Wichita Massacre Ping Earlier thread: Carrs' cells are solitary, spartan [Wichita Massacre]
Posted on 11/19/2002 3:07:04 PM PST by Lassiter
STATEMENT FROM MARK BEFORT (JASON'S BROTHER)
My name is Mark Befort, and I'm going to represent the Befort family....
I would like to start out on Dec 15. My sister was contacted early in the morning that day, devastated by this news, the loss of Jason, her brother, her friend.
She then called me, gave me the news. And for me, the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life was to go over and wake my parents up and give them that news.
My dad was a veteran of this country, in the Marines.... This took the life out of him. He died 10 days before his 58th birthday, and he died with a broken heart.
The rest of us, our hearts are broken. But we have a chance to move on and hopefully mend.
In front of you are five pictures. Their names are Trey and Trent, Kelsie, Kylie and Macie.
Those are the nephews and nieces of Jason who thought the world of him, and he thought the world of them. He spent time with them, was always happy to be with them... . They will not get that chance anymore....
He wanted to be a husband; he wanted to be a father. He would have been a good one. We're going to miss out on his children. My mother will miss out on the grandchildren....
For the short time he was in Augusta, he made a large impact on his students. He missed out last year on the state championship basketball team that he was one of the coaches of. That's something few coaches get to experience....
He touched the lives of a lot of people in our community, in Augusta's community and the Wichita community....
He was a decent man. We're all victims in this.... He cared for children, cared for people, and they're going to be missed.
That's all I have.
Statement from Larry Heyka (Brad's father):
I am Larry Heyka. I'm the proud father of Brad Heyka. With me is my wife, Mary Jo; daughter and Brad's sister, Megan; Brad's girlfriend, Amy; Brad's mother, Elizabeth; and her husband, Bob Daily....
The events of Dec 14 and 15 were by far the biggest tragedy in my life and the lives of my family. They continue to consume us every day.
No parents should have to bury a child under such circumstances, especially such a senseless act of violence....
We are sometimes referred to as victims, but I feel like the victims in this event were the young people who had such a tragic loss at such a young age in their in life.
What they were forced to endure that December night by two evil, hateful cowards was crime and criminals at their worst.
Let me tell you a little about Brad and his life. Brad was 27 when he died.
He was the anchor and glue that held many parts together -- our family, friends, people he worked for.
Brad had a way of enlisting others in their daily lives. He dug deeply to seek out people with weaknesses and to lift them up....
Brad cherished and had a great respect for life. He had ideals and goals, and he inspired others -- myself included -- to be the best possible....
He had a love in his life he felt dearly about. That lady, Amy, is here today. And Amy feels she is walking alone in this life....
As for me, Brad was my only son. Brad was in many ways -- he was my best friend.
We spent a lot of time together talking about life and what we could do to help others.
We would play golf together, attend sporting events together.
He had a job in finance, just as I do, and we shared talks about life and business, about how we could help our co-workers achieve their goals and what have you.
We even talked about how, when appropriate, we might be able to work together as a father and son. We'll never have a chance to do that.
I'll always love Brad and miss Brad dearly....
Megan has lost her best friend in life. She feels she will never be able to patch that wound.
Brad was her encouragement throughout her college, high school, relations, getting started in her career at Washburn, which is a career to help others achieve financial goals through college education.
Brad was the kind of person Megan could always turn to, and did freely.
Megan would say that Brad had a smile that many others said was contagious and a laugh to go with it....
This senseless and cowardly act of violence must result in the maximum punishment for the guilty Reginald and Jonathan Carr.
There are givers and takers in life. Brad was a giver and wanted to help others. There are also takers in life, and the Carr brothers are certainly takers with no conscience that we can see....
The family will survive because of our faith, our closeness, our fond memories and the support of so many throughout the state and the community of Wichita and what have you.
But some part of us has been taken away and our hearts will be shallow for the rest of our lives.
Statement from Elizabeth Daily (Brad's mother):
Your honor, I am Brad's mother and... you know that I am very, very proud of him.
You know that Brad was my firstborn, my only son, and because of Brad I think I have discovered the best job I could ever have and that was being a mother....
My whole world revolves around my children.
