As I was reading the Daily Herald article this morning I thought a lot about the sentencing of Adam Christenson. It’s difficult to conceive what Gigi and the rest of Liz’ family have gone through the past few years. Despite the near immediate arrest of this man it’s been 3 1/2 long years waiting for justice. At the end of the day it still seems to me that Adam Christenson has continued to do what he did for his whole life — skate through unnoticed and apparently with little regard from anyone to do anything about it.
Judge Booras has a chance to end that March 17th. Finally someone will have the ability to tell him that enough is enough. Someone needs to tell him finally and someone needs to deliver justice for Liz and her family. It appears that will finally come in a little over a month.
Mr. Christenson’s attorneys have done their job as they should have. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t state the way this has gone on has been a true horror for Liz’ family. Imagine it, 3 1/2 years of continued suffering while he skates from hearing to hearing, dodging justice at every turn, certainly without his freedom but certainly not paying for his horrific crime. On top of that, when one thinks he could be sentenced to as little as 20 years and be paroled far sooner than that is a horror I cannot imagine. This is not a man whose guilt has even been of any question, the physical evidence is overwhelming even without his confession.
To think that it has taken 3 1/2 years to adjudicate something so obvious is truly troubling for society but a nightmare to Liz’ family. I think it is time that we take a close look at what Adam Christenson stole on July 14, 2004.
According to prosecutors he came to the Willding house to retrieve a digital camera cable you can find for $5 at Best Buy or any electronics store. Why he couldn’t pawn a camera without it one will never know. Also according to prosecutors he had broken into the house and stole various items before, he went back for this cable so he could pawn it for drugs.
Only Mr. Christenson knew what he was there to steal that day, certainly Lizzie didn’t. All Lizzie knew was her home had been violated the day before and now someone was there to do it again — she wasn’t going to let that happen.
For that act of defending the serenity of her family’s home she paid with her life. One may think that only an insane person would take someone’s life for something of so little value, but that’s not what this was about. This was about someone finally telling Adam Christenson “no, you’re not going to do that”. For that act he unleashed an onslaught of savagery in the form of more than 40 stab wounds because no one tells Adam Christenson “no” apparently. Liz died when she bled to death. Judge Booras has a chance to tell Mr. Christenson “no” on March 17 and I hope that he will deliver the maximum sentence he can impose. The maximum is already far too little for what he has stolen.
He stole the life of a young, energetic, beautiful and talented girl. A young girl who was never given a chance at life because he stole that from her. He didn’t just steal though, he has given some terrible gifts as well. He has given a mother a lifetime of memories about how she found her little girl. He has given an entire family the anguish of being without their darling Liz. He has given sorrow and tears to the many friends that Liz had, sorrow for a life she didn’t have the opportunity to live. He has caused them to doubt themselves, to think if they could have done something different: picked a different place to live, done more after the first break-in, better secured the home or the litany of other things people think of in retrospect of such a terrible event. No matter how many times we may tell her family there was really nothing they could have done the thoughts still remain the same — the doubt, the sorrow, the grief will always be there for the rest of their lives.
Judge Booras has an opportunity to give something to Adam Christenson and that’s the time to think about what he’s done the rest of his life behind bars. This isn’t retribution, it isn’t revenge; this is justice for what he has done to so many people. Mr. Christenson has shown himself fully unfit to conduct himself in society to conduct a crime so heinous over something so trivial. Fortunately Judge Booras will have ample protection from Mr. Christenson in the confines of the courtroom, the last person who tried to stop him paid with her life.