Posted in Uncategorized on June 9th, 2006
”Bonnie Elizabeth Dorland was murdered by a coward on Holbrook Ave. in Flint, Michigan on May 31, 2006.” That was the opening line of an obituary I read in the Flint Journal the other day. In it, I felt both the grief and the anger of her family. She was a friend of my kids, and a sweet, small, pixie of a girl. She was only 26. At about the same time I looked down from my desk to see a column in another paper that read, “Search for Jimmy Hoffa’s Body at Milford Farm may exceed $250,000″. My mind raced in anger, for I know that kind of effort will never be spent finding the murderer of a small town girl with no rich parents, no famous last name, and no political ties. Lot of things in this world piss me off by their utter unfairness (maybe you’ve noticed?), but this one has me asking one of the most basic questions we all should ask ourselves. Should we value some lives more than others?
Let’s take a brief walk through some of the more egregious examples I’ve come across.
Probably the best example was Emilia Earhart, the first women to cross the Atlantic solo. When Emilia disappeared somewhere in the Pacific in 1937, the most costly air & search rescue of all time took place. The end cost was 4 million dollars and years of searching that still goes on today. Apparently Emilia’s life was worth a lot.
When J.F.K. jr. crashed his private plane off the coast of Massachusetts along with his wife Carolyn and sister-in-law Lauren, a massive underwater search was orchestrated that included the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S Navy and NOAA. Also used were helicopters, planes, and $120,000 worth of sonar time. He was then buried at sea using the USS Brisco, A Navy destroyer, at the request of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy. All this despite the fact that he was a non-military citizen who’s only claim to fame was being the son of an ex-president. Compare that to the usual loss at sea that entails one or maybe two coast guard planes doing a flyover.
Closer to home for me, Margaret Eby, a Provost at the University of Michigan-Flint was murdered on the Mott Estate grounds (very rich people and local philanthropists). Her 1986 murder investigation cost the city of Flint over 1 million dollars before Jeff Gorton was finally caught and convicted in 2002.
Now let’s compare that to my friend, Joey Arnold. Joey was a young local guitar player here in Flint for a heavy metal band. Joey also would occasionally sell marijuana to make extra money. That apparently was his undoing, as two people that he didn’t know, came to his door and forced their way in to rob him of his wares in broad daylight. In a subdivision where houses are less than 10 yards apart, the pair stabbed Joey repeatedly to death while his screams filled the neighborhood. Despite the fact that the police got good descriptions of the murderers and their car, a knife that was left behind, and even a partial license plate, 6 months later, no arrests had been made. Frustrated, Joey’s parents hired a private detective who delivered both murderers to the police in 2 weeks.
How can all this be, you ask? Well, most police and local government officials have an unofficial policy of D.S.A.F., or “Did Society A Favor”. They take it upon themselves to decide who deserves precious funds for investigations and who we’re better off without anyway. Those people, like my friend Joey, who sell pot, or are on welfare, simply don’t see the kind of funds or effort that their rich well connected counterparts do. Is that fair to their families? Is Joey’s mom’s grief any different than the grief of any other mom? Why is it we spend the most money on people who could most afford to pay for it themselves? Is justice something that should only be for the rich or well connected? Is there any doubt in anyone’s mind that the punishment for murder, or rape , or any other capital crime in this country is directly linked to who is killed or raped. Or who did the crime? I’m a true capitalist, but justice should not be a benefit of success.
Unfortunately, I’m also a realist. I know that there is no way to keep politics and money out of justice. Even if you could put lawyers in a pool drawn randomly, the rich could still hire legal advisors, and private detectives to tip the scales in their favor. I also know that political pressure mounts on overburdened police departments to solve high profile cases. But sometimes it feels like no one is even trying to make our system fairer.
My thoughts and prayers are with the friends and family of Bonnie Dorland. I know the odds of her killers being brought to justice are not that good. But I also know that there are people out there who may have seen something that night on Holbrook Ave, or may know something about this case or another case. To those people I plead, stand up, if we’re not going to get justice from the system, we have to create it for ourselves. Next time it may be your loved one killed, or robbed, or raped. Turn your back and someone will follow your lead and turn theirs. We all have to stick together against the madness that is consuming our neighborhoods, or we’ll all continue to suffer from it. Remember, all evil needs to prosper, is for good people to do nothing. R.I.P. Bonnie. H.C.
”Bonnie Elizabeth Dorland was murdered by a coward on Holbrook Ave. in Flint, Michigan on May 31, 2006.” That was the opening line of an obituary I read in the Flint Journal the other day. In it, I felt both the grief and the anger of her family. She was a friend of my kids, and a sweet, small, pixie of a girl. She was only 26. At about the same time I looked down from my desk to see a column in another paper that read, “Search for Jimmy Hoffa’s Body at Milford Farm may exceed $250,000″. My mind raced in anger, for I know that kind of effort will never be spent finding the murderer of a small town girl with no rich parents, no famous last name, and no political ties. Lot of things in this world piss me off by their utter unfairness (maybe you’ve noticed?), but this one has me asking one of the most basic questions we all should ask ourselves. Should we value some lives more than others?
