Dear Raven,

[SouthEastSleuth]

How is your spiritual life I wonder? Do you feel at peace with yourself and your church? Have you found solace in the church? Based on information posted here about the Mormon church, your’s and Janet’s faith in the church, etc., I’ve taken it upon myself to further educate myself, at least a little, on Mormon beliefs, etc. I came across a proclamation by President Gordon Hinckley of the Mormon church, having to do with Family.

I’m not sure if you are familiar with the document, but the following is an excerpt:

"The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets."

Note: This proclamation was read by President Gordon B. Hinckley as part of his message at the General Relief Society Meeting held September 23, 1995, in Salt Lake City, Utah.



http://www.lds.org/newsroom/mediabook/0,15571,3881-1---1-11,00.html

Powerful writing, for sure. Do these words give you comfort? Guidance? Peace?

I’m struck by the emphasis on family. On the partnership between a husband and wife. Do you feel lost without your partner I wonder?

It’s you and Kaiden now. Extended families, sure. But you and Kaiden. And, Janet’s memory. Your wife. Kaiden’s mom.

Janet’s memory is alive and well here, for sure. I hope it lives in Utah, and in your heart…

Justice for Janet – someday, some way, some how.

Sincerely,

Someone who cares

In light of today's sad news, I wanted to re-read this letter to Raven. Immediately the highlighted lines, from the head of the Mormon church, jumped out at me:

Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity.


So, to add to the letter a little:

Dear Raven,

I hope your conscience is clear. I hope you mourn the loss of not only Janet, but your unborn child. I hope you are at peace with yourself, your church, and your God. If not, according to the teachings of your faith, the message would be clear:

We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God.


Sincerely,

Someone Who Cares

 

[golfmom]

Well, I hope Raven has a few dollars left in the memorial fund, because he might be needing it soon.

hmmmm new tires for the VX or an attorney to defend oneself from murder. Decisions, decisions.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

newsobserver.com | Local & State

... In court, Abaroa said he used the cash from the shoe sales for car repairs and paying bills...

What bills were you paying, Raven? Electricity? Rent? Medical expenses? Give me a break. You were paying for your damned toys.

I've given you the benefit of the doubt on these boards over and over again. I've tried to explain away your actions, (or lack thereof), trying to always present the alternate possibilities. I've looked like a bleeding-heart jackass many times on your behalf. Yet even I have to say that this claim about stealing from your employer to pay bills is infuriating, and is a complete and utter lie.

In your posts on the VX site, you were going to sell the VX ... then you weren't ... then you were ... then you weren't. The bottom line is that you never wanted to get rid of that vehicle because you felt as if it somehow defined you. You craved the attention you thought your VX could get you, and you basked in that attention when you realized you were indeed getting it. Even after purchasing it, (new, of course), it wasn't good enough. You had to have the biggest, best, prettiest VX on the site. What happened? You originally hated that vehicle and the bad financial decision you made in buying it until you found the VX site. Then when you saw how excited the other VX owners were, you just had to be a part of that. Yet not just a part of it - you wanted everyone else to envy you. You had to have a trailer hitch, you had to have a CB, you had to have a custom paint job. In one instance, you got into a power grab with another poster over a part. Another time, you didn't even know what the part was, yet you mentioned that you might want one! I'm sorry but to me this is not the behavior of someone that is desperately down on his luck. This is someone who not only wants to keep up with the Joneses but also wants to one-up them. Maybe this is a sickness of yours, a compulsion that ended up driving you into financial ruin. Because even when faced with impending financial devastation, the "looks" that you got when driving around in the VX seemed to be more important to you than doing the right thing. Or maybe it's more like adding layer after layer of shiny, flashy gift wrap to a empty box so it takes longer for people to realize that all they've really got is an outwardly attractive and appealing package that in actuality has nothing inside.

