I am very relieved they have finally found Sherry. I have been praying this spring for all the missing I can remember, from a list that keeps growing. As for compassion for Spell, I guess I do feel a nod of thanks in his direction that he confessed and his confession eventually led to her body, and some amount of peace for her family, that at least she can be laid to rest. As to any additional mercies he should be granted, let a jury of Sherry's friends, students, and her family's peers decide on that.
There are certain to be horrors still to follow, though, I am sure. Out of respect for her family, some of the details of her kidnapping and murder are certainly being kept out of the press. Honestly, that used to bother me so much -- when I could never answer the "why" to my satisfaction -- but the recent horrific details emerging from the Tori Stafford trial are breaking my heart. I was a big proponent of the hit-and-run theory early on, but now that the other details have been proven true, well, we can be certain she wasn't just kidnapped and choked to death. Her clothes were removed -- no logical reason for that, if not sexual assault. I now believe she suffered horrors no woman should have to live through, and then was killed. From one of the articles, the Williston authorities have scoured the landfill for Sherry's clothes and other evidence, but haven't found any. Hopefully the absence of any clothing from her body will be enough for a Montana jury. It would be enough for me.
As to Spell's mental acuity ... intelligence and education are not prerequisites for convicted murderers. His confession indicates he knew right from wrong, at the time of the crime and the time of the confession. If his family was so worried about his inability to function in the world, they really should have kept a better eye on him when he was home and if they knew he was headed to Montana under false pretenses, they should have called bull*&#& to the judge right then and there -- hard love that could have saved a life. If they knew about that deception, then they bear some responsibility for what happened to Sherry. IMO.