Brad, the older brother, was there to love and protect Megan, his younger sister.
I counted on Brad to take care of Megan long after I was gone from this world.
Brad wasn't just my only son, he was my counselor, my financial adviser and my best friend.
We shared unconditional love and support for each other. There was a bond between us that gave me strength when I was down, comfort when I was sad and, most of all, joy that made me happy and content....
The wonderfulness of being Brad's mother now has been shattered. The emptiness and the void in my life, the lack of laughter, not being able to feel Brad's strong arm wrapped around my shoulder and his 6-3 frame.
I cannot describe to you the day-to-day agony and the sting of Brad's untimely death....
It has destroyed a part of Megan. There is no one left in our family to watch over her and protect her....
This has destroyed part of Amy. This isn't just a girlfriend. This is the love of his life. We knew wonderful things were coming together for Brad and Amy. Amy would be a part of our family....
Your honor, I want you to know that these are not just people who were renters at Brad's condo on Birchwood.
Jason Befort and Brad Heyka were best friends. They were inseparable at times -- especially around sports. Many times when Brad came for weekend visits, it was Jason that came with him.
Jason was our friend, too....
Aaron and Brad worked together at Koch Industries. And Amy worked at Koch. So I want you to understand that their lives were intertwined. They cared about each other.
As for the Carr brothers, these are cowards.
I have sat in this courtroom day after day and I have watched them squirm.
These are people who feel they have the right to do whatever they want to, whenever they choose.
They are not insane. They are as sane as you and me. But they don't live by the rules of any moral code, at least not within human society.
They are incredibly selfish and they live by their own rules....
Your honor, on behalf of all of my family, and most important, on behalf of Brad and for Brad, I ask you to carry out their sentencing with the most strict punishment allowed by law and in the most swift and timely manner.
And your honor, I want you to know, I love my son with all my heart. I know life and laughter will never be the same but I will always be Brad's mother, and I'm proud of it.
Statement from Lois Muller (Heather's mother)
I'm Lois Muller. I'm Heather Muller's mother. My son, Jamie, is with me.... My husband couldn't come, couldn't bring himself to. My daughter Tania goes to law school. She was here yesterday....
To bury your child is the hardest thing anybody ever has to do. Our world as we knew it came to an end on Dec. 15, 2000. God blessed us with Heather. She was not only a beautiful person on the outside, but she was a genuinely beautiful person on the inside. And her love of God was reflected in her very existence.
During grief counseling, I was asked to write a letter of goodbye to Heather, and I said I can't ever tell her goodbye. Every single day, every single day, my heart is breaking. I will forever have a broken heart.
Heather lived more in her 25 years than some people live in a lifetime. She embraced life. If anyone asked her how she was doing, she said 'fantastic.' Not just 'fine' but 'fantastic.' That's become one of my goals, to feel that again so I can say that when somebody asks me.
When you look into the eyes, you see the soul of the person. Heather's eyes were filled with light and love and the spirit of God because she was filled with light and love and the spirit of God. When you look into Reginald and Jonathan Carr's eyes, they have a hollow, empty look, the look of pure evil and hatred, and I know this because I have looked into their eyes....
When I think about the horrific things Heather and friends had to endure, I sometimes feel as if my heart will burst from the pain, even sitting in this courtroom....
I knew Heather had to endure more than what was mentioned. Heather suffered from a medical condition called Raynaud phenomenon, which made her fingers and toes turn purple from lack of circulation. Even in the summer she would have to wear a sweater or mittens because the air-conditioning was too cold for her. I think about how very cold she must have been, and she never complained.
I'm not the only one who has been affected by Heather's death. My husband still looks in her bedroom every day thinking he is going to find her there. He misses her, and he carries this guilt that he wasn't there when she needed him.
My mother can't get past Dec. 15. Her every waking hour is spent dwelling on Heather's (being) dead in this crime. She's not the grandmother Heather knew and loved. She's no longer a functioning grandmother to her other grandchildren.
Her young niece and nephews had their innocence taken away when the cousin that they adored and loved was shot....
I want to be able to hold Heather again and tell her goodnight, God bless you, I love you. I can only hold her picture and it's so flat and lifeless. I know Heather is in heaven, but I wasn't ready for it to be so soon.
