Murder Ordained - Lorna Anderson says she has done her time.
Lorraine
Related story about her children
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/011605/loc_andersonsupport.shtml
I'll post it next.
Parole not ordained
For nearly 20 years, Lorna Anderson has been in prison for her role in
the murder of her husband. Her children have grown up. Her grandchildren
are growing. She wants a chance on the outside, saying she's done her
time.
By Cait Purinton
The Capital-Journal
Lorna Anderson's young grandchildren wonder why their "Mimi" can't come
to their house to play.
Their questions are always answered. Anderson's status is never a
hush-hush subject with her family, and there is no denial about why she
is in the Kansas prison system.
She was convicted in Lyon and Geary counties of soliciting the murder of
her husband, Martin Anderson, who was shot in November 1983 alongside
K-177 highway in Geary County.
Anderson's four daughters aren't as concerned with the details of the
case as they are with how to get their mother home.
"I dream of getting a call at work, 'We've got to go pick up Mom,' or
just having her knock on the door," said one of the daughters, Julie
Eldridge-Inchauriga, of Hutchinson. "I know I'm an optimist, and that
sometimes makes it hard."
Anderson, 51, was denied a request for an early parole hearing in fall
2004 -- one of many disappointments she has faced since she became
parole eligible in 1988. She was denied parole in 1988, 1995, 1997, 1998
and 2000. She also has lost other legal battles filed by her attorney on
her behalf.
"I am hoping that some day I will be out of here, and I want to know
what's going on in the world," said Anderson, who is being held at the
Topeka Correctional Facility, 815 S.E. Rice Road. "I have a friend who
sends me magazine articles and articles from newspapers. I can't be out
there, but I want to feel a part of things and know what's going on as
best as I can."
Paroles denied
Colene Fischli, Kansas Parole Board administrator, said the board has
cited the seriousness, circumstances and violent nature of the crimes
and had objected to Anderson's parole each time.
Fischli said Anderson became parole eligible in December 1988 on her
conviction in Lyon County and was denied parole then. Before her next
parole hearing, she was convicted of an additional charge in Geary
County, which established a new parole eligibility date of December
1995.
Inmates become parole eligible after having served half of the minimum
sentence on their most recent conviction. For example, Anderson was
sentenced to 15 years to life in 1989. Therefore, she became parole
eligible after seven years, in 1995.
Between Anderson's 1998 and 2000 parole board appearances, Fischli said,
the Kansas Legislature passed a new law that allowed the board to grant
an extended pass on inmates who are parole eligible.
Therefore, in her 2000 parole board hearing, Anderson was given an
extended pass of five years. She will make her next plea to the parole
board in November.
Fischli said Anderson received an extended pass because of the
seriousness and deliberate planning of the crime and because her
children were at the crime scene.
Anderson is serving a sentence of 15 years to life. She was convicted in
September 1985 of two counts of solicitation of the first-degree murder
of her husband in Lyon County, and she was convicted in January 1989 in
Geary County of second-degree murder, also of her husband.
"I know what I did was wrong," Anderson said in a recent interview. "It
was terribly wrong. If I could go back and undo that, I would do it
immediately. I knew right away that I did the wrong thing. It was such a
terrible thing."
Anderson's story and Thomas Bird's part in it became the subject of a
television movie, "Murder Ordained," in 1987. The movie portrays the
couple -- Bird, minister at Emporia's Faith Lutheran Church, and
Anderson, the church secretary -- as lovers who plotted together to
murder their spouses.
Bird, 54, was sentenced to life in prison on Lyon County convictions of
solicitation of first-degree murder and first-degree murder of his wife,
Sandra Bird. He was acquitted in 1990 of a Geary County charge of the
first-degree murder of Martin Anderson. He has maintained his innocence
over the years.
Bird became parole eligible in November 2000 and was denied parole and
scheduled to appear before the parole board in January 2005. In May
2004, however, he was granted an early parole hearing and was released
from prison on June 14, 2004. He is living in Wyandotte County.
Anderson said she wasn't surprised about Bird's release, nor was she
angry, resentful or envious of him.
"Anytime anyone gets out of here, it's a good thing. It's positive. I
would just like a chance, too," she said. "I know I will not come back
here. I learned a very, very valuable lesson. This is my first and last
time here."
