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The last few weeks for La Palma Police Chief Eric Nunez have been tense. He and his family endured 24-hour protection after being mentioned in Christopher Dorner's manifesto.
Though Dorner praised Nunez, the possibility that the fugitive ex-police officer would reach out to him amid the massive manhunt was ominous.
"My wife was obviously very worried,” Nunez said. “I tried to convince her that it is very unlikely that we would have any contact, but we did make a plan."
In an 11,400-word document published online, Dorner wrote this about Nunez: "You're just an awesome person and my first exposure to what law enforcement was really about."
Karen and Jim Reynolds recall their terrifying ordeal after walking through the front door of their southern California vacation home on Tuesday to find accused murderer Christopher Dorner inside.
Nunez said he was “reeling” trying to make sense of Dorner’s alleged rampage that left four dead, including two law enforcement officials and a newly engaged couple.
Nunez said Dorner was part of the department's police explorer volunteer program while at Kennedy High School and that he would visit once a year.
"The Chris Dorner that I knew back when he was an explorer here and going through college then going through the Navy wouldn't have done the horrendous acts that he did, would not have been the cold-blooded calculated murderer," Nunez said.
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Nunez explained that he had not heard from Dorner for two years until a package was dropped off at his office on Jan. 23. It contained a note explaining that Dorner did not lie during the investigation that led to his dismissal from the LAPD and a video of one of the interrogations.
"I barely had some inclination that he had been terminated or that he was no longer with LAPD but I had no context of the nature of that investigation was or anything," Nunez said.
"I really didn't even know what this was actually about until I read the manifesto," he added.
'Unfathomable'
He said he first read the manifesto when members of the Irvine Police Department arrived to his offices asking him about Dorner. Detectives were investigating the deaths of newly engaged couple Keith Lawrence and Monica Quan, the daughter of a former LAPD captain targeted in Dorner’s manifesto.
After a long manhunt culminating in gunfire and a cabin set ablaze, the search for accused murderer and ex-cop Christopher Dorner seems to have ended. Police say the charred body found inside the cabin was unrecognizable, but they claim there is no doubt their suspect is dead. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.
"It’s unfathomable. Even the first call that I got telling me that I was named in this manifesto and they wanted to talk to me about it and they told me who their suspect is, the Irvine Police Department, and my head is reeling because I am thinking how is that even possible?" Nunez said.
He turned over the package and its contents to the investigators.
Days after Nunez received the package, Dorner allegedly went on a shooting spree that killed Riverside police Officer Michael Crain. Nunez went to Crain’s funeral and, like the entire Southland law enforcement community, is now mourning the loss of two brothers.
San Bernandino Sheriff Detective Jeremiah MacKay was killed this week in a final gunbattle with Dorner before the 33-year old ex-LAPD officer died in a burning cabin in which he barricaded himself.
Two other members of law enforcement were wounded.
But what sets Nunez apart is his connection to Dorner.
"Whatever relief you might feel was [mixed] with deep sadness that came at the cost of another officer’s life," he said. "Everybody that has been touched by this is trying to figure out what went wrong."
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