Dan Willoughby thought killing his wife would make his life simpler. He would avoid a custody battle, marry his mistress, and enjoy the proceeds of Trish Willoughby’s life insurance.
He succeeded in orchestrating the homicide, but everything else went wrong. He got caught before he had a chance to get rich. And it came out that Dan’s girlfriend, Yesenia Patino, was hiding a surprising past.
The story yielded much news coverage, and both Forensic Files and Snapped produced episodes about it. There were reportedly three books written about the case. (It looks as though only one of them, Damaged Goods by Jim Henderson, is still in print.)
Because Yesenia stole the spotlight during the investigation and trial, for this post, I looked into murder victim Trish Willoughby’s life story. I also found out more about her cheating husband — and streamed Yesenia’s two-hour deposition to decide for myself whether it’s possible that he really was astonished to learn that her original first name ended in an “o.”
So let’s get going on the recap of “South of the Border” along with extra information from internet research.
Patricia “Trish” Toland was born on June 5, 1948 in Spokane, Washington, to young parents Thera and Dorian Toland. Dorian died in a private-plane accident when he was 23. (Thanks to reader Laur C. for writing in with the facts.)
Fortunately, Thera had an entrepreneurial streak and a talent for sales that enabled her to support her family. She started out by aggressively selling bras door to door.
Still, Trish didn’t remain fatherless for long. Thera, who had fluffy hair and pretty features, married an Air Force officer named Sterling Huish.
The family grew to include six children. Home life left something to be desired, and the kids moved out as early as possible, according to a Phoenix New Times story available on Murderpedia.
Trish headed to San Francisco and drifted around as a flower child. She eventually returned to Utah, where the family had moved, and reconciled with Thera. The two women went to a Mormon church regularly and became inseparable.
After a failed first marriage to a man named Tony, Trish wed Daniel Hayden Willoughby in 1976. Dan, whom associates described as tall, tanned, and attractive (albeit in a gold-chain and open-shirt kind of way), converted to Mormonism.
Dan worked as a district manager for Air Express International and made around $75,000 a year. He was dedicated and worked long hours, but his ethics came into question.
To win over prospective customers, he would tell lies about competitors, according to a former associate interviewed for the Phoenix New Times story. Dan also didn’t let his faith stop him from drinking and partying; he earned the nickname “Disco Danny.”
Still, others pointed out Dan’s virtues. He frequently gave financial support to local families in need. After seeing a TV segment about a 15-year-old girl named Marsha who was unhappy in the foster care system, Dan and Trish adopted her. The couple, who lived in Gilbert, Arizona, also had a son and another daughter.
The Willoughbys could well afford three children. Trish had turned into a powerhouse of a saleswoman just like Thera. Their motto was “Get up, dress up, and show up,” according to the Queen Creek Sun Times.
The two women owned T’n’T, a business that sold herb-based nutritional supplements made by Matol Botanical. A bottle of its KM-brand vitamin supplements cost $35.
Trish used the vitamins herself and swore by them. “I felt something from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet,” Trish said of the first time she tried the supplements. “I could feel it in my hair. I felt it had to be either illegal or immoral, it felt so good.”
At one time, the multilevel marketing company had 40,000 people in the organization. T’n’T was bringing in about $40,000 a month by 1991.
In February of that year, Trish, Dan, and the kids took a vacation to the Mexican resort town of Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point. Dan, 52, had planned the entire trip himself as a gift for Trish, 42. He paid cash for a Las Conchas beach rental. (Sources vary as to whether it was a house or a condominium but agree that the structure was fairly secluded).
While there, Dan took the kids to the local science museum. Trish had a headache and chose to stay at their rental.
When Dan and the kids came home, Thera — the couple’s younger daughter, named after her grandmother — ran to the master bedroom to tell Trish about their outing. She discovered Trish in bed with her head wrapped in a blood-soaked towel.
She had multiple blunt force wounds, lacerations to her face from a kitchen knife, and a bruise on her abdomen.
But she was still breathing.
Dan led the children in a prayer for his wife. Then, leaving Trish alone in the rental, he loaded the kids into the car and drove to a Red Cross center for help, according to court papers. Trish died in the hospital.
At first, the Mexican police thought a local had committed the murder. There were many impoverished people in the area. The killer had taken two of Trish’s rings and $400 in cash.
