Damning The Dead

I hate it when sleep is the "elusive catcher." Maybe this will explain why sometimes it's hard to sleep.

Friday I went to St. Louis and covered the sentencing of a Hannibal guy who defrauded people and banks out of $1 million. I got the impression when he was on the stand that he's a used car salesman. And, wouldn't you know it, he still is.

His wife and his father and his lawyer told the judge about what a great guy he was, and how he got in over his head, and how he always helped people. What a great guy! Except for bilking banks and friends out of $1 million, of course.

He ended up getting 26 months in federal prison and he was ordered to pay it all back.

He was involved with a scheme with a Quincy banker. When authorities began figuring it out, the Quincy banker killed himself. All the details came out yesterday and I really struggled with how to handle the story. Damning the dead is wrong. But the story is the story. So I wrote about what happened (www.whig.com).

The reaction will be interesting. I'm sure the dead banker's family and friends will be upset. I guarantee the email in-box will be full when I get to work Monday.

I knew the dead banker, too. He did my home mortgage refinancing a few years ago. Saved us about seven years of payments, too. He was a young guy with several young children who had something go terribly wrong. I think about him a lot because he worked at a bank just blocks from where I live, and I drive by it almost every day.

I pray for his wife and children.

And I wonder about this job.