3 Days Remaining

So I woke up this morning to my phone blowing up with messages. “Have you seen that Bobby has a temporary stay till 7 pm tomorrow…. not a true stay but something about time for legal docs to be submitted and reviewed. I barely had the sleep out of my eyes. Definitely wasn’t out of bed yet and here comes Bobby….

This research that I started a year ago which includes my communication with Bobby Joe Long seems to have taken on a life of its own. But I guess the is how things feel when one is working outside of their comfort zone. I truly am forging a path for my own interest that I don’t have anyone to look to for guidance. What I do have are many friends and peers who are criminal justice professionals and are guiding me and keeping me grounded along the way.

Today one of those professionals is one of the owners of my favorite place to chill, hang out and work when I want to be creative - the coffee bar Blue Door. The owners are attorneys. William is a defense attorney so guess who I am going to drive crazy with a thousand questions? Most people think that criminal justice and the law are one and the same. That is soooo not true. I am a victimologist and criminologist so I stay in my lane…. I am NOT and never could be a lawyer.

4 Days Remaining

So today, I made my plans official and will leave on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning to head up to Florida State Prison. I have decided that I will be outside with both supporters and protestors of the death penalty during Bobby’s execution. As I continually write Bobby’s name in such a familiar fashion, I wonder if people will think that I am personally connected with him…. it does feel weird to refer to someone in such a casual way while not being in a relationship of any kind - be it friendship or not.

Let me clear this up for anyone who pays any attention to my mental and emotional ramblings here… I in no way consider Bobby a friend nor am I viewing this process from anything other than a professional perspective. Am I personally invested in the research? Absolutely, I don’t think I could call myself a victimologist if I wasn’t it.

Then why do I so effortlessly refer to Florida Inmate # 494041 as Bobby? Because I realize that he is a person just like everyone else. This person just happens to be part man and part monster.

5 Days Remaining

Today I am focused on the victims and not on Bobby Joe Long. I have questions about what he is doing, thinking and feeling but now my thoughts turn to the surviving victim, Lisa McVey Noland and the other victims of rape, those who were murdered, their families, Bobby’s family and all of those this case has personally touched.

How are those people coping and getting through each day? Bobby’s legal team files one appeal after the other in hopes of earning him a stay. I understand their fight. I am sure most offenders would be doing the exact same thing….

But how does this affect the other players in this tragedy? Families who are ready to have Bobby meet his maker so they may finally have the justice they desire. I do not believe in “closure”. At least not in the sense that once he is no longer breathing, people will magically feel better.

I think closure is probably more of the opportunity to no longer live in flux every day…. reliving the fight of ensuring Bobby pays for what was done to their loved ones. Some families choose not to seek the death penalty because it would mean appearing at every hearing for a decade or more to speak on behalf of the victims who are no longer able to speak for themselves. Some can not cope with that and I do not blame them.

That was not the case with the victims and their families in this case. These brave individuals pushed through to ensure Bobby paid his debt in the only way he could…. legally. For there is no way one can HONESTLY make up for the loss and destruction he left in his path.

Yes, today my thoughts are with the family of those who have suffered… including Bobby’s.

6 Days Remaining

Checked the mail again…. again nothing

Checked with Bethany from the Pros and Cons Podcast… she hasn’t gotten anything either.

-frustrated but coming to terms with the fact that I may not hear anything from Bobby again. His execution is in less than a week and I am not sure what his daily life is like. Wrapping up loose ends such as time with family, clergy, legal issues concerning appeals. Paperwork that pertains to who gets his body and what he wants done with it.

I am starting to be less selfish as I realize now that time is short and speaking with me is truly not a priority for Bobby Joe Long. Treating him as I would any other person who is about to pass…. I am sure he has more important things to attend to than giving me the answers that a dozen others before me have tried and failed to get.

I still wonder what he is doing and thinking and feeling…. remorse? regret? fear?

7 Days Remaining

Today PCubed and I are recording another episode of the podcast. I am presenting Bobby’s case at CrimeCon in New Orleans in June. I am a victimologist and I want people to know the victims for more than being a victim. Sad thing which seems to be the norm for us…

very little information exists. And nothing positive. It is sad.

We are five victims in on this mini podcast season. I am hoping that we can find more information to talk about the women after Bobby is executed. PCubed and I will be requesting Bobby’s legal docs and if we find anything, we will definitely share it with you.

8 Days Remaining

I completely forgot to mention Vinnie’s emails because of course I got off track yesterday once I started to talk about Bobby.

No mail from Bobby today but I have had people who have some connection to him reach out to me. People want or need to talk and some just want to ask questions. Very interesting to see how connections are made. How small the world is. How many people one man can affect…. a couple of these individuals are very interesting and I look forward to working with them…. you know who you are.

So Vinnie…

One of the things I asked Vinnie last November what - “exactly why did you kill Gerard Schafer?”

I can’t believe it. Vinnie does not play games with me like Bobby. No prison porn. No requests for posed pictures. Just an answer and a statement that he is more than willing to speak with me. Ask away…

Guess what?

I was wrong in my guess of why he killed Schaefer. I wasn’t even close.

NOPE… not telling you yet.

I need time to ponder this and to get more answers. This will be something that I speak with PCubed about and I am sure we will add it as a supplement to the Murder and Mysteries with Massnick podcast.