Stores pull tabloids with Selena autopsy photos

South Texas retailers quickly yanked copies of the Globe from store shelves after discovering the tabloid had printed photos from Tejano star Selena's autopsy.

Six color pictures snapped by a police photographer from the autopsy of 23-year-old Selena Quintanilla-Perez were in the Nov. 14 issue delivered to local stores Tuesday morning.

"After reviewing the contents, the decision was made to pull the magazine from all our stores," said Mike De La Garza, spokesman for the H-E-B grocery chain of 220 stores.

Officials of Maverick Market and Circle K stores also said managers were told to pull the publication from store shelves Tuesday afternoon.

"It's just in consideration for the family," said Brian Mitchell, a spokesman for Coastal Corp. in Houston, which owns Maverick Market. The company has 120 stores in South Texas.

"It's obviously out of respect for them. It's just not anything you would want for your daughter.

"The unfortunate thing is, before we found out, many had already sold out. So there weren't too many left."

The article was headlined: "Shot in the Back!" and "Exclusive! Dramatic autopsy photos reveal innocent beauty was gunned down by lying coward."

Selena was fatally shot March 31 at a Corpus Christi motel by former fan club president Yolanda Saldivar.

The two women had been arguing over charges by Selena's family that Ms. Saldivar had embezzled more than $30,000 from the singer's boutiques.

A Houston jury last month convicted Ms. Saldivar, 35, of murder in connection with the slaying and sentenced her to life imprisonment.

Abraham Quintanilla Jr., Selena's father, said the Globe photo spread sickened him.

"I'm definitely going to see what legal rights we have," he said. "This has gone far enough."

Selena's mother, Marcella Quintanilla, said she was stunned when she saw a televised report about the Globe photo spread.

"I'm very upset. I just saw it on the news. I wasn't aware of it. It was very upsetting," she said.

Globe Vice President Terry Raskyn, reached by phone in New York, said someone in Corpus Christi approached the magazine with the photos.

"We didn't have to beat the bushes for them. In general, we don't have to beat the bushes for anything," Ms. Raskyn said.

She refused to say if the magazine paid for the photos, and she defended their publication.

"We write and publish for a nationwide audience," she said. "There were no cameras in the courtroom, and the rest of the nation did not get widespread media coverage like you did in San Antonio."