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• Previous Editorals

  • A Taxing Problem
  • Is it Time for Business License Fees?
  • "Cha Cha Changes"
  • Was City Council Unkind?
  • The Machine Age or Paying the Price

"They Did What?"

 

I suppose maybe the hardest thing for a person to wrap their head around in regard to Fred and Laura Eschler’s involvement in the Gabriel Morris murder case is the extreme naiveté or gullibility of being sucked into Morris’ story.

Out of the blue, a daughter’s former boyfriend shows up on your door step on a Monday and claims terrorists have killed two people and that he has shot one of the terrorists. Obviously, if one believes the story, this person needs help of one kind or another. The quickest way to have gotten that person help was to dial 911.

Morris also claimed that he and his wife Jessica were working undercover for the U.S. Air Force. I’m sorry, my B.S. Meter was going off at the word “terrorists.” While it is true that everyone will react differently to any given situation and no one truly knows how they would react, I do believe I would have been trying to get a delusion person out of my house and contact law enforcement.

Instead, the Eschlers saw fit to give Morris, a handgun, several magazines of ammunition, money and a vehicle: my B.S. Meter is now off the scale. After interviewing Coos County District Attorney Paul Frasier I think the same thing can be said for him upon his receiving Fred Eschler’s message the following day.

Initially, according to Frasier, Eschler was trying to verify Morris’ story on Tuesday by asking if there had been any shooting victims. To anyone’s knowledge, other than Morris’, there had been no crime even though two people lie dead of multiple gunshot wounds near Bandon. Eschler called back with the fantastic story of international intrigue and terrorists. According to Frasier, when he heard that message his B.S. Meter pretty much quit working as well and he advised his staff to tell Eschler if he called back to contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation. According to Frasier, Eschler has his home telephone number, but he did not call Frasier at home, nor did he call the FBI.

I can’t blame Frasier for his reaction to Eschler’s telephone calls. Say what you will, I’m not afraid of terrorists and I’m certainly not afraid of terrorists in Coos County. Some of the domestically raised terrorists cause me concern from time to time, but still I’m not afraid. Considering Frasier’s job, he must get all kinds of crazy, crazy, delusional people calling his office with fantastic tales. So Tuesday passes into Wednesday and still no one knows a crime has been committed.

A white pickup truck parked in front of a residence on Dean Street in Coquille begins the chain of events that lead to the discovery of the bodies of Robin Anstey and Robert W. Kennelly Jr.

Coquille police were called about the pickup parked in front of a residence. Thinking the vehicle might be disabled they tried to contact the registered owner, Kennelly. Police request a deputy stop by the Highway 42 South residence if they passed that way. About 1:30 p.m. a deputy did and made the grisly find. Of course – lots of communication was then taking place. The sheriff, coroner, district attorney and major crime team all had to be contacted and assembled at the crime scene.

The crime scenes I have seen in the past have been quite hectic. I’m sure this one wasn’t much different. Information is moving swiftly. Frasier’s job at a crime scene is to coordinate putting a perpetrator in jail. The D.A. tells me he was there and first things first they need search warrants for the house and the white pickup. As he and others are walking back to vehicles he learns that the white pickup is parked a few doors down from Eschler’s home and that’s when the stories came together and it was late Wednesday.

Do I think the Coos County District Attorney has made an error in not prosecuting Fred and Laura Eschler? Not the way it was explained to me. No matter how fantastic the story, the Eschlers did not know a crime had been committed. Do I think Paul Frasier showed any favoritism toward them? No, but I do think that through some tragic (a 1999 traffic accident that took the lives of children from both families) and coincidental circumstances (the Frasiers and Eschlers attend the same church) that is the appearance.

Am I confident that justice will be served - Yes – I am.

Robert Jump
Editor

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