Jury duty can be exciting
BJ | July 3, 2007 10:45 amI arrived at the Denton County courthouse much like any good citizen would in order to fulfill my obligation to the State to serve as a juror. Being a libertarian I was a little irked that I had any obligation to the state whatsoever but I at least felt that I had a good opportunity to get out of jury service since I worked for an insurance company. This would eliminate me from any civil trials and most trials involving negligence and compensatory indemnification or rewards. The libertarian in me would get me out of any drug, property, or “victim less” crime trials. The possibility that I would have to serve as a juror was pretty slim. I might as well show up and at least get in some good time with a book.
Apparently in Denton County they send a huge number of summons hoping that at least a certain number will show up. In this case they sent out more than 300 jury summons. The judge that instructed us on jury selection informed us that computer will randomly select approximately 100 of us from the 300+ that were there that day. Of course my name was called.
The number selected for the voir dire was 65 jurors, of which 12 would be asked to remain and serve as the jurors in a murder trial. I had been informed by “sources” that speaking up and being vocal was a sure way to be eliminated as a juror. I had also been informed that keeping your mouth shut was a sure way to be selected. In this process they randomly select the order in which you sit, they then pick the first 12 applicable people after the voir dire. I was sitting within the first 20 people. Essentially, this meant I would need a reason to be excluded, or at the very least 12 people who were sitting ahead of me would need to not have any reason to be excluded. The prosecutor for the case asked a few questions polled the jury and 8-9 hands shot up in the first 2 rows. Believe me, I was vocal, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut, I answered almost every question and kept interjecting my thoughts on murder, revenge, vigilante justice, evidence, the need for the state to provide evidence, the constitution, etc … The prosecutor even mentioned capital murder and my hand then shot up so I could launch into a diatribe about the state being able to end human life, but he quickly ended with a “but this isn’t a capital murder case so that doesn’t apply here.” They called my name as one of the 12 out of 65.
So apparently I was in for the long haul. There seems to be some sort of rivalry between California and Texas. The joke that the trial would take months was pervasive, but this was always segued into a quip of “but this isn’t California, we’ll be done by the end of the week, maybe sooner.” This was mentioned at least 4 times. I was in it for a week. Murder trial, cold case, beaten to death with a pipe… ouch.
It’s funny how I approached the trial. I put myself in the shoes of the alleged murderer throughout the whole trial. I thought it my duty to protect the person from the overarching power of the state, it turns out he really needed protecting from his own bad choices. Let me sum up the story, and give a little background. Here’s some links to the information at hand.
Here’s a basic overview (link).
Marshall Mashburn was the person on trial
Here are the other two parties who were indicted by the grand jury.
Jeff Stealey
Casey Nelson
If you follow this link, you can search for their info and the trial info. (Originally I tried to have direct links but those apparently only work for a single day.)
Note: You can check their mugshots on that site as well. There’s nothing telling other than the fact they are all evil twins, and that I must thereby disown them from the secret society of bearded and moustachioed men.
I don’t want to get into specifics other than to tell what is confirmed to have happened based on the testimony of the defendant himself and at least one other person. Santino Schraer (the victim) was accused of having sex with/raping a 12 year old girl when he was 18. That’s pretty heinous stuff. Charges were never filed and when testifying to the veracity of this accusation even the defendant did not press his knowledge of how it had happened. Our only connection to this alleged rape was the testimony of the Boyfriend of the older sister of the person who had been raped. He states he saw Santino and the little girl together when they were at a party at a Motel in Lewisville. He said he never saw them doing anything but watching cartoons together. The person on trial (Marshall) in this case had no connection whatsoever with anyone else in this group of friends and just happened to be living in the same party house as some of the other’s who were involved. This party happened. The next part is up in the air but a few things clued us into the fact that this murder was probably planned and even if it wasn’t nothing was done to prevent the death of the victim. Later, possibly these three and another person by the name of Randall Horton had a meeting in which it was discussed how to take care of Santino. Like most idle teenage threats I believe some of the parties involved didn’t realize how serious this meeting really was.
While in High school I distinctly remember mentioning blanket parties, soap and sock, and other weird things being mentioned regarding taking care of the offenders of our Lord of the Flies world in High School… yet nothing ever happened and no one was truly serious. Apparently three of the guys in this case were very serious.
