By Jack Nichols
| Washington, D.C.--For
those seeking justice and immediate answers to questions surrounding
the murder of gay Gallaudet University student Eric Franklin
Plunckett, the latest development in the case, says newsman Scott
Miller, is disturbing. Though he remains a viable suspect,
Plunkett's 18-year-old alleged killer, Thomas Minch, has been
released. |
 Murdered student
Eric Plunckett |
After the second degree murder charges were dropped less than 24
hours following Minch's arrest, U.S. marshals escorted him out of the
court through a back door, helping him avoid both the media and his fellow
Gallaudet students. The Washington Post considered this move
“a departure from the usual manner of allowing defendants to turn from the
bench and leave through the open court.”
The detectives who arrested Minch had acted too hastily, according
to top-level police officials. This does not mean that they were
necessarily wrong, according to Washington's Executive Assistant Police
Chief, Terrance W. Gainer, who believes his subordinates had made what he
called “a reasonable judgment.”
Gainer, who offered no apology to Minch, said instead that his men,
rather than trying to “defend a bad case” would instead “retreat and come
back another day.” This means, he assured reporters, that Minch could be
charged again.
“There are obviously too many holes at the moment to proceed with
an arraignment. I hope this doesn't speak to the relative lack of evidence
in this case.”
|
