Hi, welcome to my new blog.
I am new to this, this is my first attempt at writing a blog. So if you see a mistake or a problem, be kind please. Just look over it, as I am still learning. And I can be a slow learner sometimes.
If you came to this site looking for decorating ideas and tips for organizing your closets, you might be disappointed. But if you came hoping to see what reality is like, settle in, cause it is going to be a bumpy ride.
Let’s look behind those nice drapes in the windows.
What I plan to write about is- what is going on behind those decorating problems, things like some people’s realities.
This is a Crime Blog. Real Crime. Real People. Real Tragedies. There are many crime blogs out there. But I am going to pretty much limit myself to domestic violence. What I hope to do is document those crimes that hit closest to home. Domestic Violence.
Domestic Violence is one of the most puzzling of crimes. It is often ongoing, with the victims and perpetrators entwined so closely in the situation, that it can be very difficult to help a victim get out of a situation.
Domestic Violence is often thought of as being a problem between a husband and wife, but in this blog I will be covering a wider range as the stories present themselves. I will be including any type of violence that occurs between members of the same household. That may be physical abuse, sexual abuse, murders, whatever I see out there. Some of the stories may be pretty horrific, so bring your kleenexes and something to settle your stomach.
Hopefully we will all learn from my blog. Things like the fact that domestic violence doesn’t just happen in poor neighborhoods. Or to other peoples families. It can happen to anyone, any family. Poor home or nice home, it happens. The abuser may be a criminal or a community leader. It may start as a little shove, but can easily escalate to a hospital visit or even to murder. It may start as an unusual closness to a child and escalate to molestation or rape.
Most people know at least one person who is currently being abused or has been abused in the past. If you don’t know anyone like that, you are lucky. If you do know someone currently being abused, I will eventually be adding links for places where you can learn more about the problems and solutions. And good luck.
Home Sweet Home 
Nrrrdy Grrrl said,
November 2, 2006 at 1:36 am
KEEP GOING! Actually, you know, when I’m not doing the things you know me for, I am a journalist. Well, okay, a Rock Critic, but anyway, I write. And in my pro opinion, you have the stuff. You ever thought about writing true crime professionally? I only know about that area of journalism from a fan point of view, but I have a background in book critiquing and you could kick a lot of asses that are getting published in the field. I also wondered if you’d considered reviewing True Crime books on the site- just because I think you have the talent and also, it’s a way to get books free- LOTS OF THEM. If any of that interests you, I really encourage you to think seriously about it.
just the facts said,
November 21, 2006 at 5:24 am
it sad that you had to take down the “theyreconciled” blog.
it was 1 of the few if not only place that some of the true facts were getting out. Not the family spun media stories that are being listed every where.
i appreciate that you allowed us to discuss this on your blog site, i just hope the family did not intimidate you like they did other blogs to keep the information controlled.
again thank you
ForeverSad said,
November 21, 2006 at 8:56 pm
Did they remove us because of Patrick’s comments? Too bad, because even though we didn’t agree, it helped to talk it over with others who cared. Take care.
Becky J said,
December 11, 2006 at 9:59 pm
All i can say is God Bless You!!!!! I have never found a site like this before, somewhere where the truth is told, even if its not what you want to read!! I wish i woulda had access to this during my domestic situation, I count myself so very lucky, i left my husband of 3 years in June of 2000, scared and even tho i wasnt alone i felt that way, and because of some wonderful people in my town, our local domestic violence shelter,i learned how to deal with it and come to terms with the fact that i didnt deserve what happened to me, even tho i didnt need to reside at the shelter they helped me with counseling myself and my son, and supported me thru it all, stood by my side during court procedings and spoke for me when i just couldnt quit crying long enuf to speak for myself. Recently i had a friend leave a domestic marriage, and helped her go thru the steps that helped me get better, and thru that became so angry with the way the victims are treated by our local law enforcement, nothing had changed in 6 years, the police here, women officers included, outright blamed the victim, refused on several occasions to take police reports, and refused on several occasions to accompany her to obtain her things from there home. It was sickening, Once one of the officers said “I have better things to do than this, you women do this whenever you get mad at your boyfriends and i get drug in the middle of it” Well thru some research i decided that they had no right to do or say those things so i started yelling, i wrote a long letter to the editor of our local paper, went to the assistant police chief demanding better treatment and basically saying that if it didnt change for my friend i was going to make it a public situation, and i have recently helped resurrect the domestic violence awareness commitee at my local hospital as i am an RN in the ICU there, its been a commitee there for a long time but no meetings have been held in over 5 years, we brought in the community educator from the domestic shelter and in October did education for the management and in Feb and March we have 9 meeting times set up for education with the rest of the staff, and eventually i would like to open it up to the community. Recently i was asked by the person at the shelter who does education of advocates if i would like to take that training so im set to do that after the first of the year. And then if my friend going thru it wasnt enuf to get things going, i recently lost a friend/coworker to domestic violence, Dianne Crouse you wrote about her story in November, she was stabbed to death by her husband, she was a nurse with me at the local hospital before her and her husband moved to Arizona, that has definatly hit home in our hospital because her husband had also been employeed there as a paramedic in the ER. Anyways i have totally turned this little blog into a huge story, im sorry, i just want to thank you for starting this sight, i have turned many others on to it since comming across it after Dianne was murdered, it has helped me deal with that and with a lot of my own feelings i thought were already fixed. Keep up the Great work!!!!!!! Your Friend Becky Josin RN
homesweethome said,
December 11, 2006 at 10:37 pm
Recovering from domestic violence and the resultant emotions is an ongoing battle. It sounds as though you are well on your way to recovery.
