Southern Maine was rocked in January with two shootings, one that led to a murder charge against a man accused of killing his wife at their Windham home and another that resulted in an attempted murder charge against a Scarborough teen.
Details in both cases, sparse as they are, are extremely disturbing. And the community is left reeling when such events occur. While the horror and pain is felt most acutely by the victims and their families, the whole community is affected by such serious incidents and we are all left wondering why. Media coverage is able to provide the “what,” “when,” “where” and “how” most times, but “why” is rarely ever answered.
This lack of closure is in stark contrast to TV and movies in which viewers are given myriad details and often told exactly how and why a murder takes place. Just look at the popularity of recent shows such as the 10-part “Making a Murderer” documentary on Netflix about Steven Avery, the Wisconsin man released after 18 years in prison for a rape he didn’t commit who was soon found guilty of murder; and HBO’s five-part documentary, “The Jinx,” which profiled notrious accused murderer and New York real estate scion Robert Durst; as well as the NPR podcast “Serial.” The popularity of such shows, as well as decades of crime dramas that fill nearly every prime-time slot, indicates America can’t get enough of a good murder mystery.
While we try to answer the elusive “why” in the real world, newspeople rarely find satisfying answers. The accused’s lawyer reveals nothing, while denying everything, as well they should. The convicted rarely grant jailhouse interviews, and when they do they nearly always maintain their innocence leaving the audience, which includes both the reporter and the reader or viewer, without the explanations they’re seeking.
The two recent shootings took us by surprise, since this stuff rarely happens in such settings. While we don’t expect immediate answers to a Boston or New York or even Portland shooting, we do expect something when it hits close to home. A National Honor Society student walking into a home in the middle of the night and shooting at a man on a sofa seems too far-fetched for a quiet road in West Scarborough. A husband shooting his wife point blank – as she climbs the stairs to the second floor with their children nearby – just doesn’t happen in Windham. Because these cases are such outliers, we yearn to know more.
But, then again, are they so bizarre? Really? We’ve watched thousands of episodes of “Law & Order,” “NYPD Blue,” “Criminal Minds,” “CSI,” “Dateline,” “48 Hours,” etc., etc. Because we’ve seen it all before, everyone has already thought of umpteen reasons why this Scarborough teen would lash out. Same with the Windham incident. And the fact that our imaginations run wild should not be a surprise, since we are products of the media we’ve consumed for generations now and also because investigators are usually too tight-lipped when it comes to disclosing details that could help inform the public.
Certainly the authorities can’t release information that will compromise their case, but we often feel there’s a knee-jerk reaction by police to clamp down on any and all information that would help the public understand what’s going on and why. We wonder if the detectives, police chiefs, district attorneys and even defense attorneys realize that their silence helps fuel further speculation and gossip. We also wonder if they understand that the community is impacted more by a lack of detail rather than too much. And social media, which allows everyone an instant soapbox, just takes the rumor mill to a new level.
Though the process of getting at the truth can be long and grueling, it’s worth it, because we are all connected, and what happens to one affects many. A seemingly isolated crime can impact the reputation of the neighborhood, the town, the state or the nation. Ash Swamp Road will be forever linked to this Scarborough shooting, as will the Brookhaven neighborhood in Windham.
In this age when TV and movies have made us into curious amateur sleuths, the concept that we all are part of one community that can bend and break on the actions of even one person, should be remembered. Yes, individuals and families directly involved in a crime are changed forever, but so is the larger community. And because we are all impacted, we deserve more openness from those in positions of authority.
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