Marshall’s version of what happened on the night of the murder was that it was an escalation. Comments led to comments led to getting hit in the back of the head with a pipe… uh. Anyway, they were all in the backyard of this common party house with Santino seated at a table by the gate in the backyard that leads to the alleyway. Whether there was an escalation before hand or not Marshall did say that he hit Santino in the back of the head with a pipe. A 3 foot pipe. I’ve played enough Streets of Rage 2 to know that that would hurt. Casey Nelson grabbed Santino by the leg and drug him to the back of a pickup that belonged to another resident of the party house. Santino may or may not have been unconscious, 2 witnesses say he was, Marshall said he wasn’t. There was however drops of blood leading to the truck and a pool of blood by the truck. At this point Marshall and Jeff jumped in the back of the truck and one or both of them proceeded to beat Santino to death while for the next 20-40 minutes they drove 15 miles to dump the body in a field. Confirmed facts from Marshall is that he at least held Santino down and punched in the face with his fists while they were driving to the field. There they dumped the body. Based on their testimonies and the testimony of Jeff Stealey and Randall Horton who went the next day to see the body, Santino’s face was caved in and didn’t look like a face anymore. Every witness kept this quiet for 9 years.
The only physical evidence were the bones of the deceased. He had a large fracture on the rear side of his skull and the rest of the bones were in pieces (after 2 years that all that was left. Animals probably scattered the remains.) The verdict was easy. In Texas there is no accessory to a crime, all people involved are charged with the same crime. Additionally the murder statute states that you don’t have to intend to kill to be guilty of murder you only have to have the intent to cause severe bodily harm, sufficient to cause permanent loss of function. IE if you cut off someone’s hand you need to make sure they don’t bleed to death or it’s murder. By that token and by Marshall’s own testimony he was guilty. Head + pipe = serious bodily injury, the other facts of the case only are important in sentencing. I don’t understand why he ever opened his mouth. He was the odd man out in this case. He wasn’t friends per se with any of the other people involved and as such the collusion of the remainder of the parties could be enough for his innocence. He testified though and provided enough rope to hang himself… figuratively of course, this wasn’t a capital murder case.
Sentencing, however, was more difficult. I started out by low balling the sentence and discussing it with my fellow jurors. I thought no less than 40 for what had happened, but I wasn’t prepared to give him a life sentence. I don’t really know why, now that I look back on it, but maybe I felt sorry for his situation in the case. At any rate I think we came to the right decision. Anything from 60+ would have been equivalent to a life sentence, and a life sentence would send the strongest message to the others who are still awaiting trial.
Tags: casey nelson,jeff stealey,jury duty,marshall mashburn,murder trial,santino schraer
Categories: BJ, BJ's Life
40 Comments »
40 Responses to “Jury duty can be exciting”
Dude, sounds deep. And gory. I can’t imagine hurting someone like that that I didn’t even really know. Heather said that it really weighed on you and I can see why. Thanks for writing about it. I was really curious what it was like. Did you notice that all your defendants had previous criminal records?
Prior convictions didn’t come up until sentencing, and I didn’t know anything about the other two except their names and association with the crime in question. The information I learned I learned after their trials. It looks like the next one in the party is up for trial in August I may take a Wednesday off to go watch the proceedings, since he actually testified in This first trial.
I knew the people involved in this. Jeff and Santino both went to school with me. I knew and liked both of them. Santino was a gangster. Flat out. His whole family was like that. At the time his six year old little brother would throw gang signs at me. Jeff was a nerd. No other way around it. The kid got picked on a lot and got beat up alot. I heard all these rumors back ten years ago when it happened. That he raped someones little sister. And that he was dead because of it. I never beleived it, mainly because nothing happened. Then years went by and still nothing. I had forgotten about it, until I stumbled upon this site. This is all to surreal for me. I am in shock. Can you contact me with more information from the trial?
Casey Nelson goes on trial tomorrow morning April 15, 2007. I was one of the 43 from the jury panel today that did not get picked to serve. Reading your post does shed a lot of light on the “hypothetical” questions posed
during the voir dire.