At the funeral in Arizona, the owner of Matol Botanical attached a pin with the company’s insignia on Trish’s clothes; it was the highest honor the company could give.
So much rain fell on the grave that day, however, that pallbearers had to take Tricia and her coffin back to the church, where the family was having a luncheon. “It’s just like Trish to not want to be left out of the party,” her mother said, according to the Phoenix New Times.
At the very beginning of the murder investigation, Thera felt protective of her son-in-law. She was willing to help support the family financially so Dan could devote his time to the kids. But after learning details of what transpired at the Mexican vacation rental, Thera turned against Dan.
As soon as the February 23, 1991 homicide made news in the Willoughbys’ hometown, Dan called a meeting of his neighbors to ask them not to talk to the police. Nonetheless, people who knew the family began calling Arizona authorities to report that Dan had a girlfriend, Yesenia Patino, originally from Mexico.
Yesenia, who had black hair, dark skin, and a big smile with white teeth, admitted to police that Dan Willoughby had set her up in an apartment and bought her jewelry.
Trish knew about the affair but reportedly wanted to repair the marriage. “No matter what hurt she was feeling, she would always put on that face of happiness so that she did not let other people hurt with her,” brother Nick Huish told the Phoenix New Times. “She was not going to share those negative emotions.”
She did, however, go to Yesenia’s apartment and confront her. Afterward, Dan moved Yesenia to a different apartment and continued seeing her.
But Yesenia denied having anything to do with the murder and claimed she wasn’t in Mexico then.
When police asked for identification, Yesenia provided a Social Security card with the name Alfredo Patino.
Yesenia Patino used to be a man named Alfredo. And Alfredo had acquired a criminal record, including male prostitution, before transitioning into Yesenia. She had some shoplifting in her past, although it’s not clear whether that happened before or after the surgery.
The story of Yesenia’s transgender history slowly unfurled. Before she met Dan, she was married to a man named Jack Mielke. That union was annulled in 1990 — but he was the one who paid for her gender-affirming surgery in Trinidad, Colorado in 1982. It cost $6,000 to $10,000, according to the Arizona Republic.
The medical procedure was a huge success, according to Yesenia, who said that she acquired numerous lovers and that many of them wanted to marry her. She and Dan met by chance at either a bus stop or outside a convenience store (or both). They hit it off and soon took a trip together to Laughlin, Nevada. Dan reportedly told his colleagues that he met Yesenia in a Spanish class that she was teaching and that she interpreted for him on business trips.
Dan had a photo of himself and Yesenia enlarged and put it in a frame.
He reportedly bought Yesenia an engagement ring at Gold Art Creations. He said that he wanted to marry her, but he’d be “taken to the cleaners” if he divorced Trish.
Police found out that Dan had been fired from his job for padding expense reports to pay for his trysts with Yesenia — and for slacking off in general. He then stopped working outside the home and became a house husband.
It didn’t dent the Willoughby family’s budget much. Trish earned $340,000 in 1990, according to court papers.
Trish’s mother told Forensic Files that she thought Dan expected to get half of the business, which was worth approximately $2.5 million. Trish’s brother Nick Huish said he believed that Dan wanted to take the money reaped from Trish’s death and live the high life in Mexico. Trish had life insurance policies with a total payout of $1.25 million.
Investigators discovered Yesenia’s fingerprints at the Mexican beach rental.
But Yesenia had disappeared. During an international manhunt that included a $6,000 reward and a segment on America’s Most Wanted, a tipster told investigators that a woman who looked like Yesenia was working at a bar in Mazatlan, Mexico.
After arresting Yesenia, police found Trish’s rings in her possession.
Yesenia cracked and told police everything — or at least her version of everything. She said that Dan recruited her to participate in the murder, promising her that afterward they would enjoy their lives and have no worries.
Dan’s murder plans at one time included pushing Trish off a cliff in the Grand Canyon, cutting her air hose while scuba diving, or throwing her overboard during a cruise.
Instead, Yesenia and Dan found the isolated beach rental to use on the family vacation.
In accordance with their plan, once Dan had the kids in the car for the museum outing, he made an excuse about having to dash back inside to get his passport.