Education is definately needed for the helping agencies- law enforcement, hospitals, doctors, courts and etc. Thank you for becoming a voice at your workplace and in your community. And I think that one of the best ways for that education to be provided, is for not only the domestic violence agencies, but also for the surviving victims to speak out, bringing attention to the problem and talking about the related issues. So thank you for what you are doing.
Becky J said,
January 23, 2007 at 11:03 am
Hi again Home, i just wanted to update you on a few things going on with my committee at work, we start our education with the rest of the staff on Feb 19th, i was able to organize a self defense class for hospital staff taught by a local sheriff in March, and this weekend i start my advocate classes, and i must say that i am so excited to be doing those classes, it is ranking right up there with the birth of my son (almost 18 years ago) and my graduation from nursing school in 1993, as being one of my greatest accomplishments. I am going to ask for your advise on a project that i am starting to put together for this years domestic violence awareness month, i am putting together a sort of scrapbook on domestic violence situations that have happened in Iowa starting from last October ending in October 2007 it will be displayed on our awareness booth from October 1st thru October 31st, i get my local paper and the Des Moines paper but i was wondering how i would go about getting things online? I am pretty compute illeterate LOL, and i thought maybe you could tell me what i needed to do. Again thank you for everything you do
homesweethome said,
January 23, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Becki, okay if I email you?
becky J said,
January 24, 2007 at 6:57 am
yes definatly my email address is bush_rn2002@yahoo.com
Becky J said,
February 4, 2007 at 5:35 am
Hi home, i was just wondering if you heard about the domestic violence situation in my home town of Fort Dodge, Iowa. It happened right before the time you started your blog, it was involving a 22 year old single mother, very beautiful outgoing girl who seemed to be very well liked by everyone, i personally didnt know her. On Jan 8th of 2006 in the very early morning, there was a call to a house on fire, upon the fire dept arriving they went in to c if there were any people trapped and the firefighter heard screams comming from the basement, he worked his way down there to find this young girl, Holly Michael, tied to a pole in the basement, she was alert, extremely burnt, they managed to get her out of the house and to the local ER where they realized that she was severely burnt, to the bone in some areas, the ER staff began working to save her and the Doctor that day asked her what happened to her, somehow managing to live to tell her story, she told him that Sessions Harper had raped her, drug her down to the basement, tied her to the pole with phone cord, wrapped her in a blanket, secured it to her, doused it with paint thinner and gasoline, and set her on fire, went and proceeded to set a few other fires upstairs and then left the house, She managed to live until January 26th of 2006, in a burn unit, they had to amputate both arms up to the shoulders as infection had set in, she lost her battle and died with her family surrounding her, her son was only 2 i believe. This was done by a man she had been known to have dated, im unsure of all the details of there relationship. I grew up with Sessions Harper, he has been in and out of prison for raping and beating women, he is feared by most in this town, he has followers/supporters, whatever you want to call them. He went to trial a few weeks ago, ironically, exactly a year to the day that Holly died, the trial ended yesterday Feb 2nd 2007, the jury deliberated for only 2and a half hours before deciding the verdict, he was found guilty on 4 counts, First degree murder, First degree sexual assult, First degree kidnapping, and First degree arson. Sentencing wont be for several months i guess, but i honestly believe that because of the fear that that man instilled on everyone that crossed his path no one would ever have told on him if they knew they were going to live, but Holly, i think knew, she was going to die, she had nothing to fear as far as retaliation from him, so she forced herself to live long enuf to name her killer and tell exactly what he did to her so that no one else would ever have to be hurt by him ever again.
sorry this was so long but i thought you would be interested in this even tho it happened after you started your blog, it is definatly the most horrific display of domestic violence i have ever heard in my life.
homesweethome said,
February 4, 2007 at 6:14 am
Becky, I vaguely remembered the names but not the details as I hadn’t caught up on the case. But with your prompting I took a look. It certainly was one of the more horrendous ones.
