SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio Realtor Janice Tisdale said the recent conviction of her attacker, 63-year-old Emilio Maldonado, for aggravated robbery should send a message: "Don't mess with Realtors."
She said Maldonado has begun serving a 60-year prison sentence.
Tisdale said it took the jury less than 20 minutes to decide Maldonado's fate for bashing her on the head with a metal rod Dec. 23, 2010, on the porch of a million-dollar home.
High school heroes who were driving by came to her rescue, leading to Maldonado's arrest.
"They were my angels," Tisdale said.
She said testimony revealed Maldonado was not the wealthy client she was led to believe, but rather a truck driver living with his parents on the West side of San Antonio.
Tisdale said she always wondered why that day he demanded a specific amount of money.
"I kept telling him, 'Don't kill me for $4,000. It's not going to change your life,'" Tisdale said. "He kept saying, ‘Yes, it will. Yes, it will.'"
She said Maldonado told the court he had needed to the money to pay off a debt incurred over tickets that were owed.
Tisdale said her harrowing account of that day was posted on YouTube by the San Antonio Board of Realtors as a lesson for others. She said it has been recognized by the Texas Association of Realtors as the best safety video of the year.
She said her mistake was not listening to her instincts.
"I knew there was something wrong but I stayed there," Tisdale said.
Otherwise, she said her husband and her office both knew where she was that day.
However, Tisdale said she was unable to dial her cell phone during the confrontation.
Tisdale now urges real estate agents and others working in sales offices to have their phones handy, never park in the driveway, and to let their clients go first.
"A better choice is to take someone with you," Tisdale said. "My husband goes with me a lot of times now."
Tisdale said her best piece of advice, "When the hair on the back of your neck stands up, listen to yourself, to your inner self."
She said she still feels "a little bit of fear" when showing a vacant house to a stranger.
Tisdale said real estate agents should not hesitate terminating a possible sale if they feel unsafe.
"It's really not about the almighty dollar," Tisdale said. "It's about your life."