Delayed Justice

As was her right , Dineane Rochelle Ducharme–convicted of the first-degree murder of her stepfather Roberto Caraballo–appealed. This morning comes the notice that her appeal has been denied.

The case is thoroughly laid out in the document, and while there may have been issues that might have been considered, the three-member Court of Appeals panel–Judges Stephen L. Borrello, James Robert Redford, and Sima G. Patel–ruled unanimously against her.

In preparation to help my contact at Wild Dreams Films make the sale to a broadcast house I have been gathering, preparing, and then sending via WeTransfer some really large video files. It is slow going, seemingly endless (it’s not, I know). I have hours of footage from the making of the film about Janet Chandler then through all the developments, the launch of the cold-case team, the country-wide investigation, the arrests, all the arraignments, the preliminary hearings, the trial, the verdicts, the aftermath…hours and hours. Along the way I’ve begun to tell my contact some of the stories that accompanied my involvement in the case…and I was involved. There is story after story about what we all had to go through to reach a successful conclusion of the case. I saw up close and personal how the investigative team worked–and boy did the members of that team work! There were times they thought they’d have to shut down. The success of the investigation really was down to them: young Michael Jafri, David Van Lopic, Rob Borowski, Roger VanLiere, and Geoffrey Flohr. They were and are heros. (Roger has since walked on; I really miss him.) So, I’m busy.

I have signed a development contract with Wild Dream Films of Cardiff, Wales, to assist as they search out a network that will want the Janet Chandler story. IF–and only if–Wild Dreams succeeds do we go ahead and make a series (of an undetermined number of episodes) to tell as much as possible of the story. Our goal: to tell the truth in love.

When there is real news I’ll let you know. In the meantime, please pray that we go about this in a right way.

It’s time, maybe past time, to tell the true story of the 1979 murder of Janet Chandler. I have held off for many reasons. One was because fitting something like this into a broadcast one or two hour slot really was not a telling of the true story. What would that look like? Can’t tell you that just yet. There are a few production houses that are seriously sniffing. The most important part is the integrity of the process. Those companies already have passed that test and we’ve moved on to other considerations. There will be more–even if it all comes to ashes–in the offing.

Meanwhile, the investigation into the 1970 murder of Shelley Speet Mills is hotting up.

I obviously have missed some things, things like this: Freddie Bass Parker, convicted of first degree felony murder for the killing of Janet Chandler in 1979 and imprisoned for life, died Oct. 28, 2021. That’s darned near three years ago, and it comes to me now. Wow. May God have mercy on his soul. Of all the defendants in the case, I thought he was the least hardened. But still absolutely guilty.

Beverly McCallum had her day in court yesterday for sentencing. She had been found guilty of second-degree murder, a contrivance demanded by the European courts before they’d turn over Beverly for extradition to the U.S. from Italy. Judge Janice Cunningham, while handing down the sentence, said that she found no remorse in Beverly. Her entire life had been built around what she wanted, when she wanted it, anyone else be damned. Most moving was the victim impact statements, the last from her own daughter. As an indicator of her solipsistic nature, Beverly asked the judge if she could just leave and not listen. Nope, this time she had to. Good.

The body of murder victim Roberto Caraballo will be disinterred this morning, all part of getting him home to the Dominican Republic. He has lain in a grave in a Grand Haven Township cemetery for some 20 years, an unknown until the case was broken.

The grave marker given by those associated with the case of the murder of Roberto Caraballo described him as “Known only to God.” Roberto’s body–though he was unidentified–was treated with respect, even love, by those determined to solve this case.

That was then.

Now we know who he is, who he was, and how he met his end. Justice has been achieved with the conviction of Beverly McCallum last week. And now it’s time for Roberto’s body to go home to the Dominican Republic. His beloved daughter Sicily has asked for help to bring him there. Here are the charges:

I know the folks at Sytsema. I’m betting this is below cost. Would you consider a small donation? Or a big one? Roberto has been a stranger in a strange land for too long. This can be remedied. We can do it.

It took the just less than two hours to return a verdict of guilty for Beverly McCallum. I believe justice has now been served. Amen, amen. Micah 6:8 sums up what we are asked: “Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly before your God.”

Oh, my. I have been invited to take part in an interview this evening about 8 p.m. We’ll see. Detective (retired) Bob Donker delivered detailed and clear testimony. I’ll be gone this afternoon, so I’ll miss much.