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Legal Herald - World Legal Issues

BLOGGER'S MURDER TRIAL

May 22nd 2006 08:27

When I came across this case, I didn’t really know what to think...

Her name is Rachelle Waterman. She’s a 17 year old from Alaska who is a member of her school volleyball team, the Academic Decathlon and the local choir. (Shock: there are sporty, smart AND musical people out there??)

Rachelle Waterman with her father
from www.wikipedia.com


For several years, Rachelle had been keeping a blog of her life. She wrote about her day-to-day activities, interactions with her parents and posted photos of herself. Nothing out of the ordinary. She appeared to be no different to any other girls her age and from the sounds of things, she had a lot going for her.

But unlike most teenagers, Rachelle was on trial for the murder of her mother, Lauri Waterman. (Real point of shock: OHMYGOD, your own mother?? I mean, I don’t think anyone should be killing anyone, but especially not the person who brought you into the world.)

Lauri was abducted, attacked with a blunt object then doused in petrol and set alight in a car. Her daughter was accused of having conspired with two ex-boyfriends Jason Arrant and Brian Radel to carry out the killing. And let’s not forget poor Mr Waterman, father of the accused and husband of the victim. I can’t even begin to imagine how he must have been feeling throughout the trial.

Arrant and Radel testified against Rachelle.(Suspicious, two ex boyfriends, working together?) So did she do it? Many people thought so. But many people thought otherwise. The police seized her computer and used it to search her files and in particular, her blogs, for any evidence relevant to the trial.

The verdict was recently returned in favour of Rachelle. The judge dropped all charges against her. Had she been convicted, Rachelle Waterman would have faced 317 years behind bars.

You gotta feel sorry for the girl. She lost her mum and instead of having time to mourn and grieve that loss, she had to be interrogated, examined and cross-examined, by police, lawyers and the entire world. Sure, she’s had her name cleared, but she will probably always be known as the girl who was on trial for the murder of her own mother. Even worse still, Lauri never wanted her daughter to date either Arrant or Radel. Had Rachelle listened to her mum, maybe she would still be alive today...

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