Arthur and Perry March are locked in. Perry's wife, Carmen has been locked out.

SPECIAL SECTION: Perry March Murder Trial

Mexican federal authorities closed down Carmen's restaurant, Media Luna, last week.

VIDEO: Word On The Street (10/23/06)

It was the result of a lawsuit filed by a homeowner's association charging the Media Luna violated a subdivision restriction.

Carmen has placed a "Closed for Remodeling" sign on a corrugated security cover over the restaurant's doorway blocking out the seal placed on the front door by federal authorities.

Before Perry was hustled out of Mexico and into a Nashville jail, he and his wife opened and owned the Media Luna restaurant in Chapala.

Then Arthur was kicked out of Mexico and flown to Nashville to face criminal charges.

That pretty well left Carmen alone to run the restaurant and take care of her four children, one by Perry March.

I'm told Carmen had a flair at the restaurant for international food, although her specialty was baking.

She had learned it from a man called "Muffin Tom" at a local open air market, before she met and married Perry, people in town say.

A Mexican attorney tells me that the La Floresta Homeowners Association brought the lawsuit three and a half years ago and that a judge ruled in the homeowner association's favor.

The restaurant was on a highway connected to property owned by the association.

For whatever reason, March never paid any attention to the judge's decision and continued to operate the Media Luna., the lawyer explained.

Hard times fell on Carmen after Perry was brought to Nashville.

She and her children gave up their Mexican-style hacienda, and then moved to two rooms above the restaurant.

Back in June, members of the Little Chapel by the Lake Church, where Carmen and her children attended, sent e-mails to church members saying her business "has dropped off tremendously in the last few weeks due to publicity about Perry."

The e-mail asks members to encourage eating at the Media Luna and save a family.

There's no word on how Carmen's will survive.