He locked the door behind him, stabbed Trish in the stomach, and beat her with a mace. Yesenia’s job was to stage a robbery while Dan and the kids were at the museum. But she found that Trish was still breathing, and gasping. Yesenia then stabbed her with a butter knife, took the rings off Trish’s body and the $400 in cash and created disarray to make it look like a robbery.
Thera Huish said during a civil trial that her daughter had qualms about going on the Mexican vacation. Trish asked Thera not to give Dan any money if she died because she didn’t want him moving any bimbos into her house. Dan did manage to get his hands on a low six-figure payout from one of Trish’s smaller insurance policies, but Thera Huish fought for the bulk of the payout in a civil action.
Police held Dan in a Maricopa County jail without bond.
Dan’s children started talking to investigators. Marsha, 17, said that before they left for the museum, after Dan had gone back inside, Marsha tried to get in the house to grab a candy bar, but the door was locked. (Another account says that Marsha left the car because she decided to stay with her mother but that Dan offered to let Marsha drive if she came to the museum instead.) When Dan emerged from the rental, the kids noticed he was wearing a different shirt.
Yesenia said that once the family got home from the museum, Dan let the kids enter the house first so they would find the body, complete with a knife sticking out of their mother’s temple.
It was alleged but not proved that Yesenia’s brother Antonio Patino, a drywaller by trade, drove Yesenia from Arizona to Mexico the weekend of the murder. Antonio was held on charges of conspiracy, but he denied involvement and cooperated with authorities.
A Mexican jury found Yesenia guilty of murder and she got a 35-year sentence to be served in Mexico.
Dan’s trial took place in Arizona, with Yesenia as the star witness for the prosecution. The story of the religious Dad dallying with the sexy Latina transgendered woman fascinated the public; the courtroom was packed. Yesenia was both demur and flamboyant in her testimony.
Former co-workers of Dan also provided evidence. It came out that Dan had asked his former secretary not only to tell police that he was a wonderful family man but also to threaten another co-worker to not mention Yesenia to authorities.
Dan also tried to float a story that three unidentified Native American men in a black pickup truck had been spotted near the murder scene.
A juror would later say that the blood splatter and circumstantial evidence were so strong that the panel overcame any doubts about Yesenia’s credibility.
Dan was found guilty of murder and conspiracy.
He cried, declared his innocence, and said he loved his wife more than his own life. The theatrics didn’t stop Judge Joseph Howe from sentencing Dan to death.
Forensic Files played some audio with Dan’s side of the postconviction story. He said the justice system had failed him. He referred to Yesenia as a succubus and blamed her for leading him into ruin.
Dan said he had no idea that his 5-foot-5-inch 120-pound lady friend used to be a man.
I believe him.
Around 1997, Yesenia changed her story, saying that she wanted to be at peace with herself by telling the truth: She alone had killed Trish, beating her to death with a mace because she wanted Dan all to herself, she said. During her two-hour deposition, which was tedious, drawn-out, and frequently interrupted by a landline ringer and construction noises, Yesenia’s quiet flamboyance manages to come through. Her answers were often just a word or two said almost inaudibly so a listener would move closer to her. Other times, she leaned in toward the questioners and brushed back her hair coquettishly.
At no time did she look or sound like a drag performer. Her motions might have been a bit affected but not exaggerated.
That doesn’t mean that she was telling the truth about the murder. More than likely, she wanted the opportunity to change out of a prison uniform and into a dress, if only temporarily.
Yesenia’s claims helped win Dan a new trial. He also got the support of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter and his Canadian-based innocence group.
At the second trial, Yesenia reverted to her original story, that both she and Dan plotted the murder.
Dan was found guilty again but got a life sentence instead of the death penalty.
He died of natural causes at the age of 79 at the Arizona State Prison in Florence in 2018. Former mother-in-law Thera Huish died at age 91 in 2022.
Yesenia gave an interview to Snapped in 2005, but the episode isn’t available to stream, and it appears to be her last appearance in the media. If anyone has information about her whereabouts today, please leave a reader comment or email me.
That’s all for this post. Until next time, cheers. — RR
Watch the Forensic Files episode on YouTube.
Typo: “His former mother-in-died” should read “His former mother-in-law died”.
I was wondering how old Dan was when he died. If he was 52 in 1991, and died in 2008, then he must have been about 67 – so quite young still. And he spent maybe only 17 years in prison.
Sorry, just corrected the typo — he died in 2018.