Delayed Justice

Well.  Very well.  I think.  The auditorium was filled to capacity and people were curious, respectful of Shelley, wanted to be of  help.  The talk was delivered in a way that I’d not done before…using separate video clips as a part of the presentation.  With a film…the filmmaker might make some comments at the beginning, or some at the end, and that would be it.  This way I was able to explain as we went along.  I hope it was helpful to those in attendance, and I hope I was able to address the questions that were within my knowledge and authority to convey.  Nervous?  You bet I was, wanting to do the best I was able, not exactly positive that a nine-year-old laptop would be able to deliver the technology required.  It did, but I fashed about it before hand  (yeah, those Macs…they just don’t last, eh?  Ha!  Oh, me of little faith!).

And there were a couple of leads that came from the audience.  Maybe not big things that would open up the case in a new direction, but we just don’t know.  My pledge always has been that anything that might be of benefit to the investigators would get there ASAP;  I’m not going to sit of knowledge that should by rights be theirs.

So, to those who were there: thank you for taking the time.  And you have my especial thanks for those who prayed for our support in this endeavor.  I really needed it.  The next two days I more or less felt like I’d been through a Veg-o-Matic.  It happens that way sometimes.  I just need to allow it to be as it is and to react as I’m able.  And to know that it was and is the grace of God that holds all this together.

There’s much work ahead.  In the immediate future I have to  complete a project I’ve been working on for a client.  It’s going to be four weeks of heavy editing.  And then I’ll return to the Shannon Siders case.  We’re nearly ready to start editing with that…just three more interviews that I know of.  (There can always be more, I’ve learned.)

The Grand Rapids Public Library has occupied itself this summer with the concepts of Good vs. Evil.  That’s laudable at any time for us to do, I think; the library is taking a look at books and other matters that deal that deal with the subject.  And, so, I was invited to come and present a lecture/film clips dealing with the 1970 murder of Shelley Speet Mills.  Her death was the first in the series of what’s been called the Heritage Hill Murders.

In preparing these last few weeks, I have reflected again and again on the nature of evil.  (Of course, I have been doing that in relation to other murders chronicled here  as well; it’s a question that’s never far away from my attention.)  I have even spoken with friends about a force that would take the life of an innocent victim, and surely Shelley was that.

We were granted access by police to the file of this case, a case  that has for almost 41 years remained unsolved.  Certainly, there is a leading contender as the murderer, but it’s the not knowing with conviction (in both senses of the word)  that has kept this case on the boil.  Grand Rapids Police would very much like to conclude this investigation with a prosecution.

There is a very small but very real possibility that someone knows something about this crime, something that might result in its being solved.  And that’s the whole purpose of our being given access to the file, in pursuing this.

Well, you are certainly invited to the presentation Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. in the second floor auditorium of the Main Branch of the GRPL.  It’s my hope that the preparation will be sufficient, the equipment will operate as it should, that I will keep foremost in mind the victim and the crime, and that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart will be acceptable.

Your prayers would be most welcome…for Shelley and her family, for the police who have worked this case through all the years, and for me as I try to do my best to honor her.  Yes, as I have said often enough before, the manner of her death brings her before my lens, but the real heart of the matter is the manner of her life.

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the murder of Renee Pagel at her Courtland Township Home (Kent County). Chris Crandle, her friend in life and death, has organized a remembrance at the Dutton Cemetery for 7 p.m.

And, add this to the remembrance: the Kent Metro Cold Case Team is taking up the case. Oh, this is good news, too. You can read about it from yesterday’s Grand Rapids Press.  That cold case team has an enviable solve rate and is yet another example of first-rate law personnel for several jurisdictions working together for all the right reasons.  We wish them well.

Last Thursday evening marked the third annual Conqueror’s Support Group Picnic in Grand Rapids.  The group exists to help the families of murder victims in the Grand Rapids area.  They certainly do that…giving the members a safe place to talk about how they really feel during their monthly meetings.  But they also put a face on what happens to families when a loved one is murdered.  And, as Conquerors’ founder Carolyn Priester says of the picnic, it’s a day to remember and be thankful, too.