uuuhhh... what family??? his father suicided, i believe his mother is dead and he killed his grandfather... what family is left, let alone why should they get any money???
Posted on 04/14/2005 6:11:55 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
MINNEAPOLIS - Tribal leaders on Thursday defended a $5,000 victims-aid grant given to the family of a teenager who killed nine people before killing himself, saying his relatives had "a double burden."
Red Lake Tribal Secretary Judy Roy said the tribal council had decided unanimously that shooter Jeff Weise should be considered a victim of the March 21 violence centered on a high school, and that his family should get help paying for his funeral and burial.
"It's not for him, it's for the family. ... They have a double burden," she said.
Some relatives of others who were killed had denounced the council's decision to award the check, one of 15 awards of $5,000 each given out Wednesday in the first distribution from a memorial fund that has received more than $200,000 in donations.
Donna Lewis, mother of 15-year-old victim Dewayne Lewis, stormed out of the meeting where the donation was discussed.
"He ain't no victim in this. ... He was a murderer," Lewis said in remarks first reported by the St. Paul Pioneer Press. She said Weise's family "knew he was having problems" and should have helped him.
"Why are they considering him to be a victim when he killed everybody?" asked Victoria Brun, sister of slain guard Derrick Brun, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported. "The people who donated the money have a right to know and question how the money is divided."
However, the mother of wounded student Jeffrey May was more sympathetic toward Weise.
"The way I think of it, you know, he was a victim before this all happened. Nobody reached out to help him. That's all I have to say," Jodi May said.
Weise's family has also received money from a small memorial fund run by tribe member and distant Weise relative Wanda Parkhurst. She said the fund gave 16 families a total of about $1,500, or about $95 per family.
Parkhurst said Weise was a victim who hurt people because he was under the bad influence of the neo-Nazi Web sites he visited and because he was picked on by others. "Those families have a right to hate, but they also have to look at what caused it," she said.
Weise's family is not eligible for assistance from the state victim's fund, said Kevin Smith, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety. "By law, if you commit the crime, you are not eligible for reparations," Smith said.
Last week, the Justice Department said it would provide $250,000 for Red Lake victims and families. An agency spokeswoman did not immediately return a phone call Thursday seeking information on whether Weise's family would be eligible.
Meanwhile, the two most seriously injured survivors were making progress that was "nothing short of miraculous," Dr. William Klava said Thursday at a news conference at MeritCare Hospital in Fargo, N.D.
Steven Cobenais, who suffered severe brain damage and lost his left eye, walked out of intensive care this week. May, who was shot in the right cheek and became paralyzed on his left side after a stroke, twitched a finger in his left hand, his mother said.
"It's a crying moment," Jodi May said. "We cry when he's hurt, we cry when he's getting better."
Both 15-year-olds were listed in guarded condition. They were expected to be moved to a rehabilitation unit within several days, Klava said.
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uuuhhh... what family??? his father suicided, i believe his mother is dead and he killed his grandfather... what family is left, let alone why should they get any money???
Although I wouldn't classify him as a victim I can see his family being one. They have to pay for the funerals of his grandparents and him. I don't think blaming the family because they should have done something helps much. Since two of them appeared to have died while possibly doing something that is rather heartless.
"Both 15-year-olds were listed in guarded condition."
Terrible for these people. It's not my money, but I can see giving funds to the family for the burial of the murder victims in the family. But as for the murderer, potter's field is far too good for him.
i believe his mother is dead
The report I read said that his mother is in a nursing home...brain damaged from an auto accident. Two 'aunts' have been mentioned in other articles.
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