Lakewood Police Department Reaches Out to Victim’s Family

            The mother of eight year-old Anthony Sutko was stabbed to death by Anthony’s father, Tony Sutko. While trying to save his mother, Anthony’s father then stabbed him nine times and left him for dead. Anthony spent over a month in the hospital recovering from his near fatal wounds. Anthony’s aunt made a temporary move from Florida to Lakewood to take care of Anthony and to begin the process of gaining permanent custody of him. Some of the police officers from the newly formed Lakewood Police Department took a special interest in Anthony and would take the time to pick him up and bring him over to the department to visit with the officers. He enjoyed being around the K-9 dog and his handler, as well as spending time with Chief Larry Saunders and Lieutenant Bret Farrar. The Lakewood police officers and the Lakewood firefighters helped to raise money for Anthony and his aunt to travel to and from Florida while the custody matters were taking place. A police escort to the SeaTac Airport was provided for Anthony and his aunt when they left for Florida for the last time. Anthony is adjusting well to his new living environment in Florida. I recently talked to him on the phone and he asked me to tell Chief Saunders and Lieutenant Farrar that he is playing on a baseball team and he is singing in the children’s choir at church.

             So many times the police are put under the
microscope while doing their job. What the Lakewood
police did to reach out to Anthony never hit the
newspapers. Violent Crime Victim Services would like to
applaud the Lakewood police officers and the Lakewood
firefighters for the support they gave to little Anthony
during a very heartbreaking time in his life.
                                                                    by Lew Cox

Two Cop Killers Go To Prison

            Two cop killers go to prison. One gets life without the possibility of parole and the other gets only 34 years. In March of 2001, Officer Steven Underwood of the Des Moines Police Department was gunned down on a dangerous section of Pacific Highway South. Underwood left behind, at the age of 33, a wife, a twoyear old son and a saddened police department. Officer Underwood was a five year police veteran who was murdered by Charles Champion, a locally known gangster. It took four years of defense attorney wrangling before the King County Prosecutor elected to accept a plea bargain of 34 years. The State of Washington originally sought the death penalty against Champion, but later dropped it when the plea agreement took place. Unfortunately, the case against Champion got weaker and weaker over the four years of court delays.

            In June of 2002 Officer Richard Herzog of the New Castle Police Department was shot and killed by his own gun when Ronald Matthews, a crazed drug addict, wrestled his gun away from him. Officer Herzog was a seven-year veteran of the King County Sherriff’s Department. He left behind a wife and two teenage daughters. Matthews went to trial and was convicted of first-degree murder. It took the jury less then two hours to convict Matthews and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

            How does one cop killer get life and another one only 34 years? The Underwood family and the Des Moines Police Department are still shaking their heads over that one. Sometimes the system works to the fullest and sometimes it does not.

            Violent Crime Victim Services solutes the Underwood family and the Herzog family for maintaining a respectful posture and attitude throughout all the challenges they faced from the criminal justice system. Through the pain of it all they kept their chin up with dignity.

Wheelchair Ramp

            Katy Hall became a murder victim in the home of her eighty-year-old mother in March 2005. At the time of her death, Katy was the caregiver for her mother, who is confined to a wheelchair. Katy’s mother can no longer live in her home because of the traumatic incident that took place there. Her mother moved into another daughter’s home in the Lakewood area but the home was not wheelchair accessible. The Lakewood Rotary Club became aware of this need and wrote a check to help pay for construction of a ramp. Katy’s family and Violent Crime Victim Services are grateful for the Lakewood Rotary Club reaching out to a family surviving the tragic loss of a loved one.

Candlelight Vigil

            During National Victim Right’s Week, Violent Crime Victim Services held its annual candlelight vigil at Peace Assembly Church in Tacoma. There were eightyfive co-victims of homicide who were in attendance for this year’s event. This year’s theme was “There is no justice until there is justice for victims”. Pastor Joe Miriello led a song service and Sharon Beattie-White and Amy Heminovich provided special music.

            The service concluded with each family coming forward and lighting a candle in memory of their loved one. Many tears were shed during this time but each family found the courage to honor the memory of one dearly missed. Next year there will be another candlelight vigil during Victim Right’s Week and unfortunately there will be new families attending the vigil for the first time.


Letter from the Executive Director

Does the Pain Ever Go Away?

