I want to say that Kim Bolan @The Vancouver Sun provided excellent coverage through the trial.
Jury convicts Jean Ann James of Boxcutter Murder.
Jean Ann James expressed no emotion Friday morning when a jury found her guilty in the first-degree murder of Gladys Wakabayashi.
At 72, she will likely spend the rest of her life in jail with an automatic sentence of 25 years to life.
Yet she didn’t break down and cry, or express anger, or regret. She looked straight ahead and then she walked away with a sheriff to her new life in prison.
On the other hand, Gladys Wakabayashi’s family did break down. Her sister-in-law Susanna, cried and smiled. She hugged prosecutor Kerr Clark outside court. A family friend said “justice at last.”
Wakabayashi’s throat was slit with boxcutters about 9:15 a.m. on June 24, 1992. For years, James kept her dark secret, even when police searched her house a week or so after the crime. But she was lured by an undercover operation where a number of officers posed as members of a crime ring that embraced the eager James in its activities. She eventually confessed to a skilled operative posing as the crime boss in chilling detail, saying she felt no regrets about killing her former friend.
James’ lawyers had suggested she fabricated the confession using details from newspaper articles at the time. But a jury saw it differently. They deliberated for less than eight hours before convicting her.
Can the victim's family sue the vicious cold blooded murderer for their grieves and loss that lasted two decades?
ReplyDeleteWhen they sold the family house which was a scene of crime, they must have suffered monetary loses that would otherwise sold for a much higher price.
At least get a lawyer to put "a lien:" on the killer's house in Richmond, so she cannot sell it at huge profit now.
If the victim's family can get some monetary compensation out of it, they can always donate the money back to a charitable cause.
If not, at least the killer's house will stay unsold until the real estate market tanks.
Now that the nightmare is over, why would the Wakabayashis, Aisenstats, or Muis want to prolong it? Some things are worth more than money and one of those is time you will never get back.
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