Selena's Secret: The Revealing Story Behind Her Tragic Death

María Celeste Arrarás

Simon and Schuster, Mar 3, 2015 - Biography & Autobiography - 256 pages

20th Anniversary Edition
An intimate and investigative portrait of beloved Mexican American singer Selena Quintanilla’s murder by Emmy Award-winning journalist María Celeste Arrarás. Now with a new foreword and afterword by the author for the 20th Anniversary Edition.

There is no doubt that Yolanda Saldívar pulled the trigger and killed Tejano superstar Selena Quintanilla Pérez on March 31, 1995. But does anyone know what really happened in Room 158 of the Days Inn, moments before the crime took place? María Celeste Arrarás has many answers, and her unrivaled coverage of the murder, trial, and aftermath made her the undisputed expert on the Selena case. Arrarás shares firsthand information about the crime and the people involved—including details of her headline-making jailhouse interview with Yolanda, who repeatedly spoke of “Selena’s secret”—a powerful hidden piece of information that she refused to divulge in the courtroom but revealed to Arrarás at length. Many questions were raised, and not all were answered until this revealing interview shed light on the crime.

Why was there a suitcase filled with Selena’s clothes at the murder scene? What was the significance of the jeweled ring, adorned with the initial S that fell from Selena’s bloody fist? Who was the doctor from Monterrey who called himself Selena’s confidant and business adviser? Selena’s Secret fits together the pieces of this puzzle and depicts what really happened on that rainy day in March.

Contents

• A Star Has Died: 3
• Special Coverage: 13
• Selena: 38
• Yolanda Saldívar: 53
• The Corpus Christi Hearings August 1995: 71
• Waiting: 85
• The Trial October 1995: 95
• The Interview with Yolanda Saldívar November 1995: 161
• Ready to Broadcast the Interview: 182
• Abraham Quintanilla Responds December 1995: 187
• Tying Up Loose Ends Summer 1996: 201
• The Secret: 210
• Against All Odds: 213
• Afterword for the 20th Anniversary Edition: 219

About the author

María Celeste Arrarás is a three-time Emmy Award–winning broadcast journalist, author, and television personality. She is the host and managing editor of Telemundo’s Al Rojo Vivo con María Celeste that airs nationally in the US and in fifteen Latin American countries. She has been a guest cohost on NBC’s Today Show and appeared on the cover of Newsweek’s “20 Most Powerful Women of the Next Generation.” Arrarás is also the author of an inspirational autobiography, Make Your Life Prime Time, and a children’s book, The Magic Cane. She lives in Miami with her three children.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Selena's Secret: The Revealing Story Behind Her Tragic Death
• Author: María Celeste Arrarás
• Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 2015
• ISBN: 1476766053, 9781476766058
• Length: 256 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Editors, Journalists, Publishers; Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts; Biography & Autobiography / General; True Crime / Murder / General