But what stands out the most to me is his history:
“Harper had been previously convicted of sexual assault in 1989 and was imprisoned until 2003. He was also charged with kidnapping for that incident, a crime that carries up to life in prison, but that charge was dropped.”
http://www.messengernews.net/News/articles.asp?articleID=6980
They had him for life and plea bargained it away. I hate it when they drop the most serious charges and only prosecute the lesser ones. They could have dropped the sex assault charges and prosecuted the kidnapping. Had they done so, he would never have been out to commit the crime.
Becky J said,
February 4, 2007 at 3:31 pm
exactly, and another thing that wasnt ever brought up is that he spent many of his teenage years in and out of detention centers for those exact same things, rape, kidnapping etc, but they have make it so your record is sealed after you turn 18, and he and i are the same age so he was only 19 when he was imprisoned the first time, which means he had only been out of detention less than a year before repeating the same crimes as an adult!! This horrible ordeal that Holly went through was totally preventable. So many things should be learned from this as far as laws so that history doesnt repeat itself by other vicious abusers.
homesweethome said,
February 4, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Unfortunately the court system doesn’t seem to learn. Repeatedly the greater crimes are dropped or reduced in plea bargains, lesser sentences are given, and then with parole….many times convicted criminals serve less than 1/3 of their original sentences. You would think that the more violent the crime, the more the sentence would be adhered to. But that isn’t so, and esp. not in domestic violence crimes.
Becky J said,
February 5, 2007 at 5:03 am
so true, and another thing i forgot to say in my last comment was when the trial began the defenses opening arguements stated that “they had an intimate relationship” or something to that affect, which only goes to prove that domestic violence regardless of how hanous the crime is downplayed because they were in a relationship!! In other words they were trying to say that her murder wasnt as bad of a crime since they were “intimate”!!!! what the hell is that? so it made it better cuz she wasnt just some random person he chose to torture and murder?? i dont get it…it frustrates me to the point i want to scream sometimes. i wonder sometimes what this world is comming to. thats why i think your site is so wonderful, it tells the whole ugly truth, and maybe someday someone with the influence enuf to change it will read this and decide to take action.
homesweethome said,
February 5, 2007 at 5:14 am
That is how the myth that it is a “couple’s problem” stays alive. The implication is that since he didn’t go out and target a stranger, that the public is safe- even if she is dead.
Becky J said,
February 5, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Thats so terrible. I said, to everybody, that this case was either going to make or break this town when it comes to reporting domestic violence related things because if he wouldve been found not guilty i think it wouldve made victims even more reluctant to report there issues, but now that he was found guilty i think we are going to see many more issues being reported, i hope that is true, because it might make people trust the judicial system a little more than they do right now.
gtwl said,
May 2, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Hi, can I add the link to you’r blog on my blog page please?
homesweethome said,
May 2, 2007 at 9:46 pm
I would be pleased if you would. But I do have a condition, LOL. May I post your link?
gtwl said,
May 3, 2007 at 12:07 am
of course you may http://gtwl.wordpress.com
Also my myspace that I will be linking to this site is
http://www.myspace.com/RememberingDestiny
In case you need it.
I have to say I’m impressed this site is HUGE. It has grown so much. I see a LOT of dedication and time put in.
I’m still trying to learn to add pages, and to re-read and chack for spelling errors.
Thanks I’ll “see you around” more often I guess.
homesweethome said,
May 3, 2007 at 12:49 am
Thank you gtwl. If you need any help email me and I can check to see if I know how.
gtwl said,
May 3, 2007 at 12:55 am
no problem, BTW, it’s Holly~Brenda Greenwood’s sister (Jan. 1 2007)
bigpumpkin said,
May 18, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Thank you for this. It is often an unspoken subject here in Asia, yet is very real. I know someone who is getting hit by her partner, a respectable Doctor. Only when he is drunk (8x in a year so far). I’m not sure what advise to give her but I have told her that if it happens one more time, I am pulling her out. Unfortunately, this may also mean she may not tell me anymore.