I am Casey Nelson’s little sister! Casey is far from a murder! As far as Marshall’s trial, why is Randall Horton not on trial with the rest of these guys? He is the one who put the meeting together and he just walks free. What kind of justis is this? You have it right in your face that Randall was part of it. Why is this happening to my brother? He is a Loving person. Casey is a father of 3 beautiful childern and Casey needs to be with his family not in some judical system. Casey would not have it in him to kill someone. I love my brother and he needs to come home with us. If anyone should go down for the murder of Santio it should be Randall Horton NOT CASEY NELSON!!
Thanks for your comments Jamie and Kirk. I wish I could go sit in in Casey’s trial to see how it’s proceeding. I’ve updated the links in my post again since the Denton county courthouse seems to use a magic database that shifts records constantly.
Just as a note I never heard from Casey as he didn’t testify in Marshall’s trial.
Jamie-
You have love for your family. Anyone can see that. But it is blinding you. Your brother KILLED somebody. He may not have struck the fatal blow, but he might as well have. He was involved in the scheme to commit. He drove the truck. He disposed of the body. He cleaned the truck the next day and tried to cover everything up. He took away a FRIEND of mine. That I will never see again, never get to hear him laugh again. Never get to just kick it and hang out again. Because your brother decided to take the law into his own hands. Why? Your brother barely knew Santino. He was not in that group of people long. I knew your brother back then. He did not seem like the type to do this. But the fact remains, he DID. He deserves everything he gets. No matter what he has done to try and cleanse himself of his guilt since then. As for Randy Horton. I agree with you. He should get a murder charge also. But he was the first to talk. Hence he gets off scott free.
From my involvement in Marshall’s I agree with both of you. Randall also planned, helped cover up, and even helped wash the truck out the next day. There’s a sort of an injustice that he gets off scott free. I remember in our own sentencing that the reason we were so harsh on Marshall as far as giving him a life sentence was not only the murder but remaining silent for 9 years. Remaining silent until they were caught. Justice had to be done for a murder, and I was even willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that they just made a monstrous mistake, but they were given 9 more years to live lives that they had taken from someone else.
Dunno, it’s up to the other jury now. The Dallas morning news is actually following Casey’s trial pretty closely it seems.
Here’s the summary through Thursday. (Link)
I was one of the jurors on the Casey Nelson trial last week. Believe me, it was NOT easy to sentence him. Several of us had a very difficult time in the deliberation room Friday. I feel for his family as well as Santino’s. Its a terrible thing that never should have happened and it will forever remind me of how your life can be changed in the blink of an eye by your actions. I will never forget looking over in Casey’s eyes as I sat in the jury box. It was a week of my life spent on the trial but we changed his for up to 25 years. I know that Santino’s family was not happy with the outcome, but the attorney even said that Santino was kicked out of the house when he was 17 due to fleeing from several rape charges. I can believe he was a little gangsta in the making. Not to make his friends here angry or anything. It was a very difficult situation to listen to and come up with a group sentence. You would be very surprised on the ranges of years that were presented in that room. It went from 5 to 40.
Santino’s status of living a thuglike life had been discussed amongst Zane and I previously in some private e-mails. No one testified that Casey ever struck an actual blow against Santino. While I understand the pleas of his Sister, I also have to note that Randall’s role seemed eerily similar to Caseys. No direct participation in causing the death, but planning it and covering up the murder is the issue.
Marshall will serve a minimum of 30 and a max of life. He swung the pipe. He held him down in the back of the truck. I didn’t know Casey’s sentence until now but it seems you all gave him 25 years, or in 12.5 he’ll be up for parole. I’m not surprised by the range. In all honesty I was very surprised at how many in our own jury were set on a life sentence for Marshall. I guess we’ll see how Jeff’s trial plays out. It seems he testified in Casey’s trial as well. In all honesty if he testifies in his own trial Jeff needs to practice some more, or not testify in his own trial. In our deliberations we were pretty unsympathetic towards Jeff. He seemed to be overplaying his emotion while underplaying his role.
The rape charges on Santino weren’t presented in our trial, if in fact you mean official charges from the police. The allegations amongst the group of rape towards Santino of Randall’s 15 year old girlfriend’s sister were clear though. No one really stuck with the info. There were inconsistencies in the testimony but after 10 years that was understandable.
