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February 26, 2008 Meeting Highlights: Jeff & Judee's Story
Although some in attendance were familiar with the story, Judee gave a brief summary of how she and Jeff met, “courted”, and were married...all behind prison walls. From the time he and Judee met, Jeff was always insistent about his innocence, and though Judee was at first very skeptical, she eventually came to believe Jeff’s affirmation of innocence. In fact, Judee became the strongest advocate of Jeff’s innocence, and she briefly described the legal journey that led to the parole board's decision to recommend that Jeff's sentence be commuted to a number of days. Recent Developments More recently Jeff and Judee's story was featured in a publication Living Stones Magazine, which is distributed online as well as hard copy. It was the online version of the story that caught the attention of Duane McCormick’s family, the man that Jeff had allegedly murdered. Judee explained the unlikely circumstances that led to the families’ discovery of the online article. Through this discovery, the victim's family contacted Judee to express their anger and displeasure with the article. Judee understood the reason for the anger and pain while at the same time honored her conviction of Jeff's innocence. Judee was (and still is) striving for this to be a win/win for both parties: freedom for Jeff but also forgiveness and reconciliation for the victim’s family. What does the Future Hold? Judee is prayerfully looking towards the future, for a time and a way that might actually lead to Jeff's freedom. Although she could have pursued national attention (she had been contacted by both the Dr. Phil and Montel Williams show) for the story, Judee does not want the story sensationalized, as she believes this would ultimately be counterproductive. Predictably, the hard edge the secular media often puts on stories such as this certainly would not reflect the Christian spirit of grace and forgiveness that Jeff and Judee’s story is all about. Other Highlights of NLC Meeting Melanie Bliss tells of a recent 'hit and run' of which her son's vehicle was the victim. Melanie shared her feelings very honestly about this matter. The 'reconciliation approach was suggested as a possible way to deal with the issue, referring primarily to the Victim/Offender Reconciliation Program (VOP), headed by Lois Janzen Preheim, our guest at a 2007 NLC meeting. |
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