I’m linking you if that’s OK? I’d like to increase awareness down here.
Pat said,
May 18, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Thank you for your dedication to fighting domestic violence. I represent the Sisters of St. Joseph who along with the Adorers of the Blod of Christ have operated a transional housing program for 11 years. We have 9 homes and eight aprartments where women and their children can live for up to two years while they become self-sufficient and free from abuse.
As those who know about domestic violence we are only meeting part of the demand. During our last operning for housing, we had 17 shelter applicats for one opening. We are working hard to add more housing so we can serve additional women and children.
The link below might be of interest to this who visit this blog. My son is working to raise $15,000 for StepStone, by competing in the Florida Ironman this November. If you would be so kind as to pass this site on to others, we can do more to help survivors of dv, they are our success stroies. To date StepStone has served over 500 women and children. Thank you.
https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=211411&supid=103690360
gtwl said,
June 23, 2007 at 11:32 pm
hey hon sadly I have 2 new “stories” for you….sadly when I see a new tragedy I automatically think of my pain then your blog, hand in hand
heres the links
http://www.comcast.net/news/national/index.jsp?cat=DOMESTIC&fn=/2007/06/23/697522.html&cvqh=itn_charged
and
http://www.comcast.net/news/national/index.jsp?cat=DOMESTIC&fn=/2007/06/23/697617.html
Lady said,
August 20, 2007 at 4:10 pm
I was wondering if you had ever heard about the double-murder suicide in Gibson County, Indiana, back around three or four years ago. No body around here talks about it, except in passing. It was my uncle and cousin and her husband. I am tired of the paper talking about it as though it was horrible and blah blah blah because they don’t know what really happened. I’ve written about it before, but I will have to do another entry about it sometime in the future. If you could find any information on it, it would be helpful. It is listed with Joseph Sutton as the murderer. Brandi and Jeff Boes were the two killed.
Robert J. Bullock said,
August 30, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Hi! I just started a blog a few weeks ago about anger management. It’s meant to help people deal with anger issues. It’s located at:
http://www.endofanger.com
I see that your site is concerned with issues of domestic violence. Helping offenders and victims deal with anger is relevant, I believe, so if you feel like adding our blog to your list of external sites, I would truly appreciate it. Thank you!
LTR said,
September 25, 2007 at 4:22 pm
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/24/missing.woman.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch
This one is about a young lady missing,feared harmed. She had recently been threatened by her exboyfriend.
LTR said,
September 27, 2007 at 5:30 pm
Update on the Franklin case……
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/27/missing.woman.ap/index.html
LTR said,
October 2, 2007 at 6:33 pm
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/02/kids.drowned.ap/index.html
Another one, the mother is the suspect and the victim of domestic violence.
Also, keep doing what you do. I have been reading for a while now. I just figured out how to post to your comment section.
🙂 LTR
Holly Peters said,
October 27, 2007 at 1:38 pm
This is an update on the Sessions Harper case……
Sessions was convicted of all accounts and was sentenced to 3 consecutive life sentences plus 25 years so he will never get out of prison!!! I knew both Holly and Sessions and Holly was a friendly, outgoing, generally nice person. Sessions on the other hand was not a nice man. A group of us used to ride motorcycles and sometimes he would join us. No one wanted him there and we would usually leave him so he had to be by himself. I personally was not afraid of this man even though I knew what he was like. I knew he was and still is a coward and this made me not afraid of him. He had no friends no one to talk to him and thats the way it should be. When you live like he does you deserve everything you get. I was ecstatic to hear he would die in prison and no one has to go through what Holly went through ever again at the hands of this evil person.
Ella said,
March 31, 2008 at 9:02 am
I see that no one has posted in the Sessions Harper case for awhile, but I would like to point out a few things. First off, Sessions was often abused as a child. When he was younger he would come to school with burns(gasp!) from boiling water, which was his mother’s most common punishment. Sessions was beat and punished often, even in elementary school. I’m in no way trying to defend him, but being a victim a molesetation/abuse, I understand the struggle. In Fort Dodge, he is often called a monster, but when you are treated as a monster, is only seems logical that you will act that way.
Also, I would like to give people the image of the “other” Holly. Holly had a son by (gasp again!) a convicted child molester. Holly had invited Sessions over for a fun night of drinking and coke binging (yes Cocaine..). Holly did this even though she had a beautiful two year old son. Holly was not in a relationship with Sessions at the time of the murder, he was acutally married, and happened to stay out all night with a few girls at Holly’s house. Every one in Fort Dodge knows Sessions past, yet Holly had chose to be around this guy while he was completely intoxicated by a dangerous mix of a stimulant (coke) and depressent(alcohol).
