Sober Sunday

No, I don't mean I haven't been drinking. Although I haven't been. I have been trying to figure out what to write for one of Wendy's Small Town Sunday Snapshot posts. When I review the past week, the only thing I can think of is the murder last Monday, and that is not a typical post subject.

But, there you have it. An 80 year old woman was found dead in her bed, and her son, who lived with her, has been arrested for murder. He says she was alive when he left at 3 AM. I realize that terrible things happen every minute, in towns all over, but it's true what all those neighbors always say. "Nobody would think he would kill anybody. He was quiet, a bit 'slow'."

This is a small town, population approximately 4000, and although we moved here in 1987, we certainly don't know everyone, or even half of everyone. I didn't know the victim, but did know her son. Neither drove, so he could often be seen walking the 3 or 4 miles to the library, where he signed up for computer time to look up Star Trek information. The past few years he worked at the transfer station, where he was very diligent about who threw what where. He was not one of the people who would let you dump a little stuff in the demolition trailer without a fee. We tried to bypass him when possible.

The neighbors said they knew something was wrong when the shades weren't up by 7:30 and the wash wasn't out on the line. Their house looks very neat and tidy behind the yellow police tape. The judge ordered psychiatric and psychological testing, and I expect he may be found not competent to be tried in court. I think if it were my family involved I would hope that would be the case. Because how terrible would it be if a sane person did that?

So, I am sorry for the Debbie Downer story, and I hope that writing this will let it slip to the back of my mind. Also hoping for a much better week coming up.