Even with all of the circumstantial evidence that seems to have piled up against you, you might be completely innocent of Janet's murder. But you are in fact guilty of felony embezzlement. So let's call it what it is. It was not stealing to keep food on the table. It was not stealing to be able to afford surgery or medicine for a sick loved one. It was stealing so that you could keep your toys, and continually modify them in a quest to have the biggest and the best. It was stealing so that you could try to maintain a lifestyle to which you are not entitled; a lifestyle that you hadn't earned. If you were that hard-up, you could have sold those vehicles to make some good, quick cash. Yet rather than sell them, in your alleged financial desperation you continued to upgrade them. You babbled about selling things but never actually did. Why not? Because you felt like you deserved these things but you were never willing to really work for them.

Your behavior was childish and criminal. Yet it was a mistake. We all make them. I would have been able to continue to defend you when appropriate if you had stood in front of the court like a man, and admitted what you did with honesty. You stole from the company because you saw the opportunity and wanted to see if you could get away with it. You wanted some pocket cash, some fun money. Had you stood up there, and admitted the error of your ways, I could have respected your courage and some possible new-found integrity. Instead, you tried to fool the court into taking pity on you, and apparently it worked. I think it's unfortunate because I think that you've been able to use this method to get out of a lot of problems throughout your life. I don't think that you've learned anything from it.

What you showed me on Tuesday is that you are not willing to admit your mistakes and accept responsibility for your actions. Until you are ready to call your behaviors what they truly are, you have learned nothing and remain remarkably untrustworthy. I will have to think twice before defending you again because I'm starting to realize that you might not deserve the benefit of the doubt. I'm also realizing that the lack of character you showed in the courtroom might have implications that reach far beyond stealing a few thousand dollars.

 

[LTUlegal]

:clap: Very well said, JG!!


Yup, stealing to add on to his toy collection yet STILL not paying the bills! Rent not paid, car payments not made. I'm sure there's more that I can't think of right now.

 

[L L & S]

for Jersey Girl. Very well written! And I agree.

 

[terminatrixator]

Jersey Girl, well written letter, I couldn't write a letter to Raven, because I would have to start with Dear Future Convicted Murderer, and to me, that would be the last nice thing I said to him.

:behindbar Dude, one of these days.....

 

[libraryg]

WooHoo Jersey Girl, you rock! :dance:
I agree 150%.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Thank you library, LTUlegal, terminatrixator, and LL&S, (and hey - thanks for the flowers too ... my first here on WS)!!! :dance:

Thanks also to SES for starting this thread. I've never really had anything to say to Raven before now but I'm completely p*ssed off that after everything that's happened, he couldn't even stand up there like a man and be honest about the reasons that he stole. After everything, he still can't own up to what he did. It was very therapeutic to have a place to vent. I highly recommend it to anyone that feels as if they've got something to get off of their chest.

Terminatrixator, I hope you're right. I hope an arrest comes soon. And I am willing to bet that Raven will be one of those inmates that will claim innocence to his dying day. He will never feel the need to get this off his chest because he feels no remorse for what he's done; he's a sociopathic monster and nothing more. I won't be fooled again.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Jersey Girl, well written letter, I couldn't write a letter to Raven, because I would have to start with Dear Future Convicted Murderer, and to me, that would be the last nice thing I said to him.

Any chance of you writing one and pm'ing it to all of us? I would LOVE to see your letter to Raven!!!

 

[golfmom]

Any chance of you writing one and pm'ing it to all of us? I would LOVE to see your letter to Raven!!!

It might involve some cherries and chicken feathers!

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

It might involve some cherries and chicken feathers!

 

[terminatrixator]

Actually, driving in the car today, I'm in the car singing and some of the words from "Epic" by Faith No More kinda grabbed me:

You want it all but you can't have it
It's in your face but you can't grab it
It's alive, afraid, a lie, a sin
It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win
It's dark, it's moist, it's a bitter pain
It's sad it happened and it's a shame
You want it all but you can't have it

 

[ewwwinteresting]

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/2749834p-9187604c.htmlI will have to think twice before defending you again because I'm starting to realize that you might not deserve the benefit of the doubt. I'm also realizing that the lack of character you showed in the courtroom might have implications that reach far beyond stealing a few thousand dollars.

Great letter JG!