Release overdue?
The denials by the parole board aren't Anderson's only rejections. Her
attorney, Tom Haney, of Topeka, filed a legal action in 2001, requesting
an early release from prison. It was denied.
Through his legal research on Anderson's case, Haney said he has found
no other person convicted of second-degree murder in Kansas who has
served as much time as she has. He said the average is eight to nine
years in prison.
"I couldn't find anyone with more than 19 years," he said in reference
to the time she has spent in prison.
Of the few people who came close to serving 19 years, he said, most had
received multiple disciplinary sanctions in prison. Anderson, he said,
hasn't been disciplined in prison in more than 15 years.
In fall 2004, Haney asked a Geary County judge to submit a request for a
sentence modification evaluation for Anderson. An evaluation would allow
the court to consider granting or denying a sentence modification for
inmates. It, too, was denied.
A reply from the Kansas Department of Corrections stated the department
secretary would consider such a recommendation only if it is "favorably
proposed by the facility. That has not occurred with respect to inmate
Anderson and the warden has indicated that he is not inclined to proffer
such a recommendation at this time."
Haney said Anderson meets all the requirements for parole, and he thinks
she is being kept behind bars because of the notoriety of her crime.
"The parole board should do what the Legislature says to do and parole
people who deserve to be paroled, and Lorna does," he said.
Longing to go home
Anderson looks forward to simple things in life -- cooking, shopping,
wearing nice clothes that fit. She wants to go Christmas shopping and go
to birthday parties, Super Bowl parties and University of Kansas
basketball games.
Most of all, she said, she wants to be there for her parents, who are
nearly 80 years old. She wants to be there for Eldridge-Inchauriga next
month when she gives birth to her third child.
"Today will be hard because we have to leave early," Eldridge-Inchauriga
said during a visit a week before Thanksgiving. "It's hard sometimes.
I'm expecting my third child so it's getting harder because I want her
to be a part of it."
The oldest daughter -- Lori Anderson, also of Hutchinson -- doesn't get
her hopes up that her mother will be home soon. Eldridge-Inchauriga is
the optimist, something she believes makes her more vulnerable to
feelings of disappointment.
To have her mother home again, she said, "would be awesome. "
"I would love it," she said. "I don't think about it because when they
(the parole board) say 'no,' I'll be let down."
Anderson's children say they have lost faith in the parole system,
seeing their mother kept inside while others are released. The girls and
their grandparents write letters and testify before the parole board
each time, and they still walk away frustrated.
"You're pouring your heart out why you need her and why you need her
home, and they look at you stone-faced," Eldridge-Inchauriga said.
She is bothered that Bird was released because he always claimed his
innocence, she said, and her mother accepted responsibility for her
actions and has been rehabilitated. Lori Anderson said she doesn't care
what Bird did, but she believes what is "done for one should be done for
the other."
"She feels so guilty for what she's done to us," Lori Anderson said.
"They let bad people out and keep good people in."
Lorraine
http://cjonline.com/photo_pages/011605/27313.shtml?headline=Parole%20not%20ordained%2001/16/05
(Bugmenot registration info - wizardofoz / dorothy)
Published Sunday, January 16, 2005
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/011605/loc_andersonsupport.shtml
Anderson has support of her children
In prison, she has taught parenting classes and done mission projects
By Cait Purinton
The Capital-Journal
Lorna Anderson's children have been told their mother's actions have
made them victims -- a reason given for why she has been denied parole
five times since she was incarcerated about 20 years ago for murder.
Not true, they say.
Lori Anderson, the oldest of Anderson's four daughters, is the only one
who remembers the night their father was killed. Martin Anderson was
shot in November 1983 by a masked gunman along a highway in Geary
County.
"We're more the victims now than ever," Lori Anderson said. "We've made
it through childhood. Now, the grandkids are the victims and that makes
it hard."
She was in fifth grade when her mother left for prison -- sentenced to
15 years to life for second-degree murder in Geary County. Julie
Eldridge-Inchauriga was 5 years old, and the two youngest, twins, were
about 2.
The girls were raised by their grandparents and a man their mother
married before her incarceration.
The couple have since divorced.
