Surviving a Robbery

Memorial Day weekend of 2010 is when my life changed forever.  I came home to find that I had become the victim of a robbery.

 

My house had been broken into and a large amount of high-quality jewelry had been stolen. 42 years of my life story—family heirlooms, gifts from my deceased father, my grandmother’s wedding ring—gone and never to be recovered. My legacy, to be passed down to my niece and great nieces—42 years destroyed. How could this have happened to me? I cried my eyes out. I walked throughout the house numb with disbelief, anger flooding every pore of my being. 

 

I soon learned how powerless I was in the legal process that followed. The thief was caught within the week, but the jeweler he handed off my precious family artifacts to had dispensed of my jewelry within days. The thief went to court and I got a chance to make a victim impact statement. I waited months to hear when the jeweler was going to court so I could make once again make a statement to describe just how my experience as a victim had impacted me. His day in court came and went and I was never informed.  I found out only weeks later when I received a small check as compensation for my jewelry. This small sum that could never replace my priceless family memories felt like little more than a slap in the face.

 

Outraged, I called that County district attorney and spoke directly with him, explaining that because I was never contacted I had been denied my right to make a statement. It was too late; I had no recourse. Dumbfounded, I hung up.

 

No one asks to be the victim of a crime. Yet each year in Wisconsin thousands of people are dragged into the criminal justice process through no fault of their own, just like I was in 2010.  That’s why I’m proud to be a supporter of Marsy’s Law for Wisconsin.

Sincerely,

Nancy

Survivor