Vicki & I, 1979
On Monday, November 4, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, the Honorable John Coughenour has scheduled the continuation of the Evidentiary Hearing in this case.
On October 8th, a video deposition of Stanton Bloom, Atwood’s trial attorney, was entered into evidence. As previously stated, Mr. Bloom had a prior engagement out of town during these scheduled proceedings, a video deposition was ordered which Mr. Bloom gave prior to leaving town. We anticipated on this day we would watch approximately 30 minutes of this deposition. The judge stopped the playing of it after almost 10 minutes. He requested the defense make arrangements with Mr. Bloom to be in Phoenix for testimony on November 4th.
We will be back in court to hear the testimony from Mr. Bloom.
As I have been reflecting back to the three days we sat in court and listened to testimony, there are a couple things that I continue to think about.
During the testimony of the defense’s medical expert, she stated that when she did her evaluation of Atwood that she gave him the written documentation of her clinical diagnosis. He was able to read through this information prior to his examination by the doctor the State brought in to evaluate him for these proceedings. Why, given the critical need for the defense to prove PTSD at the time he murdered my sister, would the defense’s doctor provide him with materials of her evaluation in preparation for his next examination? I personally feel this jeopardizes the integrity of her diagnosis.
I am also anxious to hear from Mr. Bloom himself. There is conflicting information coming from him & Atwood, and once we hear Mr. Bloom’s testimony, we will be able to have a clearer understanding.
I personally find it hard to give any credit to anything this man has to say. At the time he murdered my sister, he was in the process of setting up a multi-state drug ring, he had preyed upon children from an early age and vowed the next one would not live to tell, after years of incarceration he still has tried to prey on children, he continues to demonstrate unstable behaviors, even threatening to kill “and hide the bodies like the others”. This is not a man with remorse or responsibility for anything he has done. He is still a danger to society.
We will never know how many children have been saved in the years that Atwood has lived on death row. And I know in my heart that justice is coming for Vicki, and it is coming very soon.
Words can not express the sympathy I have toward you and your family, nor the outrage I feel that this process has been allowed to unnecessarily drag out for as long as it has. Please don’t interpret this to mean that I am comparing my emotions to yours, or that I am saying that I am going through anything close to what you and your family have endured this past quarter-century-plus,
I am a year younger than you, and a year older than Vicki. You probably don’t remember me, but you and I were in the same Intro Algebra (Ms. Jessen) class together at FWJH. I was attending Laguna Elementary when this tragedy unfolded, so I remember how it affected the town and particularly the Flowing Wells area. I remember the sadness and fear felt by the entire neighborhood for a very long time as a result.
Though I didn’t know Vicki, nor ever met her, I think of her time to time. She is very close to my age and grew up in the same area I did. I wonder what her life would be like now had she never crossed paths with Atwood. Would she be married? Would she have kids? Would Vicki or one of her kids have grown up to be a doctor that cured cancer or contributed something else great to humankind? We know Atwood took Vicki from us, but perhaps he took a lot more.
I remember the desire, no, the need, for justice for Vicki. I can’t speak for others who grew up in that area, but speaking just for myself I can say that need and desire has never subsided. Last week I was outraged at the execution that took place of Robert Jones. Not the execution itself, but the fact that Jones committed his crimes over a decade after Vicki died. I’m forced to wonder why Atwood isn’t in line in front of Jones. With each execution I am left wondering something similar.
I find it nothing short of disgusting that Atwood has been allowed to await execution more than three times the amount of time Vicki was allowed to live (and counting). I find it further sickening that Atwood has been allowed to get married, get college education, write books, and who knows how many other life experiences he got to enjoy himself that he cheated Vicki out of.
After as long as this has taken, the unnecessary delays, and the games that continue to be played, my greatest fear with this case is that Atwood will be able to drag this out long enough to die of natural causes. It is very difficult for me to think of anything as “The Death Penalty” when the sentence takes more than a quarter-century to carry out.
My outrage over this situation compelled me to write a letter (no, not an email, but a good old-fashioned paper letter) to the state’s Attorney General’s office last year, expressing my feelings and asking him to do everything in his power to finally put an end to the circus that is the Atwood case. That letter went unanswered, which leaves me with a concern that perhaps this isn’t a priority for the Attorney General’s office, and not everything that can be done is being done.
Now, after reading the stories that this month relating to the case, I’m outraged even more. For all these years he didn’t do it. Then the cops went all the way to Texas to plant paint on his car’s bumper. Now he did it, but it was because he was crazy so he has an excuse and should get a pass?!?!?!? This should tell any reasonable thinking person that Atwood is doing nothing more than playing games, and it is long past time for this circus to end once and for all. In the highly unlikely event that Atwood is telling the truth about his PTSD, who the hell cares? How does that help Vicki? How does that change what happened to her? PTSD or no PTSD, he did it, he was held accountable by way of a fair trial, he was convicted by a jury of his peers, and he should pay the consequence.
For the community, for kids who grew up in the neighborhood, and especially for you and your family, it is long past time for justice to be done. You and your family deserve, at the very least, the closure that will come with Atwood’s long-overdue execution.
I just wanted to post this to let you know that there are folks out there who still follow this case, support you and your family, and are rooting for you to be able to see justice finally done.
Bret,
There are so many questions you have asked that we too have asked many times. I continue to be amazed at the outpouring of support that we continue to receive, especially from people like yourself who may not have known Vicki but her death deeply impacted you.
To go on step further and inquire on the case, and continue to wonder how much longer this will take reaffirms that Tucson will never forget Vick Lynne.
I will keep the blog up to date, and hope you will continue to root for us as we fight to bring justice for Vicki. It is people like you who continue to stand with us that will make it happen.
All my best,
Stephanie