Lorna Anderson -- known as Mimi to her five grandchildren -- was
remarried on Christmas Eve to a longtime friend and companion, Terry
Moore. Moore, known as Papa to the grandchildren, also has played a key
role in the lives of Anderson's children and grandchildren.
Anderson said she is fortunate to have a loving and supportive family,
and she hasn't had to rebuild her relationship with her daughters.
"I feel very, very blessed to have that because I know that's not always
the case for moms," she said. "There are mothers in here who have a
difficult time repairing bonds with their kids. I can't tell you how
thankful I am that I have such loving and forgiving children."
Anderson is incarcerated at the Topeka Correctional Facility, 815 S.E.
Rice Road.
She also was convicted in Lyon County of two counts of solicitation of
first-degree murder.
Anderson's daughters have limited memories of their father, Martin
Anderson, if any at all. Their memories of their mother are those from
afar and from within prison walls.
"I wonder if she's punctual? Is she the type of person who's five
minutes early or five minutes late?" Eldridge-Inchauriga said.
Lori Anderson is certain her mother would be "Betty Crocker, little
Suzie homemaker," recalling childhood memories of home, and now watching
her mother cleaning after her young grandchildren during visiting hours
at the prison.
Anderson and other inmates have created a book of recipes that utilizes
ingredients available to inmates. For example, Anderson figured out how
to make scalloped potatoes from potato chips.
To stave off loneliness in prison, Anderson has submerged herself in
volunteering, such as teaching parenting classes and doing projects for
United Methodist Women.
UMW was formed in Kansas prisons in 1987 and supports a number of
mission projects, such as making afghans for children and sending care
packages to military men and women overseas.
"It's something we can really get involved in and help other people,
which means a lot in here," Anderson said. "There's not a lot we can do
for others, and this has given us the opportunity to do some mission
work that we couldn't otherwise do."
Anderson took her first parenting class in 1992, and two years later she
attended her first retreat with her daughters. Now, she goes to the
annual retreats with her grandchildren.
The retreats are available to minimum-security inmates who have
completed parenting classes through UMW and stayed trouble-free for 120
days prior to the retreat.
About 15 women are taken to the 48-hour retreat at Camp Chippewa, near
Ottawa.
"I remember the first time I went on a retreat with my daughters,"
Anderson said, fighting back tears. "The first night I don't think I
slept hardly at all because I just laid there and I listened to them
breathe. It was the first time in almost nine years that I had been able
to sleep in the same room with my kids."
At the retreats, the inmates and their children spend time together and
participate in outdoor activities, such as canoeing, swimming and
horseback riding.
Barb Scott, president of the Kansas Eastern Conference of UMW, said
Anderson has made significant positive changes in her life since they
met more than 10 years ago.
She said Anderson is one of the best parenting teachers she has ever
mentored, and Anderson has written new programs for UMW that are used on
a national level.
"Lorna's a very intelligent woman and has done everything she can to
educate and better herself," Scott said. "I think Lorna has done
everything the system offers to rehabilitate herself, so if the system
doesn't want to let her go, then what do you do?"
tinydancer
"Lorraine" <remtox...@remyahoo.com> wrote in message
news:6oequ0he1uq2231vt...@4ax.com...
> http://www.cjonline.com/stories/011605/loc_paroleno.shtml
>
> Related story about her children
> http://www.cjonline.com/stories/011605/loc_andersonsupport.shtml
> I'll post it next.
>
> Parole not ordained
>
> For nearly 20 years, Lorna Anderson has been in prison for her role in
> the murder of her husband. Her children have grown up. Her grandchildren
> are growing. She wants a chance on the outside, saying she's done her
> time.
So Tom Byrd, who actually murdered his own wife, is already paroled, but
Lorna Anderson isn't? Byrd was convicted of first degree murder, while
Lorna second?
td
Mary
"tinydancer" <tinyd...@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:ohbHd.16325$SK6....@bignews3.bellsouth.net...
Yes, it's YET ANOTHER example of how the system favors women over men!!
Oh, wait. I was channeling Snyder for a second there.
I agree with you, not to mention that she has admitted her guilt, whereas he
never did. I imagine the fact that he was a minister helped him with the
parole board. It does seem like they are treating her harshly, though!
mary.
scooter34
"Fischli said Anderson received an extended pass because of the
seriousness and deliberate planning of the crime and because her
children were at the crime scene."