BJ, I agree with you on Jeff. At first he had me almost in tears but then I saw thru it. There was still a debate amongst the jurors whether those were real tears. And Randall, he seemed like he really didn’t care and he said he just wanted to get this whole thing off of his chest, he said he was tired of living with this. I thought that was something when he was one of the main instigators of the whole mess. They tried to find Katy Lee on Thursday but she was in some other state. I don’t feel like her testimony would have made any difference. The layers also said that they heard from several people that she was no angel either and was always hanging around that party central house. What was a 12 year old doing there anyway?! That night when or if she got raped at the Spanish Trails inn in Lewisville, several people said she was all over him. I don’t know, its all a mess. I certainly learned alot from the Dr. Austin, the bone anthropologist though. Really interesting how she could tell when each mark on the bones would have been done. The bones were found all over the field because animals had scattered them thru out the years. I am still seeing Casey’s family in that court room as they served as character witnesses. Tore my heart out. As for Marshall Mashburn, I heard he was not even remorsful to the very end of his trial. Sigh, its going to be difficult for a while for me. Not that I regret my decision, just that the event ever happened. I can’t stop seeing everyone’s faces.
Zane-
I want to applogize if I offened you in my comment the other day. That was not my intent. I am truely sorry that this happened to your FRIEND Santino. As you said you knew my brother back then and this was not him in anyway. Things happen. I wish that it would have never happened because you would have Santino and we would have Casey. We can not go back and turn the time around so now it is like we all have to deal with it. I personally do not think my brother should have gotten MURDER thou. I feel like Casey and Randall should have gotten eccsessory to a murder reather then first degree murder. Casey is far from that. Thou we can not change his actions Casey is excepting what he received. I hope that you and the Schraer Family can one day forgive Casey for what happened to Santino. It would be hard but you know one thing that my kids always say “GOD DONT LIKE UGLY it is best to forgive. I am not asking for any symplothy for my brother because he was right there too with the rest of the guys but I will say the I dont think the FAMILY WILL RECEIVE JUSTICE UN TIL ALL 4 OF THE GUYS GET TIME. IT IS NOT JUSTICE UNTIL RANDALL HORTON GOES DOWN TOO. Again I am sorry if you feel like I and disrespecting you because this is not my intent.
Juror-
I am Jamie Nelson, Casey’s baby sister. I really appricate ya’lls work in this trial. Thank you for missing your life for 1 week to come and spend it with the Nelson and Schraer Family’s. It takes someone very special to be able to sit in that box and make a sentacing on some one. It is a very hard thing to do. I understand why you juror’s did what ya’ll did on the 25 years and I just want to tell you that all your hard work in this is really appriciated. I hope you never have to go threw this kind of stuff again because I know it was hard. I just wanted to take a few min to write you and tell you thank you again. I am sure that you were one of the jurors who spoke with our family after all was said and done and I want to thank you again for your time.
BJ-
Can we please talk in privet emails also I am sure that you have my email address too thanks so much
Jamie,
You and your family just have to keep telling Casey to be on his best behavior. He can still have a life
after he gets out. It can be his choice whether he gets 10 years or 25. He already gets credit for the 2 years
he is serving now.
Juror,
Casey already told my mom that god is giving him this time to get an education and so he is going to do school stuff to learn more he is not going to get in trouble or anything because he just wants to come home and be with his childern. He will make it threw and so will we.
Hello to everyone!! Casey is my employee. I came to his trial, I heard what the defense and DA had to say. I also was amazed at how unfair the judge was, denied every request that Casey had. Yes they did try to locate Katy Lee, they (DA) just never sent the subpoena!! Furthermore the judge denied the request to let the video taped interview from Katy by the detective into evidence, for you the jury to see. I think that would’ve laid alot of this to rest. At first I was shocked when Casey was arrested at my office, never did I ever think Casey was capable of harming anyone, I knew he never touched this man. SNIP**(Edited by Webmaster)**SNIP I would like to thank the jury for sparing Caseys’ life, if I am still in business when he comes home, he will still continue to drive for me and serve the community!!