Statement from H.G. (the survivor):
I speak on behalf of Brad, Aaron, Heather, Ann, Andy, Jason and myself.
One of my favorite 7-year-olds lost her uncle on the 15th.
This year, when her mom asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she replied that she wanted a pair of wings.
Not quite understanding, Kim asked her why she wanted wings for Christmas, and she replied that if she had wings, and if they were real, that she could fly to heaven and she could see her Uncle Jason and her papa.
I wish that life were that simple. I wish that I could put on a pair of wings and that I could go see Jason.
I wish that I could see him smile and hear him laugh, and I could hear his foot crack every time he walked. And that I could just hold his hand just one more time.
But we all know that these are wishes, and they are wishes that we have to wish because of two soulless monsters....
Every day there is a memory or a scar that reminds me of that night. While Reginald and Jonathan get to sleep peacefully in jail, I wake up in sweats from my nightmares.
I pace at night because of noises that I think are somebody breaking into my house.
And every morning I carefully blow-dry my hair to cover up the spot that can no longer grow hair.
I look at my knees and see the scars from the carpet burns that I got from the rape and in the back of mind I wonder will it happen again.
There is the fear that evil will once again come into my life and take away the things that are precious to me....
I had no choice in what Reginald and Jonathan Carr did that night, and I wasn't given the choice to save Brad, or Aaron or Heather or Jason.
I had a choice to lie there and die or to get up and live. I chose to live. And I will still choose to live....
By law, Reginald and Jonathan are guaranteed the right to a sentence that is not cruel or unusual in nature.
On Dec 15, the law of Reginald and Jonathan Carr didn't guarantee four people the same right, and my common sense tells me that the sentence imposed on them will be much kinder than the sentence imposed on me, my friends and all of our families....
They say that in order to grieve you must know happiness, and my grief is immeasurable because my happiness was endless.
STATEMENT FROM BILL SANDER (AARON'S FATHER):
We're the family of Aaron Sander. This is my wife, Judy, and her twin sister, Trudy, are here today to express some of our thoughts and feelings of the past two years and so you will know the kind of life that was snuffed out in December 2000.
Our son, Aaron, was born 31 years ago. He came into the world reluctantly. It took a long time for him to get here. We knew that he was something when he came....
He was always very caring, even as a small youngster.
When he was 3, my wife, his mother, Judy, had a stillborn baby and it took the life out of her and out of me. And at that time he said, 'God's got him now, so don't worry.' At 3....
The last two years have been tormented... always having to be reminded that justice has to be served and his killers brought to justice, which has been done here. We are pleased about that. We are elated about that....
Aaron was a young man who was searching for a purpose in life. He had a few jobs, banking, Koch Industries, but it wasn't satisfying. He thought there has got to be more things.
He searched the area of counseling and the area of religious counseling, particularly the priesthood....
We will no longer be able to talk to him, to hug him, to celebrate with him, only in our memory, and that will be very difficult for us.
STATEMENT FROM ANDREW SCHREIBER
Unlike five of the other victims in this case, I'm able to stand here and talk for myself.
I'm not gonna go into any great details in how these events have affected my life other than the few that I think need to be said publicly.
Because of these events, and due to the fact that I still live in Wichita, there are constant reminders every day.
Whether I drive by a certain location that I was taken to that night, whether I drive on the same freeway that I was taken to on that night, those are still the same freeways that I drive every day, the same places that I drive by every day.
One of the other effects this case has had on me are the feelings of guilt.
I equate these feeling of guilt to ones that a solider might go through. I've seen or heard stories of soldiers that have seen people that they have fought with die and that they go through feelings of why them and not me....
I have to feel that I have done everything in my power to ensure that these two men that sit here today are sentenced to the fullest extent not only on my counts, but all the counts.
It is not vengeance that I seek, it is just justice, and I hope that it comes as quickly as possible in a swift manner. Again, I am not seeking vengeance, I seek justice.
I'm not overly sensitive, but I found it very difficult to read these statements, even after watching them being made in court.
May the LORD bless and keep them, living and dead alike.
Thanks for posting this.
Wichita Massacre Ping Earlier thread: Carrs' cells are solitary, spartan [Wichita Massacre]
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