Sometime last year, I started following the story of a young woman who disappeared one day after dropping off her kids for a visit with her estranged husband. She left behind a new job, a boyfriend, and a van full of just bought groceries -- not to mention her two kids (who she just so happened to be fighting vigorously for in the divorce) and family and friends. Her husband swore he had nothing to do with it. Her kids went through hell. Her family, friends and boyfriend scoured the hills for her. Lurid details about her life were leaked to the media -- making her disappearance into more of a movie than a tragedy.
This is not really a unique story -- if it were, what would Dateline do?
But it happened right around the corner from me. And marital woes and emotional abuse between people who used to love each other still hits me a little too close to home. So even though I tried to fight it at first, I was sucked in by the time that the trial started.
And I wasn't the only one.
Every day, the local paper had a blog dedicated to the trial --- with a reporter in the courtroom delivering updates via laptop -- typos included. It turns out there were other people following it and blogging it on different sites. Some from the technical community since the husband was a computer something or other -- so technical no matter how many times I have read about it I cannot tell you what he does.
It was fascinating to see the crazy crap the husband did after the murder to make it seem like he wasn't involved which just made him more guilty. His strange behavior made the entire proceeding seem all the more surreal. No body, seriously disturbed alleged murderer, crazy ex-paramour, strange "memories" from the kids... when the defendant's father took the stand, it made you wonder how the alleged murderer had waited so long to become a murderer... at one point the father left the witness box to do one-handed pushups... yeah, there just isn't any scenario where this would be helpful to the defendant. Oh and then there was the crazy tension between the defendant and his lawyer and the judge ... reading the courtroom blog was like watching really slow moving Law and Order with no resolution.
So, he was convicted and traded his wife's body for the chance to vacate the verdict of first degree murder for second degree murder and the chance for parole -- someday. I am sure it was worth it for the family -- who have now sued him for wrongful death, so there won't be anything left for him to come out of jail to.
For us, though, it means we get the transcript of his confession. It is a morbidly fascinating thirty some rambling pages that reinforce all the impressions we formed of the husband. Almost more interesting though is to be on the inside of the lead detective and prosecutors' minds -- the questions they insist on getting answered belies the true closure they seek. I am not sure if they got it, or how you can ... surely in the back of their minds and deep in their hearts, there was still some hope that she was still alive.
This is not really a unique story -- if it were, what would Dateline do?
But it happened right around the corner from me. And marital woes and emotional abuse between people who used to love each other still hits me a little too close to home. So even though I tried to fight it at first, I was sucked in by the time that the trial started.
And I wasn't the only one.
Every day, the local paper had a blog dedicated to the trial --- with a reporter in the courtroom delivering updates via laptop -- typos included. It turns out there were other people following it and blogging it on different sites. Some from the technical community since the husband was a computer something or other -- so technical no matter how many times I have read about it I cannot tell you what he does.
It was fascinating to see the crazy crap the husband did after the murder to make it seem like he wasn't involved which just made him more guilty. His strange behavior made the entire proceeding seem all the more surreal. No body, seriously disturbed alleged murderer, crazy ex-paramour, strange "memories" from the kids... when the defendant's father took the stand, it made you wonder how the alleged murderer had waited so long to become a murderer... at one point the father left the witness box to do one-handed pushups... yeah, there just isn't any scenario where this would be helpful to the defendant. Oh and then there was the crazy tension between the defendant and his lawyer and the judge ... reading the courtroom blog was like watching really slow moving Law and Order with no resolution.
So, he was convicted and traded his wife's body for the chance to vacate the verdict of first degree murder for second degree murder and the chance for parole -- someday. I am sure it was worth it for the family -- who have now sued him for wrongful death, so there won't be anything left for him to come out of jail to.
For us, though, it means we get the transcript of his confession. It is a morbidly fascinating thirty some rambling pages that reinforce all the impressions we formed of the husband. Almost more interesting though is to be on the inside of the lead detective and prosecutors' minds -- the questions they insist on getting answered belies the true closure they seek. I am not sure if they got it, or how you can ... surely in the back of their minds and deep in their hearts, there was still some hope that she was still alive.
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