I sent you a message last night about the conviction and sentencing of 2 young
people in their 20s arrested, tried and convicted for cemetery mischief in
Shelby Co., IN under the "cemetery mischief" statute enacted back in the
summer of 1999. This conviction was under Public Law 100, which we worked so
hard to pass back in 1999.
The Shelbyville News on 8/14/2000 ran a story about 12 tombstones being
toppled at Boggstown Cemetery.
On 9/15/2000, the Shelbyville News ran a follow-up story on the vandalism at
Boggstown Cemetery when a Shelbyville woman reported that two of her friends
had stolen two tombstones and put one of them in her basement. The second
stone was found in a suspect's vehicle. The case was sent to the Shelby Co.
Prosecutor, who filed charges against the suspects (aged 20 and 27). The
tombstones were returned to Boggstown Cemetery.
On 3/24/2000, the Shelbyville News and Indianapolis Star reported that Robert
Bohlen, 20, of Shelbyville on Thursday, 3/22/2000, was sentenced by Shelby
Circuit Judge Charles D. O'Connor to one year in prison and two years on
probation, plus an additional year of incarceration for violating probation on
an earlier, unrelated theft.
Bohlen's 27-year-old companion, Chrisann Michelle Tindle, also of Shelbyville,
was sentenced early last week by Shelby Superior Court 1 Judge Jack Tandy to
serve 240 days on house arrest in addition to the 24 days she spent in jail
before resolution of her case.
All of these news stories are linked on the INPCRP "In the News" page at:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~inpcrp/inthenews.html
That's the basic background. Now, HERE'S MY IDEA:
If just a FEW of those of you on the INPCRP e-mail list (and we presently have
152 subscribers as of today) would take TEN MINUTES out of your day to write a
short, concise letter to the Editors of the Indianapolis Star AND the
Shelbyville News lauding the efforts of the local law enforcement officials,
the prosector and the two local judges (one was a Shelby Circuit Court Judge,
the other was a Shelby Superior Court Judge), there is an excellent chance
that the Editors of these respective papers will run at least one or two of
those letters.
Of particular importance is as many of you as possible sending short letters
to the Editor of the Indianapolis Star. The General Assembly is still in
session. The Senators and Representatives read the Star religiously while
they are in session. If they see 1 or 2 or 3 Letters to the Editor in the
paper congratulating the local officials in Shelby Co., it will go a LONG way
to reinforcing our past efforts to educate the Legislature on the urgency of
protecting cemeteries in this state.
It can also be important to help reinforce the importance of investigating and
prosecuting this sort of crime to our county sheriffs and prosecutors and
judges throughout the state.
Please send your letters (including your full name, address and telephone
number for verification purposes) to:
stareditor(a)starnews.com
AND
bhansen(a)shelbynews.com
Lois