Nichole,
I just want to say thank you for always being there for Casey. He has always need someone like you and Henry in his life. Such positive people. Unlike the THUGS that he use to hang around. You and I both know that this is not Casey. That he is a loving caring person and that he could not nor would not hurt anyone. I do not like the way the (DA) tried to make him out to be such a bad guy. You know sometimes you so stuff out of anger and when this happens it just comes back to bit you in the butt. One thing that I want you and everyone else to know is that Casey IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE LOVED BY HIS FAMILY. NO MATTER WHAT HE HAS DONE IN HIS PAST OR NOT. CASEY IS A SPECAIL INDIVIDAUL AND I REALLY WOULD LIKE FOR ONE DAY PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD WILL SEE HIM AS AND NOT HIS CRIMINAL HISTORY. The (DA) made him seem like he was really some criminal when all he has done is a few burglrys and driving with suspended DL but there are people in this world who get away with (RAPE, DRUGS, MURDER, MALESTAION, I COULD GO ON AND ON BUT I WILL END THIS THERE. I LOVE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY NICHOLE AND THANK YOU GUYS AGAIN FOR STANDING BEHIND CASEY 100%.
I knew Tino very well and reading the jurrors account of what happened to him literally took my breath away and made me feel ill. Those men did not deserve the last 9 years. Tino may have been many things, but so was I at his age. Reguardless, he had a light in him that everyone recognized and loved. These men deserve whatever comes their way. They knew what they were doing when they did it and didn’t feel guilty enough about it over the last 9-10 to say anything. That speaks volumes of their character. Maybe now they can feel a fraction of the pain they have caused Tino’s family and loved ones. RIP.
SNIP**(Edited by Webmaster)**SNIP Marshall is not an idiot. He is a smart man. He IS remorseful for is actions. He knows what he did was wrong, and he accepts that he is paying the price for his actions. How dare you talk about him like you know him. You were just some pawn used by the “justice” system. They showed you what they chose to show you. Anyone who rapes someone…let alone a 12 year old girl…no matter if she hangs out at a drug/party house, deserves the highest penalty for their crime. I am NOT saying that he deserves death by the hands of ANYONE but, he did deserve punishment for HIS actions. How many rapes can you allow someone to get away with because their isn’t enough evidence. What I am saying is that to often crimes go unpunished. The “justice” system to often twists the truth to get someone to “hang.” The police don’t do their jobs to the extent that that should. When my father was murdered the cops did the least they could to make it look as though they investigated the crime. But they didn’t care to find the murderer. My father was a junkie. Who cares if a junkie dies right? I’ll tell you who cares…his family. I know that Santino’s family has the relief in knowing that the people responsible for their son not being with them anymore are being given punishment for their crimes. That is IF Jeff gets his just dues, which he won’t fully because of his testimonies against the others…he will get a reduced sentance. Is THAT justice? The accoplises will more than likely serve longer sentances than that of the person who threw that last fatal blow. Tell me the justice in that. Santino’s parents visted Marshall in jail. They told him they were unhappy with how things were playing out. They know Jeff is likely to get away with just a few years because he gave up his “backup.”
FYI: Marshall was arrested before his daughter was born. He may never get to be in her life. It is the one things that rips his heart out most, to not be able to raise his child and teach her the things that he has learned. These things that have forever altered his life and the life of his family. Yes Marshall has done his fair share of wrong. He has learned from his mistakes and was trying to rectify his life for the better in these years since this incedent. He is also planning on becoming a preist. SNIP**(Edited by Webmaster)**SNIP
Jamie I know how you and your family are feeling about this, Our family is just as distraught and if you feel the need to speak with me you are more than welcome.
added comment…most of the people who testified changed their testimonies from those that they originally gave the cops……nice huh?
Heather. I didn’t, along with the other jurors, decide to put the Marshall of 2007 in jail. I decided along with the other jurors to put the Marshall of 1997 in jail. We heard all the testimony and even noticed the minor discrepancies. Every person who knew about this and kept it silent for 9 years is a coward. Those who committed the crime were selfish and ended another person’s life, even if that person wasn’t the best person in the world he lost the chance to have any life whatsoever.
Marshall was the odd man out. He had legitimate cause for a conspiracy against him and could have played it that way but he didn’t. He held Santino down and beat him in the back of the truck on the way to the drop off. Maybe the Marshall of 2007 is a different man, but that isn’t who was convicted. It was the 1997 Marshall.
I also edited some of the comments. It’s better if we keep this as civil as possible. As such I also edited my initial post from the more inflammatory last portion. I wanted to share my personal thoughts and never really thought this would end up being THE go to place for the Santino Schraer murder, although I hope people that didn’t get a chance to share their thoughts feel welcome to share them here. Please keep it civil though. I don’t want to be a witness in a different trial if something weird happens. The fact that based on some searches this blog gets a higher google rank than the dallasmorningnews story means I need to be more egalitarian and less cathartic.