Since it took you awhile to come around to seeing the "real" raven...not knowing him, that the ones that do know him, haven't come to his defense because they see the "real" raven and don't know if he is actual innocent of this murder.

 

[lauriej]

..jersey.......

.......astounding letter!
...i had to read it over a couple of times to take it all in............you hit each and every nail ON the head...and drove it home...

...astounding that the judge bought his "poor me.....sob sob............i had bills to pay your honour".............song and dance...

...sure the ADA could have given him the heads up, but doesn't the judge ( who's DECIDING a case) have some sort of obligation as well in knowing the background when he's sentencing a defendant............???
...as far as what we've read in the media, the judge didn't even know raven's wife had been murdered.......the judge DOES live in orange county right??? what ELSE did he not bother to know about raven ?

.......a possible 12 plus years dropped to a few months suspended sentence....it's quite pathetic..........
...raven sure got away with that one...................i do hope the same judge won't be on the bench once the Murder Trial comes along..........

 

[Moxie]

Actually, driving in the car today, I'm in the car singing and some of the words from "Epic" by Faith No More kinda grabbed me:

You want it all but you can't have it
It's in your face but you can't grab it
It's alive, afraid, a lie, a sin
It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win
It's dark, it's moist, it's a bitter pain
It's sad it happened and it's a shame
You want it all but you can't have it

Wow. How appropriate. Sad too. But spot on, Term.

 

[terminatrixator]

..jersey.......

.......astounding letter!
...i had to read it over a couple of times to take it all in............you hit each and every nail ON the head...and drove it home...

...astounding that the judge bought his "poor me.....sob sob............i had bills to pay your honour".............song and dance...

...sure the ADA could have given him the heads up, but doesn't the judge ( who's DECIDING a case) have some sort of obligation as well in knowing the background when he's sentencing a defendant............???
...as far as what we've read in the media, the judge didn't even know raven's wife had been murdered.......the judge DOES live in orange county right??? what ELSE did he not bother to know about raven ?

.......a possible 12 plus years dropped to a few months suspended sentence....it's quite pathetic..........
...raven sure got away with that one...................i do hope the same judge won't be on the bench once the Murder Trial comes along..........

Actually, by law the Judge can only hear information that is presented before him, any news he hears outside of what is before him (for example, if I decided to write to the Judge and he reads my letter regrarding the murder PRIOR to him hearing the case) he would have had to recluse him from being the Judge on this case. He is only allowed to take into consideration what the DA presented.

I was ticked off too, but did research on the subject and it was the DA that should have brought this up in court, or had informed the court.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Since it took you awhile to come around to seeing the "real" raven...not knowing him, that the ones that do know him, haven't come to his defense because they see the "real" raven and don't know if he is actual innocent of this murder.

We do keep waiting to hear someone - anyone - give us some facts and/or theories that could help us to look in a different direction, huh? Where are all of you? Believe it or not, we don't want to believe that Raven is guilty of this but we don't have anything else to go on. If other theories are out there, please let us know what they are. We're willing to do the legwork to find out if there's a possibility other than Raven.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Thanks, lauriej.

 

[ewwwinteresting]

We do keep waiting to hear someone - anyone - give us some facts and/or theories that could help us to look in a different direction, huh? Where are all of you? Believe it or not, we don't want to believe that Raven is guilty of this but we don't have anything else to go on. If other theories are out there, please let us know what they are. We're willing to do the legwork to find out if there's a possibility other than Raven.

Still waiting are ya, JG...maybe no other theories are realistic:waitasec: .

 

[lauriej]

Actually, by law the Judge can only hear information that is presented before him, any news he hears outside of what is before him (for example, if I decided to write to the Judge and he reads my letter regrarding the murder PRIOR to him hearing the case) he would have had to recluse him from being the Judge on this case. He is only allowed to take into consideration what the DA presented.

I was ticked off too, but did research on the subject and it was the DA that should have brought this up in court, or had informed the court.

......thanx term......

...i didn't know that the judge couldn't do his/her prior research..........the DA sure showed up un-prepared in this case..............
...let's hope the DA will do some homework once we go to trial on the murder charge..........