Again, I am in no way defending Sessions, but I really hate the ignorant comments. “I was ecstatic to hear he would die in prison and no one has to go through what Holly went through ever again at the hands of this evil person.” ~~ Holly Peters. Please get the whole story before thinking/saying such harsh things. The reality is his mother and her paramours should have been the ones punished for their acts, Sessions was a youth who never got a chance. Becuase of his acts, he was often sent to detention, not treatment.
Nonetheless, my other point was that, even though that no victim deserves their fate, but alot of “victims” don’t have to be a victim. Holly shouldn’t have invited a serial rapist in to her home to do an illegal and powerful substance with, ESPECIALLY when she has a 2yr old son. Imagine what that child (Aden) will go through. His father is in prison for molesting a 14yr old, and his mother is dead from doing a coke binge with a rapist, and suprisingly (not so much) it went bad! So much for breaking the cycle…
homesweethome said,
March 31, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Ella, I am sorry for how Sessions grew up. And yes, how he may have been abused may have contributed to what happened. But at some point Sessions grew up. He began making adult choices. And he chose to kill.
I have yet to see a victim who was absolutely perfect. Though some have come close. But another thing I have never seen is a victim who “deserved” what happened to them. Holly may have made some bad choices, most people do at some points in their lives… but I don’t believe there is a law that says those choices should recieve a death penalty. And who knows what would have happened in Holly’s future or how she might have chosen to live her future life…if she was allowed to live. But she was not “allowed” to live. Someone else chose to end her life, end her future, end her possibility for change. And from what you say, that person who “chose” to end her life was as guilty of the same offenses as she was.
Regardless of the choices that Holly may have made in her life, she was loved. Others were hurt by her loss. And they may have a right to be angry about the shock of her violent death. If their anger offends you, I am sorry. But do not blame them for their anger, blame the one who chose to end their loved ones life.
Trey said,
March 31, 2008 at 6:54 pm
HSH, I agree with your response completely. To go one step further, even if nobody had loved the deceased, killing her was a crime! That to me is the most salient fact, that she was murdered.
Trey
Myra Spearman said,
April 24, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Thank you, My name is Myra Spearman and I am a Past Victim of Domestic Violence. In my suffering and pain, I created The Weaker Vessel, Inc. A National On-line Database of Domestic Violence Abusers. Please visit my site at:
http://www.domesticviolencedatabase.org
We are a non-profit organization, in need of volunteers and donations…
Myra Spearman said,
April 24, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Hi: My name is Myra Spearman and I am a past victim of domestic violence. After the pain and suffering, I created, The Weaker Vessel, Inc. which is A National On-Line Database of Domestic Violence Abusers.
Please visit: http://www.domesticviolencedatabase.org
Alexandra Snyder said,
June 23, 2008 at 3:17 pm
My name is Alexandra Snyder; I am the Content Editor at HealthCare.com. I’ve been reading your blog, Home Sweet Home, and was really impressed by the content. I would like to invite you to feed your blog to our blog community.
We have a growing community of bloggers, health care seekers and care providers, and are one of the top online health destinations in the U.S. We currently receive millions of visitors each month! By feeding your blog to our site you will expose your posts and work to the millions of users in our network since each post is featured on our homepage. This is a great way to increase traffic for your existing blog or website and gain notoriety.
Best of all, it’s simple, no need to write a separate blog or leave your current blog site. You would simply create an account at http://blogs.healthcare.com and feed your content. Please feel free to contact me if you need help setting up your blog feed, I will be glad to help you.
Have a great day!
Becky J said,
June 25, 2008 at 8:48 am
Ella- I can not believe the comment you put on here, Holly should NOT have died at the hands of that MONSTER, yes i said it again, because that is what he was, it is what HE chose to be, regardless of how he grew up, he chose to be the way he was, i grew up with that monster, he had brothers and sisters, they’ve never killed anyone. You say you are not “defending what he did” but all you do in your comment is make excuses for why he was the way he was, and degrade Holly for how she was, you have it backwards, she made a mistake, she probably made a few in her life, havnt you?? I have, several, as a matter of fact, she didnt deserve to die any more than you or i or anyone else who have made some bad choices. If she were your daughter would you still feel the way you do? I’d bet my life you wouldnt. As far as Sessions goes, he never learned from his mistakes, he got worse, he chose to kill a woman after raping her, he set her on fire, she lived long enuf to tell her story, she lay in a burn unit for days, having both arms amputated then dying of burns that caused infection. so again Ella, would you still feel the same way if she were your daughter and died at his hands??