Heather Mashburn,
I want to thank you for taking the time out to write a comment on here. I hope by you reading this it does n ot hurt you more. I know that sitting in that court room it hurt me. You can email me at nay_nie yahoo.com please I would like to talk with you.
Jamie
Thank you for taking things out of your post that were un-needed. It is much appreciated. I just don’t want people that stumble across this (my other family members mainly to read such things). We all understand that He deserves punishment for his actions. That is not in anyway what I was trying to get across.
Thank you. I’m sorry you had to read it in it’s first form. When writing it I was only thinking of myself, and the exaggerations have more to do with how I write than how I feel. I like humor, and it seemed like an unreal situation to me at the time. I added silly flourishes as I do to most every other story I write about my life. In doing so I neglected to think that anyone related to the trial would end up reading it. In doing so, I hurt you and I sincerely apologize. You already hurt enough and I’m sure get enough from others about this whole situation.
This is really wierd for me I dated Marshall a long time ago when I met him at church I never knew him to have a mean bone in his body period i feel very strange about this situation. beacause I knew santino also not so much as a girlfriend but we where close and what I think is that girl lied about santino to keep from getting her butt beat by her father and i also believe that marshall, jeff, and casey where just pawns in randall’s sick plot to get santino back for the supposive rape. Randall is pure evil anyone who has known him knows that and I don’t care who I offend with that comment. He set up the meeting he streched the truth on what happened to that girl he is the only one who shows absoulutly no remorse for what happened so what they should do is give the other three less and really show randy that he is not getting away with his sick plot. I also know from being questioned about that case that randy told everyone that when katy was raped there was blood on the walls and everywhere but aparently the only place was on the bd and the only reason was because she was a virgin not because she was horrifically raped and the detective told me that. But I am sure randy told the other three his sick version of the events which anyone with a sister, daughter,mother or otherwise would find to be unforgivable. I wish with all my heart that they would not have done what was done and I feel sorry for santinos brother jerry and the rest of his family and casey’s family and jeffs and marshalls. And if everyone would look at the one constant factor the one person who reuined all the families tore them apart and hasno remorse they would find RANDALL HORTON. I pray that the appeals go good and that these guys that made a really big mistake but are not bad people get to see their kids and families again. I feel sorry for all your losses wish you so much love and compassion.
PS RANDY HORTON NEEDS TO GO DOWN FOR SOMETHING ANYTHING I MEAN COULDN”T THEY GET HIM FOR ORGANIZED CRIME OR BASICALLY setting people up to kill someone else thats like hiring a hitman isn’t it.
No Hard feelings and I sincerely do appreciate you editing it. You have a beautiful daughter. All the best to you and yours!
Jennifer,
I agree with you about Randall. Did you know that Randall lived with my mom and my brother when he got out of TDC the first time. My bother is the one who took care of him until he found a job for Randall. Now look Casey is doing time for something Randall wanted done. Dont get me wrong Casey should get time for playing part in it but Randall should get the same amount if not more. Jeff is going to get off easy too. He will probly get probation. Now Casey and Marshall get to do all the time but yet 2 people who played a big part in this they get to walk off easy or free. I wish there was something that we could do to make Randall go down too. Jeff should get as much time as Marshall because he played just as much of a part as Marshall. I do not feel that Marshall should have gotten life but what can be done now. I do wish hiim luck when he goes to his appeal. Sorry you had to read all this about Marshall.
No no Its ok. I accually wanna know what ya’ll know. How else can I help my family but by knowing. They didn’t tell me trial dates cause they didn’t want me to go.
It is severly wrong that both Randall and Jeff are getting off with little to no jail time. This is why I can’t stand our justice system. Justice is not served out right. The fact that someone can testify against other people just so the system will go easy on them, is purely wrong. What lesson does that teach? I wouldn’t exactly call Marshall an angel (in no way in fact) but in truth he is a good guy. Yes he has some issues and has done wrong things in life, but don’t we all?
I think we all wish we could go back and stop them from this whole thing. Sadly that isn’t an option. All we can do now is be with the boys in spirit and let them know we still care.
Heather
please contact me on my email. Please. I would really like to talk more to you about things i just do not want to do it in the eye of the public. I would reather in our personal emails.
