The first paycheck bounces. And the next. The other workers ask Jesus to complain for them because he speaks English. He complains, but he says he is ignored.

Just before Thanksgiving, Jesus quits. He is one of 19 Hispanic workers who file claims against Prestige Exteriors between August and December of 2003. In all, they seek $38,159 in lost wages.

Florencio Salazar, who files a complaint on Dec. 8, says he worked one month for Prestige without payment.

"They make checks with no funds," he wrote. On top of that, he says taxes were deducted, even though he hadn't filled out a single form.

For Christmas the youngest Hernandez girl gets a plastic doll, the twins get snow boots, and that's it. The next day, a heavy snowstorm knocks the power out on Christie Avenue, and for six days the Hernandez home sits in darkness. Frustration morphs to anger.

On Jan. 9, 2004, Jesus calls the Labor Commission and learns Prestige is disputing his claim. It is the last straw. His wife is so angry she storms to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

"It will be all right, Jas," he tells her through the door.

She turns on the shower to block out his voice.

He drives his daughter to school, then goes to his parents' house and picks up the gun. "I'm going to shoot some cans," he tells his mother. On the way, he stops at the construction site in Lehi. His boss, Joseph Crummy, pulls up and they begin arguing.

Jesus hasn't been in as much as a fight since his teens, but in an inexplicable moment, he charges back to his car, loads the gun, and begins firing. His boss is sitting in the cab of his truck, the window rolled down. In crime scene photos, the truck is riddled with bullet holes. Jesus' 38-year-old boss is slumped over the steering wheel, covered in blood.

Jesus flees, driving north. He stops at the Jordan River and dumps the gun in the icy water. For a moment, he thinks of running, but instead something pulls him home, to his parents' house, where he calls his wife.

"What did you do?" she asks, shaking.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I'm so sorry."

The police find him at his parents' house and he takes them to the river, where they fish the gun from the water.

As he sits in the Utah County Jail awaiting sentencing, another story emerges — that of the victim, who is described as a hard-working and well-meaning father who lacked business sense.

"There was no intent not to pay Mr. Hernandez," friend Mark Gilbert tells the Deseret Morning News. "(The victim) was out 60 to 90 days from contractors not paying him. When you're new in the business, it's tough to handle that."