Rj said,
July 11, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Hi, I am a fairly new blogger (though not new to writing) who manages several sites. I have just created a blog, Randi James, specifically for domestic violence. Please check me out. I am glad to have found yours.
Rj said,
July 26, 2008 at 8:13 pm
I meant to ask if you wanted to blog roll/link exchange. There are few d.v. blogs around.
Sheila Ellenbogen said,
January 6, 2009 at 4:15 am
I wanted to ask if you would consider taking down the post pertaining to me and I’ll explain why I am asking. While I can face the consequences of my behavior, I have two nieces and two nephews that carry my last name. My oldest nephew is 10 and is using the computer for homework. While he understands what happened as best a boy his age can, he is a sensitive. I hate to think if he were to read anything more than he needs to when he is with his friends or in a situation when he is unable to discuss the matter with an adult.
I hope that someone writing a blog about harm would see the damage that may come. If it helps, please keep the story about me just use a different last name. I obviously cannot hide reality from him or the rest of the children in my family but I thought I might ask you to remove the story so it isn’t something that comes up by simply keying in his last name.
Thank you for thinking about it. I wish you the best.
Sincerely,
Sheila
HauptguhFup said,
April 19, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Очень полезно
William B said,
December 1, 2009 at 9:23 am
As a friend of Holly, I was kind of offended about reading the part about them being in a “relationship”.I do however, appreciate you informing other people about this story, and I feel that blogs like this are really good for society in general. As far as the case goes, the defense had nothing to go off of so they tried to make it sound as if he had no reason to rape her. Ultimately meaning that he had no reason for murdering her. Her best friend was the one that was in a relationship with him. I know it’s been almost 4 years since this happened, but I just wanted to clarify things a little.
I am also very frustrated about the fact that he was released from the prison system with so many violent crimes on his record. Iowa has got to start opening their eyes when it comes to laws. There are people serving longer sentences for possession of small amounts of marijuana that have never committed a violent crime. Sure would be nice to have that room saved for people that commit such horrible acts of violence as this horrible excuse of a man has. There are people that are still trying to deal with the damage that he has done to their lives. When is enough going to be enough? How about 5 years ago? I miss my friend. Thanks for letting me vent a little of my frustration.
~Namaste
Debbie said,
February 13, 2010 at 12:57 am
I ended up finding this searching for a memorial site for Holly since I knew that the anniversary of her death had passed and was hoping some new pictures of Avery would be up. I found none so I hope that her friends understand we are indeed still thinking of her and her son.
My mother in law is a dear friend of Hollys’ parents and had asked me to attend the sentencing part of the hearing with her, as she had sat with them through the whole trial and I think it was wearing on her heart. I can say with all honesty that twenty feet away is the closest I ever want to come to a monster like that EVER. Being an outlet to her made me more than well aware of each excruciating day that Holly endured til she finally found some peace. There is so much hurt and anguish in this story that the entirety of the whole of it would bring the public to its knees in an outcry for the death penalty should it have been expressed fully.
A prime example of this is in his statements made prior to his sentencing …… He looked straight at her parents and had the balls to call Holly a liar. As he proclaimed his innocence he explained to them that he could not understand why she would lie about him at that point and almost accused her of being a woman scorned. As if she was so desperate for his affections that on her death bed she made a final attempt to get back at him for not finding fancy with her. It could have been my interpretation because of my personal disdain for this man, but he seemed to find pleasure in his evil smiling eyes at being able to face them. It was so beyond sickening to listen to, that many of us in the back of the courtroom turned our backs on him and faced the wall because he wasn’t worthy of the tears and the anger that enveloped us with each syllable that spat from his venomous lips.
What is worse about all this, is he was in a relationship and to this day, I have to wonder if that woman knows that Holly probably saved HER life!
Ashley L said,
March 22, 2011 at 6:13 am
Also a close relation to Holly, Just notified that Sessions was trying for a new trial and awarded!!!! How is that how can he!! We all Miss her dearly and for this person to try and Justify is wrong….I also Have a very close friend who`s mother was murdered and only got 10 yrs however is just getting out, and my friends mother passed away 6 months after Holly…. Its like the horror film is coming back all over again :,( I only wish there was something we could do now that our loved ones are dead because of these scum-bags!!!!