Thanks Jamie nay_nie@yahoo.com
To all parties involved in this case. Thank you for the time that you served. Thank you for the decisions that you have handed out. This case was one of the most difficult that I have investigated. For those of you that have posted about seeing the faces, having a hard time with dealing with it. It will get better; time has a way of doing that. For the jurors that have posted here: Your life is for now ever changed. You have an insight to what it is like to make the decisions that will affect someone’s life for a good many years. This is not television. This is not CSI. This was life and death in the real world. A world that we all live in but few see behind the curtains. I thank you. I hold no ill will against any person related to this case. My job is not to find a person guilty, but to present the facts as I know them to a court. This I hope was accomplished. For those of you that do not seem to understand what a definition of criminal is. I will spell it out for you here. You break the laws laid down and you become a criminal. Be it burglary or driving with a suspended license. Life is full of choices. Some are bad choices. Does this mean that we give up and continue down that road making bad choices? It shouldn’t. You should learn from your bad choices and try to make better ones in the future. Some people don’t understand this and keep traveling down that road making one bad choice after another.
Jamie,
I sent you an e-mail when you first posted your e-mail….I will try a different account. I think that a more one on one discussion would be better too.
Jeff got ten years just for those of you who don’t know yet. I was his girlfriend at the time he got arrested I had known him for 8 years and had no idea what the hell was going on when he was arrested. Even after his arrest he denied any involvement until after his ex contacted me and told me he had told her what had happened. At that point I spoke with his mother who made sure she got him a good lawyer and they got the truth out of him. It is absolutely insane how little you may know about a person even when you think you know them well. I have no faith in our judicial system and this case is just one more sad example of its ineptness if that is even a word. I don’t know what everyone deserved in this case i know it hurt a lot of people, even the jurors who had to decide these mens futures. I haven’t stayed in contact with jeff i think he is a liar and he probably didn’t get a fair sentence it sounds like he deserved more. I know that he is remoursefull and I don’t think he is a bad person just like the other guys in this case. You have to think how stupid were you at 18. These guys were all obviously desperate to be accepted and easily influenced they made a horrible choice based on false information given to them. They hid it for almost a decade and probably thought they got away with it. I am so sorry for all the families involved in this I know how hurt a betrayed I felt when I found out about it I can’t even begin to imagine how it has been for everyone
Jessica,
I am Casey’s lil sister. I want you to know that I do not think it is fair, but at the same time I feel like Jeff should have gotten what Casey got if not more. All my brother did was drive a truck that was it. Jeff sat up there on the stanf trying to make my brother this murder that he was not. Jeff played more in the murder then Casey did. He sat up there crying and shit trying to get the jury to go with him but it failed. Casey only got 25 because the jury could not agree on a sentancing so they agreed on 25 verses Jeff who ratted people out too a plea bargen so that his time is less what kind of justis is this. IT IS NOT but I wish you guys well in your life to come
To everyone Involved:
This whole situation got way out of hand way too fast. Four peoples lives, including all of their families are changed forever. Everyone here can admit these were kids that made a mistake. And this “mistake” was not a well kept secret. Like I said, I heard about this in 1997, the specific people that did it. I did not believe it. Flower Mound is a small town, way smaller ten years ago. You could not take a **** w/o the whole town knowing about it, including police. Which is why I did not believe the rumors. In the end, we can all ***** and moan, but it does not change the end. I feel for Jeff, in HS he was my friend. I feel for Casey and Marshall. Their families love here shows how much a single decision can impact so many lives. YES Santino on all accounts was a little bad *** kid. He was stupid and made mistakes, just like the others. But should his life have been taken for his crimes? This should be a lesson to all involved that life is precious and should be treated that way no matter who it is.
Zane,
I agree with you 100% on what you were saying here. Life is short. What you do as a kid always catches up to you.
This is an update.
Casey finally got transfured from Denton County. Now, Jeff was supposted to be in protective custody. However I guess they changed their minds. Now Some how some way Casey and Jeff ended up in the same Prison. Not only the same Prison but the same cell. What the see how much the system really cares about other people.
Marshall lost his appeal on 08/07/08
WOW! See this is so crazy
Casey Nelson lost his appeal. Dated 08-27-2009.
Casey Nelson lost his appeal on 08/27/09
Care to comment?