So, the man was killed, and his children were present. Now, maybe they
didn't see anything. But I'm betting that a parole board looks at that
and thinks, "This woman was so totally wrapped up in what she wanted,
she didn't give a s**t about anyone else, including her own children."
Plus, Byrd has only been out for seven months. It's not like he served
years less than she did.
scooter34
Lorraine
wrote:
>So, the man was killed, and his children were present. Now, maybe they
>didn't see anything. But I'm betting that a parole board looks at that
>and thinks, "This woman was so totally wrapped up in what she wanted,
>she didn't give a s**t about anyone else, including her own children."
And Bird, being totally wrapped up in what he wanted, beat the mother of
his three children, then threw her off a bridge, as well as took part in
arranging for the death of Anderson's husband. Why would the parole
board not think the same about him? At this point, only one of the
Anderson children remembers the night her father was killed. All of
them have made repeated pleas to the parole board for her release.
>
>Plus, Byrd has only been out for seven months. It's not like he served
>years less than she did.
Yet. Lorna Anderson has not been granted parole at this time.
L.
vdl33
> On 18 Jan 2005 10:07:24 -0800, "scooter34" <momofpe...@netscape.net>
> wrote:
>
>>So, the man was killed, and his children were present. Now, maybe they
>>didn't see anything. But I'm betting that a parole board looks at that
>>and thinks, "This woman was so totally wrapped up in what she wanted,
>>she didn't give a s**t about anyone else, including her own children."
>
> And Bird, being totally wrapped up in what he wanted, beat the mother of
> his three children, then threw her off a bridge, as well as took part in
> arranging for the death of Anderson's husband. Why would the parole
> board not think the same about him? At this point, only one of the
> Anderson children remembers the night her father was killed. All of
> them have made repeated pleas to the parole board for her release.
Bird was acquitted in 1990 of the first-degree murder of Martin Anderson.
From http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-05-22-pastor-paroled_x.htm
'Murder Ordained' minister gets parole in wife's killing
Posted 5/22/2004 7:58 AM
TOPEKA, Kan.(AP) - A former minister who killed his wife and solicited the
murder of the husband of his church secretary will be a free man soon.
Thomas Bird was granted parole after serving 20 years of a life sentence for
killing his wife, Sandy, in 1983 while having an affair with his secretary,
Lorna Anderson.
Bird hadn't been scheduled for a parole hearing until December, but the parole
board approved a special request to see him Monday after three public comment
sessions last month in Topeka.
He was convicted in 1984 of solicitation of first-degree murder for trying to
get someone to kill Anderson's husband, Martin Anderson. A year later, he was
convicted of first-degree murder in his wife's death.
Bird was acquitted in 1990 of the first-degree murder of Martin Anderson.
In July 1983, Bird killed his wife, pushed her car over an embankment of a river
near Emporia, then placed her body in the car, authorities said.
Bird's story was the focus of a 1987 television miniseries, Murder Ordained, and
a book published in 2000 titled Caged Bird, which maintained his innocence.
"This is wonderful, praise the Lord. I am so happy," said the Rev. Kenneth
Kothe, of Burnsville, Minn. Kothe was a friend of Bird's and a classmate at the
Concordia Theological Seminary in Springfield, Ill.
Sandy Bird's mother and stepfather, Jane and Jerry Grismer of Little Rock, said
they had no comment on Bird's parole. The couple had pleaded with the parole
board in Topeka last month to deny parole.
Bird will be released after his post-release plan has been approved by the
parole office in the area where he plans to live, said parole board
Administrator Colene Fischli.
Kothe said while in prison at Lansing Correctional Facility in Lansing, Bird
established Bible-study classes and helped establish a halfway house for spouses
of inmates. He also established marriage counseling for inmates and their
spouses, and coordinated a fund-raiser for the Ronald McDonald House.
Lorna Anderson was convicted of second-degree murder and two counts of
solicitation of first-degree murder.
In 1983, she and her husband and their children pulled to the side of a highway
because she complained of feeling ill. She got out of the family's van, dropped
her keys and asked her husband to help find them.
