Getting Away With Murder

The authorities on the island nation of Aruba announced on Tuesday that they are closing the books on the most notorious murder case in their history. Natalee Holloway, the pretty, blond teenager from Alabama was undoubtedly murdered in the spring of 2005. I once read a quote that stated, "when a person dies young, they lose the life they never got to live." The early portion of your existence was never meant as anything more than a preparation for what lies ahead. Natalee Holloway's life was snuffed out before she got her chance. Fate would inexplicably dictate that life would come to end in a most unceremonious way on a most ignominious 75 square mile Caribbean island. Natalee Holloway was almost certainly murdered back on May 30, 2005. She was with a group of her classmates to celebrate her high school graduation by going on what must have seemed like an exotic adventure to Aruba. What was supposed to be her last night on the island instead became her last night alive. She was last seen in the company of a local loser named, Joran van der Sloot and an additional pair of fellow losers and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, after a night of hanging out and a little drinking at a local bar. When she left the bar, few could imagine she would never be seen alive again.

Her body was never found either and it would seem, baring some unlikely miracle, it never will be. On Tuesday, prosecutors announced they were closing the books on this case. It would seem her killer or killers have gotten away with murder. If you're a completely fair minded human being, you may be inclined to believe that all people are innocent until proved guilty. But I put more stock in reality than equity. 18 year old girls just don't die of natural causes and seemingly vanish off the face of the earth very often. They are much more likely to lose their life to opportunistic and predatory punks with evil intentions. Only three people know exactly what happened to that girl on that late May evening more than two and one-half years ago, and God bless them, they're not talking. I only give the three of them credit for appearing to be smarter than they look. I initially thought this case would be a slam dunk and resolved very quickly. You had three mental midgets who didn't seem bright enough to ad-lib gastric discharge at a bean eating contest without cue cards. You had documented evidence of them lying to police and all three of them telling different versions of the same story.

What I failed to take into consideration, however, was the sheer ineptitude of Aruba's crack investigative force of keystone cops and van der Sloot's attorney father. Daddy definitely knew much more than he admitted and even though he failed in his attempt to raise a decent son, he excelled in counseling said son as to how beat a likely 2nd or 3rd degree murder rap. I have asked myself many times in the event that one day I have children, would I use my legal expertise to become an accessory after the fact to the murder of an innocent young woman. Would I commit a heinous felony and ethical failure, so my less than honorable son would remain free? How would I regard and respect my willing and grateful son in teaching him how to get away with a senseless murder? It's pointless to claim I can definitively answer these hypothetical questions, but I wonder nonetheless. I would after all, be fully cognizant of the consequences of my actions. But what would I do? I'm far from the definition of exemplary, but the only so called religious concept I subscribe to is the Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Obviously, I hope this scenario never comes into play.

I don't worry about these particular murderers or their families, however. What goes around, comes around and I want to believe those involved in the murder and disappearance of this girl will one day have their turn to suffer. I save my empathy for the family and friends of Natalee Holloway. She would probably be in her junior year of undergrad today. She'd be preparing for Christmas with her family and wondering how she did on her finals. She'd be making plans to get together with some of her good friends from high school. She might even be reminiscing about that crazy high school graduation trip to Aruba. Whatever she'd be doing, it would have been a hell of a lot better than being murdered and having her body disposed of who knows where. The final sad part of all of this is, if only the authorities could turn up her body. It is in rare cases possible to get a murder conviction without a corpse, but this case just isn't one of them. Any 3rd rate defense attorney could argue she's alive and well and living under a pseudonym happily ever after on Guam or in Cleveland. Fortunately, everybody must have their guilt proved beyond a reasonable doubt. It seems unfortunate, however when despicable murderers like we have here, can thumb their collective noses at justice and get away with murder........