The love between Frantz and Dejah was a rare one, he said. "Usually it's the mother who has that love. He wanted the best for her," Seglich said.

"It's going to hurt her bad when she discovers he's not around."

Had Frantz had visitation Monday night, it's likely Dejah would have been with him, he said.

Frantz's mother and stepfather were to have joined him and Ellis for dinner at Trolley Square. "They weren't dressed or something like that, so they didn't go," Lunt said.

"I'm glad they didn't go. I really wish Brad didn't go." — Dennis Romboy

· · · · ·

Teresa Ellis

Nathan Ellis talked to his estranged wife three hours before she died. It was an emotional call, he says, one filled with all the exhaustion and angst of two people trying to decide if they were going to divorce after a long separation.

Teresa Ellis, 29, had considered reuniting with the man she'd met in New York eight years ago, and the two were in frequent contact by Nathan's accounts. Teresa Ellis left work at 2 p.m. Monday, buoyed, according to Nathan Ellis, by a big bonus she'd received at work.

The two were living apart, but Teresa called Nathan Ellis shortly after leaving work.

"It is such a blessing that I got to talk to her," said Nathan Ellis, breaking into tears.

"I talked to her three or four hours before she was shot," he recalled Tuesday. "It was tough. We were talking about whether we should finally divorce or who was going to get what, but then it got pretty emotional. She said she loved me, and I told her I loved her and we said we'd talk later."

That conversation with Teresa Ellis provides some of the woman's last sentiments before she was shot just before 7 p.m. in Trolley Square gift shop Cabin Fever.

In that telephone conversation, Teresa Ellis talked about the team of tellers she supervised at work — how proud she was of them and how hard they worked. But mostly the two talked about their future, Nathan Ellis said.

Teresa Blair grew up in Jamestown, N.Y., and Ellis met her there while he was on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Teresa was 21 when she was baptized into the church, and Nathan met her shortly afterward. When his mission was over, he returned to Salt Lake City briefly, then went back to New York, where the two became reacquainted. They were married in June 2001.

Their marriage had hit some rough patches in recent years.