            I realize from a recent experience that one never gets over burying a child that became a murder victim. I attended the state of California parole hearing for the slayer of my daughter, Carmon, last October. She was murdered in August of 1987. This was the first time that I had ever seen the man that shot her six times and killed her. A parole board commissioner opened the meeting and he asked the offender to tell about the crime. The offender told him that he was not going to speak. The commissioner told him that it would not go well for him if he did not speak about the crime. I believe that he was not willing to tell why he killed Carmon due to my presence at the hearing. So, since he refused to speak about the crime, the commissioner could not proceed with the questions about the crime. I was the last person to speak at the hearing after the Los Angeles County DA read a letter from the Los Angeles Police Department stating their reasons for not wanting this killer released, and at the same time the DA stated why he didn’t want him released as well. I had been waiting seventeen years to give my impact statement of how this guy has affected my family and I. It was a surreal moment for me. I couldn’t believe that I was actually sitting in the same room with the killer of my daughter. Going into the hearing I wasn’t sure what kind of emotions I still had stored up inside of me. I was soon to find out when I started to speak. As I gazed into his eyes, with my jaw quivering and voice cracking, I told him and the commissioner of the impact of receiving the call from my son that Carmon had been murdered. I told him of the special relationship that Carmon and I had. And I told him my concerns if he is ever released from prison. Halfway through my statements my voice became paralyzed and I was unable to speak because of my emotions. My eyes were full of tears and rolling down my cheeks. During that time I fixed my eyes on the large clock at the end of the room and I asked the Lord to give me the strength to continue. It took about a minute for me to regain my composure and resume speaking. I finished by saying, “We can’t change what has happened to Carmon. My family and I are, however, gravely concerned that if he is ever paroled would he kill another woman if he is rejected


by her. We know that he was not high on drugs or alcohol because he didn’t use them. He murdered her in pure rage. We do not want another family to have to go through what the Cox family has had to endure because of his fatal action”. After I spoke, the commissioners broke to discuss their decision.

            We were called back to resume the hearing within five minutes. The parole board denied him parole because they believe that the crime was committed with extreme cruelty. He had a total lack of sympathy for shooting and killing a young woman. He was then asked by the commissioner if Ms. Cox had attacked him? He said that she attacked him after he shot her. He displays anti-social behavior and expressed no remorse for his crime. The hearing concluded and the commissioner set his next parole hearing for October 2006. It appears that, perhaps, I will have to be dealing with this man’s parole hearings every two years for the rest of my life.

            Very few of the families that I’ve worked with have ever had to deal with attending a parole hearing for the person who has murdered their loved one. Washington State has not had a parole board since the sentencing reform act of 1984. When someone is
sentenced in the state of Washington for a violent crime they are sentenced under a standard range. Whatever time they receive, it will be hard time.

            We who have experienced the violent death of a loved one have been forever changed into a “new normal”. We can never go back to how things were, we have to integrate this tragic loss into our lives and move on without our loved one. We will never get over their significance and their importance in our lives. There will be events like appeal hearings, a release of an inmate, or a special date that will remind us how much they are missed and how they were violently taken from us by the actions of another person. The pain never really goes away!
 
The Washington State Supreme Court Makes a Dangerous Decision
            On October 24, 2002, the Washington State Supreme Court decided that the language in the current criminal code, which has been in effect since 1976, does not allow the use of felony assault to support a felony murder conviction. “Felony Murder” is a phrase used to describe the crime of murder in the second degree. Under this definition, a person can be found guilty of murder in the second degree if it is proven that she/he committed a felony and, that in the course and furtherance of committing that felony, she/he or a co-participant in the crime caused the death of another person, even if the death was not caused intentionally. This decision was appealed and the Supreme Court upheld their decision by 8 – 0 vote.             They waited to announce that decision until right after the November 2004 election. What does this decision mean? There are over 350 murderers in the State of Washington that are petitioning the courts to be released. The law that put them in prison for murder was deleted just like you delete a program out of your computer. We are seeing families that thought the
person(s) who murdered their loved one and was sent to prison would be there for a long time. This decision changed all that. Now these families are hit with reliving the traumatic experience that affected them when their loved one was murdered 10 or 15 years ago. Violent Crime Victim Services is; however, helping many of these families cope with the criminal justice system once again.

 

VCVS First Annual Fundraiser Luncheon

            On Friday, September 23, 2005 VCVS will be holding its first annual fundraiser luncheon at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Tacoma. Amy Clancy, the weekend anchor for Channel 7 News, will be the keynote speaker. There is no charge for the luncheon but a request for a donation to Violent Crime Victim Services will be posed. If you are interested in attending please call the office at (253) 383-5254 for more information.
Estate Planning

            Throughout the history of the U.S. many people have made provision in their estate to leave funding to a charitable organization or a religious institution of their choosing. Those who leave part of their estate to a non-profit organization do so to insure that what they care about continues on after their death. Please call the office for information to be sent to you concerning adding VCVS to your estate planning.