Ricky Holland Vanished

The Lansing State Journal reported today that the murder trial for Tim and Lisa Holland is expected to begin on September 25, 2006; Ricky’s date of birth is September 8th. I find it kind of ironic that the murder trial coincides with Ricky’s birth month. The trial judge is Ingham County Circuit Judge Paula Manderfield. Tim and Lisa Holland will be tried together, they will have separate juries.

This according to Stuart Dunnings III, Ingham County Prosecutor:

“…The best way to assure a fair process is to try the cases at the same time…Most of the evidence against one is evidence against the other…”

This is clearly a he-said, she-said case:

“…During the Hollands’ 14-day preliminary hearing that spanned three months, it was revealed that Tim Holland told his mother that Lisa violently pulled Ricky out of his room and “just went nuts” after Tim suggested he wanted Ricky to stay at his mother’s house for a few weeks. He said Lisa hit the boy with a hammer.

In a Jan. 26 police interview, Lisa Holland said her husband’s moods could swing like a pendulum and that he may have strangled or suffocated Ricky, who was reported missing July 2. Ricky’s body was found nearly seven months later…”

I recall the trial of Erik and Lyle Menendez in Los Angeles, California. They were accused of murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. Their first trial, in which they were tried together using separate juries, resulted in a hung jury. The reasoning for trying the brothers together and using separate juries:

“…On May 14, 1993, Judge Weissberg ruled that the cases of Lyle and Erik Menendez would be tried together in the interests of time, cost and convenience. Weissberg saw that there would be an almost complete duplication of witnesses and arguments if separate trials were held for each brother. Weissberg ruled that each brother would have a separate jury. This meant that if evidence that pertained only to Lyle was being heard, Erick’s jury would be excluded and vice versa…”

Years later the brothers were retried together. That trial resulted in a guilty conviction for both brothers.

“…In April 1995, Judge Weissberg ruled that the brothers would be retried together, in front of a single jury. Weissberg ruled that the advantages of a “single trial greatly outweigh the potential prejudice…”

I wonder how difficult it will be to select double the number of jurors for this case; people who are not familiar with the case or have not already formed an opinion as to Tim and Lisa Holland’s guilt or innocence. Certainly finding the jurors who are impartial is going to be a daunting task. Also, I believe that there will be many people unwilling to serve on the jury because it is both painful and high-profile.

I am thinking of the people of Ingham County Michigan. I may be wrong, but I have the impression that the residents of Ingham County are private people who do not like media attention. I may be wrong, but I believe the citizens of Ingham County feel that Tim and Lisa Holland have blemished their good reputation as a safe and friendly place to raise children by their actions and they would rather not have the media blitz that is sure to descend upon their county. Having said that, I also believe that the people of Ingham County will rise to the occasion and be more than willing to seek justice for Ricky Holland.

• Source: The Trial of Eric and Lyle Menendez
• Source: The Lansing State Journal – September 25 Trial Date Set Holland’s

A news conference was held this afternoon in Lansing, Michigan to announce the results of the month-long autopsy of Ricky Holland.

Due to the extreme decomposition of the body a cause of death cannot be established. It was noted that Ricky suffered fresh breaks in the bones of his upper body and face at the time of his death.

Ingham County Medical Examiner Dean Sienko went on to state:

“…We believe the injuries discovered demonstrate a pattern of abuse by others and violence to Ricky Holland at a time shortly prior to his death”[...]“

Based on the results of the autopsy, which are disappointing to say the least, my guess is that both of the Holland’s murdered Ricky that night. I think Tim Holland beat him and Lisa finished the job with the hammer because Ricky was injured so severely from this final beating there was nothing left to do but finish the job.

I think that they needed to do something with Ricky because they had that last adoption in the works. I think they were under the microscope for this last adoption and the social workers were making more frequent home visits in those final months. There would have been no way to hide or explain away those severe injuries to the social worker.

I am reminded of the case late last year of Aarone Thompson. She was also 7-years-old and reported as a runaway. It did not take detectives but a few days to determine that Aarone had been murdered at least 18 months prior to the reported disappearance. What came to light during that investigation was that Aarone’s grandmother was coming for a visit. She had not seen her granddaughter in at least three years. There was no way to explain to the grandmother why her granddaughter was not there except to report her as a missing child.

The detectives immediately removed the other 7 children from the home. They have not located Aarone’s body and Aarone’s father and the live-in girlfriend have not been charged as of this writing.

I hope to God that the Prosecution has enough evidence today in the Holland’s preliminary hearing to hold them over for trial on open murder.

Sources:

MLive.com:
Officials: Boy’s remains too decomposed to confirm cause of death

AMW.com:
Aarone Thompson