Let’s take a brief walk through some of the more egregious examples I’ve come across.
Probably the best example was Emilia Earhart, the first women to cross the Atlantic solo. When Emilia disappeared somewhere in the Pacific in 1937, the most costly air & search rescue of all time took place. The end cost was 4 million dollars and years of searching that still goes on today. Apparently Emilia’s life was worth a lot.
When J.F.K. jr. crashed his private plane off the coast of Massachusetts along with his wife Carolyn and sister-in-law Lauren, a massive underwater search was orchestrated that included the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S Navy and NOAA. Also used were helicopters, planes, and $120,000 worth of sonar time. He was then buried at sea using the USS Brisco, A Navy destroyer, at the request of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy. All this despite the fact that he was a non-military citizen who’s only claim to fame was being the son of an ex-president. Compare that to the usual loss at sea that entails one or maybe two coast guard planes doing a flyover.
Closer to home for me, Margaret Eby, a Provost at the University of Michigan-Flint was murdered on the Mott Estate grounds (very rich people and local philanthropists). Her 1986 murder investigation cost the city of Flint over 1 million dollars before Jeff Gorton was finally caught and convicted in 2002.
Now let’s compare that to my friend, Joey Arnold. Joey was a young local guitar player here in Flint for a heavy metal band. Joey also would occasionally sell marijuana to make extra money. That apparently was his undoing, as two people that he didn’t know, came to his door and forced their way in to rob him of his wares in broad daylight. In a subdivision where houses are less than 10 yards apart, the pair stabbed Joey repeatedly to death while his screams filled the neighborhood. Despite the fact that the police got good descriptions of the murderers and their car, a knife that was left behind, and even a partial license plate, 6 months later, no arrests had been made. Frustrated, Joey’s parents hired a private detective who delivered both murderers to the police in 2 weeks.
How can all this be, you ask? Well, most police and local government officials have an unofficial policy of D.S.A.F., or “Did Society A Favor”. They take it upon themselves to decide who deserves precious funds for investigations and who we’re better off without anyway. Those people, like my friend Joey, who sell pot, or are on welfare, simply don’t see the kind of funds or effort that their rich well connected counterparts do. Is that fair to their families? Is Joey’s mom’s grief any different than the grief of any other mom? Why is it we spend the most money on people who could most afford to pay for it themselves? Is justice something that should only be for the rich or well connected? Is there any doubt in anyone’s mind that the punishment for murder, or rape , or any other capital crime in this country is directly linked to who is killed or raped. Or who did the crime? I’m a true capitalist, but justice should not be a benefit of success.
Unfortunately, I’m also a realist. I know that there is no way to keep politics and money out of justice. Even if you could put lawyers in a pool drawn randomly, the rich could still hire legal advisors, and private detectives to tip the scales in their favor. I also know that political pressure mounts on overburdened police departments to solve high profile cases. But sometimes it feels like no one is even trying to make our system fairer.
My thoughts and prayers are with the friends and family of Bonnie Dorland. I know the odds of her killers being brought to justice are not that good. But I also know that there are people out there who may have seen something that night on Holbrook Ave, or may know something about this case or another case. To those people I plead, stand up, if we’re not going to get justice from the system, we have to create it for ourselves. Next time it may be your loved one killed, or robbed, or raped. Turn your back and someone will follow your lead and turn theirs. We all have to stick together against the madness that is consuming our neighborhoods, or we’ll all continue to suffer from it. Remember, all evil needs to prosper, is for good people to do nothing. R.I.P. Bonnie. H.C.
4 comments:
Bonnie was my friend also, I know there was no manhunt, there was no media or billboards tell ya the truth I never even saw a fucking poster.. I loved that girl she was famous in my eyes. I read an article in the tri county times the other day saying they are draggin some slime ball up from Texas question him in about Bonnies murder, I guess his dna is a match.. I miss her so much it fucking hurts.
Ya the girl was a hooker ppl, a drug dealing hooker that lost her mustang and her life because of drugs, so sad u ppl r pothetic enough to worship a drug dealing hooker. Congratulations! And she lived in the abandon house she was found in ya she turned tricks there ask the neighbors. Lil white girl in all black neighborhood yup she stood out.
@ Anonymous,
I knew Bonnie and you couldn't be more wrong. She was a sweet, shy, girl who's only crime was not believing the truth of how God awful some of the mindless, violent people on the north end of Flint have become. (not all). Of course you make accusations against her to cover for your own misogynistic behavior and the sickness that has spead to your rotted brain that justifies such actions. You live by your warped philosophy and by the grace of God you will die by it at the hands of others that think just like you. That's the real truth that you can't accept.
Explains why you remain anonymous. Yeah she was sick from the drugs but I bet you wouldn't wish that on your family. She was still amazing. Addiction is not prejudice. That homeless whore you speak of was my best friend and saved my life.
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