Sixth Story About The Trial, part I
Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009
A little post script to the fifth story and then a pre-script to the sixth:
The post-script: I have a good friend named Mary Ann Jepsen. She helped us with our very first parenting class last spring. Mary Ann told her brother, Bishop Robert Baker of Birmingham, AL about what happened to Brian and what we have been doing. He told the good people at EWTN, the world-wide Catholic TV network based in Birmingham. Chris and I were on one of their shows about 5 years ago, before we started The Run The Race Club.
They asked us to come back this past July and so we did. We had the chance to talk about Brian, his life, death and his work after his death: the Foundation and the Club. Fr. Mark Mary and Doug Berry were excellent hosts. Fr. Mark posted comments about the show and parts of the show online. That is the video the defense attorneys watched of us. We never know how far reaching an act of ours can be. A good act or a bad one.
The pre-script: Last May Chris and I received an e-mail from Paul Kieda. He is the great friend from Franciscan University who is keeping www.aaronandbrian.com up-to-date and so organized. It is a real labor of love and we are very grateful to Paul.
Paul received an e-mail from a girl named Michelle. He forwarded it to us with the warning that not only was it long, it was about Terrell Yarbrough. I had to brace myself to read it because I didn't know what it would contain and once you have read words, well - you've read them. You've absorbed them. They make an impact. Again for good or bad.
It was a rambling letter. Michelle knew Terrell before the murders. She has a baby with Terrell's brother. She wrote to give us a jumble of feelings and thoughts, making it clear she was torn between thinking she had to defend Terrell to a degree and also acknowledge what he did. She also wanted us to know that she tried...she tried to keep him in Pittsburgh that night, at her place, but instead he left for Steubenville... She told us that Terrell had a bad childhood, he loved jewelry (stole her jewelry) and that's why he took Brian's rosary; he was sweet to her children but he had a "bad side" too. It was a lot to read and after Chris and I read the letter a few times, we thought it would be best to wait to respond to her, when we could sort out all she told us.