Martin Anderson was shot by a masked gunman while looking for the missing keys.
She was denied parole in 2000 and is eligible for another parole hearing in
2005.
Lorraine
>"Lorraine" <remtox...@remyahoo.com> wrote in message
>news:ucpqu0lio0k5cok5i...@4ax.com...
>> On 18 Jan 2005 10:07:24 -0800, "scooter34" <momofpe...@netscape.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>So, the man was killed, and his children were present. Now, maybe they
>>>didn't see anything. But I'm betting that a parole board looks at that
>>>and thinks, "This woman was so totally wrapped up in what she wanted,
>>>she didn't give a s**t about anyone else, including her own children."
>>
>> And Bird, being totally wrapped up in what he wanted, beat the mother of
>> his three children, then threw her off a bridge, as well as took part in
>> arranging for the death of Anderson's husband. Why would the parole
>> board not think the same about him? At this point, only one of the
>> Anderson children remembers the night her father was killed. All of
>> them have made repeated pleas to the parole board for her release.
>
>
>Bird was acquitted in 1990 of the first-degree murder of Martin Anderson.
>
>From http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-05-22-pastor-paroled_x.htm
<snip>
>He was convicted in 1984 of solicitation of first-degree murder for trying to
>get someone to kill Anderson's husband, Martin Anderson. A year later, he was
>convicted of first-degree murder in his wife's death.
I'm not sure of the point you were trying to make. He was acquitted of
first-degree murder of Martin Anderson, but was convicted of
solicitation of first-degree murder of Martin Anderson. In May, 1983,
he and Anderson had tried to hire Darrel Carter to kill Martin Anderson.
Hence, he at least took part in arranging the murder of Martin Anderson.
I've never been convinced of his innocence in the actual murder of
Anderson anyway. Just who was that masked man? Purely speculation on
my part, of course.
L.
Messalina
Lorraine wrote:
> http://www.cjonline.com/stories/011605/loc_paroleno.shtml
>
> Related story about her children
> http://www.cjonline.com/stories/011605/loc_andersonsupport.shtml
> I'll post it next.
>
> Parole not ordained
>
> For nearly 20 years, Lorna Anderson has been in prison for her role
in
> the murder of her husband. Her children have grown up. Her
grandchildren
> are growing. She wants a chance on the outside, saying she's done her
> time.
>
Pfft. So she wishes she were free, does she? I bet her husband wishes
she'd divorced him instead of killing him.
I think its more the part about her children being present than the
attention her case has gotten.
Mez
scooter34
I'm not saying it's right - I'm guessing it's the factor in the
different treatment. You really don't think that people (those
nebulous, non-specific "they") consider setting Daddy up to be shot in
front of the kids to be worse than killing your wife off stage? I
agree, it's like comparing Big Macs to Whoppers - they're both tasty
but bad for you - but I think that in parole board language, the first
crime is considered worse.
scooter34
Plus, doesn't one second-degree murder and two counts of solicitation
to commit first degree murder beat one count of first degree murder and
one count of solicitation to commit first degree murder? (It's like
convict poker.)
Lorraine
wrote:
>Plus, doesn't one second-degree murder and two counts of solicitation
>to commit first degree murder beat one count of first degree murder and
>one count of solicitation to commit first degree murder? (It's like
>convict poker.)
LOL. You think maybe this is how the parole board makes it's decisions?
It might make a few of their decisions make more sense to those of us
not privy to their confidential information.
I really don't have strong feelings about Anderson's parole either way.
I just got the idea that his being a minister weighed in on his side to
the parole board. In my eyes, it made his crimes more heinous. I'm
just jaded that way. Therefore, if he's out, she should be getting out
also.
L.
scooter34
It makes as much sense as anything, doesn't it? They certainly are
fickle little beasts.
I've always been amazed that the Manson Family is still in prison, more
than 30 years later. It seems to me that killing a loved one in cold
blood for gain, whether financial or romantic, is a much more heinous
crime than killing strangers, no matter how brutally. Add to that the
information that the Manson people are much less likely to
re-experience the circumstances that led them to offend than people
like Anderson, and it really boggles the mind.
I guess slaughtering pregnant actresses is much worse to the population
of California.
scooter34