A little more on my paid-employment as a court reporter for the judicial system. It doesn't seem possible, but I have been involved with at least nine murder cases. Out of those nine cases, I reported all or a portion of the seven that went to trial. One didn't go to a jury and the other one went to a jury but I didn't report it. It seems crazy to think that in our little area, there have been that many murders, doesn't it? I will say, that number covers five counties.
Some are much more memorable than others. The first murder in my 'home' county occurred about six months after I started as an official and immediately after that there was another one. I remember everyone blaming them on me because they hadn't had a murder in so many years and I came along and they had two back-to-back.
The very first murder trial I did involved a jealous husband. He was sure his wife was having an affair and he shot and killed her. It wasn't really a whodunit, it was more about motive and premeditation. Pretty cut and dried. The guy wasn't a horrible person, but his jealousy got the best of him. He is in prison.
I was sitting in the dentist chair having my teeth cleaned on Columbus Day in 1997 when it came across the radio. A young boy had been murdered in town. Suspect was on the loose. How horrifying. Little did I know how long that case would go on and all the twists and turns that would come along with it. This case went on for many years. It is a case I have a lot of difficulty discussing to this day because I get so worked up about the final outcome. No one is serving time for it and never will. This particular case even made it to 20/20 with Barbara Walters.
The next case was the weirdest, most sickening cases of all of them. I honestly can't believe it never hit the news media or Dateline or something. A teenage boy killed a mom, boyfriend and her children with a hammer. There are many gruesome details I will not go into, but I recall vividly watching that boy (he was just a boy being tried as an adult) looking at his fingers during the testimony of a crime lab technician who was explaining the fingerprints they found, how each person has their own unique print, etc. It was as if he was in a daze or something. The motive was so pitiful too, just made it that much worse.
One evening after I had worked the trial in that case, I was sitting at home and Jay asked me what was wrong, I seemed quiet. I was quiet. I could not get the images of the photos and everything with that trial out of my mind. It was absolutely awful. Thankfully, that young man is also in prison.
There are a couple cases that were somewhat unmemorable or maybe unexciting (if that is even a word). Three involved drugs. In two of those three, people are serving time. In the other one, the alleged defendant was audio recorded 11 times admitting to the murder. A jury found him not guilty. I really didn't understand what more they wanted. Some believe they were upset because two co-defendants got deals, didn't feel like it was fair. Great thinking...no one is serving time for taking that guy's life...out of fairness.
We had one involving a single mother of a young boy. An older lady friend took them in because they needed a place to stay. Mom got upset with friend over food and maybe even a TV program or something and killed her. As if that wasn't enough, she engaged her son to help her with things afterwards. I have no idea how that young boy is now. He was in my prayers for quite a few years. Sad to say, until now I hadn't thought about him in quite a while. Mom is in prison.
I'm not a very emotional person, but the next case nearly brought me to my knees in the courtroom. Defendant was charged (and convicted) of shooting ex-girlfriend, her husband, their daughter and granddaughter in a jealous rage. He permanently injured the adults and daughter. He killed the two-year-old granddaughter. At the first appearance, which is when the judge reads the charges or counts and possible penalties, we had extra security, there were more spectators than usual, lots of family. Defendant was placed up close to the bench because he was supposedly very hard of hearing. Deputies were on either side of him. A deputy stood directly in front of me also.
When the judge got to the charge about causing the death of the two-year-old, the child's father jumped out of his seat in the gallery and ran towards the defendant. Fortunately, we had very attentive officers and the deputy in front of me tackled the father. And then I fell apart. Really. As the scene unfolded, I kept on typing. I took down the exact quote of the father as he lurched forward and then I wrote a note to myself...even threw in parenthesis so I knew it was only to me and not actually said in open court. With tears streaming down my face and shaky hands, I kept on typing.
An attorney had been in the law library which sits directly behind the courtroom, behind the judge's bench and where I sit. He comes running out upon hearing the commotion, takes one look at me and has never let me live that down. To this day, when I see him, he will bring up that time Sarah just kept her fingers glued to the machine, taking down every word, bodily trembling, with tears running down her face amidst the chaos in the courtroom.
I was terrified for a moment and the whole scenario was emotionally charged all around. It was a sad case to begin with, and then adding that kind of outburst that happened in a matter of seconds with people scattering, ugh. Everyone had been searched upon entering the courtroom, but you just never know. And when you're talking about someone's child, well, it's understandable to some degree. That happened around the time of the shootings of a judge and court reporter in an Alabama courthouse. It happens. Thankfully, no one was hurt that day. The defendant is serving life in prison. He qualified for the death penalty but the jury found he should serve life instead. The man had had an absolutely horrific childhood, unimaginable actually, I think they felt some pity for him.
There are a couple other murder trials I have been involved with that I haven't mentioned here, but the one thing that seems to be a reoccurring theme...senseless motives. I suppose murdering another human is never truly justified because we're all God's children, but on the human side of it, some motives make sense and some just don't. Most of the ones I have worked are purely senseless when looked at in the big scheme of things.
I am intrigued by crime and mystery. It's no secret. I love watching 48 Hours, Dateline, 20/20, etc. I love reading crime novels. Maybe that was my drawl to this career. But to this day, I am still amazed that I have taken part in so many murder cases. And hopefully, there won't be anymore.
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