We don't have very much violent crime in our town, at least not the kind leading to someone's death. Unfortunately last Sunday (Jan. 16) a local man was killed in his home, in what was an apparent robbery
The perpetrator is in custody. In a strange twist, according to the news story, he injured himself in a fall, and someone called the first responders. He told them that he had killed someone, and directed police to the house. Where there was indeed a dead man lying on the floor. He had died of knife wounds. He was 77 years old, and as it turns out, was a member of our parish. As far as anyone knows, the victim and perpetrator were not known to each other.The deceased man had been away from the church for awhile, but had returned in recent years. A lot of parishioners didn't know him, he had kept a low profile. He attended the early 7:00 a.m. Mass, and kept an hour of perpetual adoration. He had been to Mass the day of his murder, and had done his adoration hour the evening before. He didn't know that this Mass would be his viaticum.
From his obituary he had led an interesting life. Among other things, he belonged to a motorcycle club. Many of his club members came to the funeral to pay their respects. The funeral was held in our parish church. My husband did the committal prayers at the country cemetery where his ashes were buried. He said the wind chill was about 10°.
My boss at work said the perpetrator had been in his daughter's high school graduating class. He had a record of mostly petty crimes, and irrational actions. People guessed that the motive for the robbery was a drug habit. From his picture, that seems likely.
It is tragic that the victim's life was cut short. Hopefully the funeral was able to give his family some comfort. I thought it was touching that his memorial was designated to the local animal shelter. He had two cats, hopefully family members were able to give them a home.
The murder has made us more cautious. I have been careless about locking the door to the house. Now we are being more aware of safety precaustions..
Sad story and no doubt shocking to a rural community. Drug problems are everywhere now. Wish they could have given this fellow all the drugs he wanted if it would have saved this poor man's life.
ReplyDeleteThe closer to home the violent death, the more we feel the shock and horror. In our town, more so in our church or in our neighborhood. And the most horrific of all, when the violent deaths involved members of our own family. We can try to be safe, avoid “ bad” neighborhoods, lock our doors when we are at home. But this violence can strike anywhere, at any time. In our homes, our schools, our places of worship, at the grocery store, the mall.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stanley, maybe providing the drugs to addicts legally might reduce at least some violent deaths. Not all, but maybe some wouldn’t occur. Maybe far fewer drug gang shootings too - if the profits gained from illegal drug trade were eliminated, perhaps much of the violence would be too. I don’t know. Our “ war on drugs” has cost billions and has failed miserably. Maybe a new approach should be considered.
We're fortunate to live in communities where these incidents are few and far between. There are 20-30 shootings within the city limits of Chicago on any given weekend - sometimes many more. It would be rare for the local television station newscasts to go a week without reporting a teen or a child getting shot. Shootings, violence and crime are part of the daily lived experience in some neighborhoods.
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