We, the family of Julie and Robin Kerry, and Tom Cummins, would prefer to remain beyond the public debate about Reginald Clemons, as we are not responsible for his fate. What we are responsible for is protecting the memory and integrity of his victims and preventing, as much as possible, the distortion of the truth.
It's unsurprising that Clemons and his supporters are engaged in a series of elaborate distractions, in hopes of saving his life. It's even predictable that they will distort the facts in these efforts. But it's abhorrent that the media have become such willful participants in this charade. It is a further abomination that Amnesty International has sullied their honor by becoming thoughtless agitators for a man so ill-deserving of their support.
Anyone who looks beyond the soapbox ravings of extremists can access the established facts of Clemons' irrefutable guilt. Police records and trial transcripts reveal abundant evidence, and are public record. We encourage people to read them, in search of truth.
To those who cry foul because of the demographics of this crime, remember that Antonio Richardson, one of the two minor-aged perpetrators, was offered the same deal as the sole white defendant and other minor, Daniel Winfrey. It was Richardson's choice to turn that deal down. To omit that fact in the public discourse is dishonest. We urge caution in the discussion of race. Are Julie and Robin, who had Puerto Rican and Lebanese heritage, and worked tirelessly for racial equality, less deserving of justice because of the color of their skin?
To those who would suggest that Tom Cummins is guilty: Shame on you. Tom has suffered 21 years of horror at the hands of the very man who attempted to murder him. Tom's only crime was surviving when he was supposed to die. His so-called "confession" was no more than a single desperate utterance of "believe whatever you want" at a moment of abject despair; that moment is in no way comparable to the recorded, signed, fully realized confessions of all four perpetrators. Despite fabrications to the contrary, Tom's story never changed, even after the unspeakable trauma and sleep deprivation he suffered throughout his ordeal. What did change were the police-manufactured suppositions in which Tom was cast as a suspect. Tom did not create, or confess to, any of those disgusting theories.
All four offenders' confessions, obtained individually and without collective knowledge, corroborated Tom's story. To pretend that some alleged police brutality produced four identical confessions, from four individual suspects, in four separate interviews, conducted by a variety of interrogators, is senseless.
To the matter of DNA: Because of Clemons' monstrous actions, our family never recovered the body of his rape victim, our beloved sister Robin Kerry. Julie's body was found weeks after the crime, hundreds of miles downriver, and of course there was no remaining DNA evidence. Any suggestion that a "rape kit" conducted on her remains should exonerate Clemons is ludicrous.
It's difficult to open our grief to public scrutiny. But ultimately, we are armed with the insurmountable truth, and if we do not stand up and shout that truth aloud, then we become culpable in the cycle of willful amnesia. Julie and Robin were intelligent, progressive, passionate forward-thinkers. They were supporters of Amnesty International, and that organization has willfully misled the public about the facts of their brutal murder. Amnesty International has betrayed the memory of two of its most ardent soldiers, and for that, they should feel deeply ashamed.
It is important to hold a reasonable public discourse about the morality and future of capital punishment. But Clemons' indisputable guilt should have no bearing on that discussion. Mr. Clemons knows what he did. We cannot allow him to impugn the integrity of our brother Tom Cummins any longer, or to disparage the good names of Nels Moss and others who worked to bring these men to justice. We will not allow him to mock the memory of the two beautiful young women whose blood is on his hands.
Signed by Jamie Kerry Trudeau, Michael Trudeau, Richard Kerry, Jeanine Cummins, Jacquie Cummins, Gene Cummins, Kay Cummins, Kathy Cummins, Lisa Cummins Thess, Steve Thess, Kelly Thess Van Sciever, Danielle Thess Lucarelli, Steven M. Thess, Patti Cummins Southerland, Jacob Southerland, Christi Southerland Lounsbury, Carrie Southerland Bedolla, Hoss Bedolla, Daniel Southerland, Sheila Cummins Oliveri, Bob Oliveri, Tony Oliveri, Mike Oliveri, Nick Oliveri, Richard Cummins, Gabrielle Cummins, Kevin Cummins, Maria Cummins, Nicholaus Cummins, James Kerry Sr., Kim Kerry, James Kerry Jr., Judy Kerry Weinbauer, Bob Weinbauer, Carmella Weinbauer Mattingly, Rebecca Weinbauer Meara, Pat Meara, Isabella Meara, Olivia Meara, Eileen Meara, Ed Kerry, Alice Kerry, Matt Kerry, Andrew Kerry, Elliot Kerry, Shelly Kerry Altman, Cole Altman, Tate Altman, Hailey Altman, Mary Bennett Altman.