March 25, 2006, was going to be a day of celebration for several New Hampshire families. Marilyn Gates and her husband, Don, along with their good friends Gene Cordes, his wife Beverly Brooks, and their 17-year-old son, Griffin Cordes, had traveled from New Hampshire to the DFW area for a wedding. Marilyn and Don were just weeks shy of their own 30th wedding anniversary.

The El Paso County Attorney allots significant resources to prosecuting criminal deceptive business practice cases. Most cases involve home remodelers, pool companies, and landscapers who do not provide the services that consumers pay for. While the sums involved are often small, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars are at stake.

Remember Bram Stoker’s Dracula, where Count Dracula is finally done in by the Professor Abraham Van Helsing gang? There, Van Helsing and his band of vampire hunters finally pursued Dracula back to Transylvania. They chased down and cornered him. Armed with knives (not really wooden stakes), Jonathan Harker and Quincy Morris decapitated Dracula and impaled his heart. Dracula’s body then crumbled to dust.

The Whitaker family enjoyed their last meal together at Pappadeaux restaurant in Stafford on December 10, 2003. Kent and Patricia Whitaker’s oldest son, Bart, 24, was graduating from Sam Houston State University that weekend. Before leaving for the restaurant, Patricia, 51 and Kent, 54, had presented Bart his graduation gift: a Rolex watch.

The Whitaker family enjoyed their last meal together at Pappadeaux restaurant in Stafford on December 10, 2003. Kent and Patricia Whitaker’s oldest son, Bart, 24, was graduating from Sam Houston State University that weekend. Before leaving for the restaurant, Patricia, 51 and Kent, 54, had presented Bart his graduation gift: a Rolex watch.

The Whitaker family enjoyed their last meal together at Pappadeaux restaurant in Stafford on December 10, 2003. Kent and Patricia Whitaker’s oldest son, Bart, 24, was graduating from Sam Houston State University that weekend. Before leaving for the restaurant, Patricia, 51 and Kent, 54, had presented Bart his graduation gift: a Rolex watch.