thurber hearing 5-31-07

The picture of how and when Jodi Sanderholm was murdered is starting to take shape as the preliminary hearing is taking place in Winfield.

The preliminary hearing is where the prosecution basically presents its case and the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to proceed. If the judge orders the case to go to trial it only means that the judge thinks there is a possibility that the crime happened and at least some evidence linking the defendant to it.

More evidence will be shown Thursday and Friday, and we will see even more of what apparently happenedRemember, Justin Thurber is not yet convicted of a crime. As far as the law is concerned he is still innocent until proven guilty. There were lots of stories circulating when Jodi disappeared. It shocked the town and everyone was looking for answers, so every story, no matter how bizzare, spread like wildfire.

At the Traveler we tried to give as much factual information as we could. The main reason I am glad the preliminary hearing is finally here, is that we will finally hear some facts.In the first day of testimony there were no big surprises, though there were some things that began to make sense. Many of the stories that circulated had some truth to them.

You can see details of the testimony on our main web page Arkcity.net where Foss Farrar and I, James Jordan, wrote about what we saw Wednesday. Farrar will likely cover the hearing Thursday while I am out of town. I may cover it Friday.

There were a lot of strange feelings going around as I covered the trial. I did not know Jodi personally. I had seen her at basketball games when I took pictures for the paper. I just remember she had a really pretty smile.

I think we all felt a sense of loss when she was killed. The whole town suffered. Of course her family suffered more than anyone. There are no words, but we can pray for them and do whatever we can for them if the opportunity arises.

There may be some painful things coming out at the trial. We will be dredging up memories and such. We are trying to be tasteful at the paper, but we still have to get the news out there. We will try to cause as little pain as possible as we tell the public what happened.

According to testimony Wednesday, it seems Jodi got up that fateful day as usual, and went to dance practice at 10 a.m.

Her mom called her to see if she wanted to go to lunch, but Jodi said she would just go home and eat someting.

She had planned to go to a friends house to fix her hair a bit later. Jodi made it to her mail box as usual, but apparenly never got inside her house.

She left practice a little before 12. Jodi usually put the mail on the counter. When her parents arrived home there was no mail, and none in the box, and no indication that Jodi had ever made it home for lunch.

Thurber was seen by danceline members earlier in the day near where they practiced. There was also testimony about him following some of the other danceline member around.Someone else saw Thurber in his car going north on First Street after the girls left practice.Testimony also put Thurber with Jodi in her car at the Cowley Fishing Lake.

As I said, he is not yet convicted of anything, and we need to remember that. There does seem to be evidence that he was at least around her and probably with her that day.A truck driver said he saw Thurber and Jodi drive into the fishing lake in her car.

She was never seen alive again.

The hearing itself was about what you would expect. Witness after witness telling what they knew.

The defense cross examined a little, but didn't grill anyone.

NOTES and THOUGHTS

At the hearing I felt for Cindy Sanderholm, Jodi's mother. Just imagine how hard that must have been, to sit up there and talk about Jodi. But Cindy Sanderholm showed a great deal of composure.

She kept smiling and even showed a sense of humor while they were setting up the microphone. There were a few instances of light humor that broke up the heaviness of the hearing.

One witness testified that he saw Thurber on the morning Jodi disappared while he was working out at the nearby fitness center.

When asked if he worked out regularly, he said he did, and noted that he was giving up a workout to be there to testify.The construction truck driver who testified that he saw Thurber driving Jodi's car with her in the passenger side near Cowley Lake also had a couple of moments.Apparently the car he said Thurber was driving passed him and then stopped in front of him to turn into the lake, which was upsetting.He said he was agravated because "some idiot" had cut him off, nearly caused him to wreck, and he was going to then have a hard time getting up the incline - small hill - he was on.

Later in the testimony, prosecutors told him they were going to ask him about a certain thing. So he politely waited for the prosecutor to ask the question. Meanwhile the prosecutor was waiting for the answer. Well the prosecutor said he was "going" to ask the question.Those were about the only light moments at the hearing.

There wasnt a lot of emotion shown as the facts were laid out.I was thinking about how you never know what the results of your actions will be.

Had Jodi decided to go to lunch with her parents, or just stop at a fast food joint and not gone home, it might not have happened. Of course it might have happened anyway.

Also I was surprised at how many people saw something.

When it all happened police were asking anyone who thought they saw anything to contact them. Many people did, and many leads came up empty.

But some did not.Any of those people could have not been paying attention at a precise moment and not have witnessed what they witnessed.THurber could have passed that truck at anytime.

Why did he wait until he was so close to the turnoff? Had he passed that truck earlier, the driver would probably have not noticed anything. Of course, that is assuming the driver is correct in identifying Thurber.I still want to keep an open mind and not convict anyone before all the facts come out.We still have not heard from the defense. We may not hear from them during this hearing.

At a preliminary hearing the defense is not required to put forth any evidence.Thats my take on things so far Hope to hear from some of youJ

ames