Our cruising and family disaster

[Delezynski]

Some of you may remember us, We posted many messages on the board up until August.

We normally post information on our cruising (stared full time in '04) on our web site in our “Position Reports”.

If you have looked at our last “Position Report” you know we have had a major family crisis.

We are not currently aboard Guenevere as we are trying to live through one of the hardest things any parent could live through. We are taking life one day at a time.

We have just posted a new item on our “Position Reports” page. It has to do with what we are going through.

Many people have talked on the board about how safe cruising is. As of a short time ago, we would have thought that cruising was a bit risky, now it seems, being in the USA poses more of a risk.
We don't want to bring you down, but if you want to read it, you can at: Guenevere's Position Reports


Greg & Jill Delezynski
Parents of Aaron Tierno, MURDERED August 28, 2008

[imagine2frolic]

This is any parents worst nightmare. You're strength will come from eachother...hold tight

Have you taken having a lawyer into consideration? Possibly even a Tribal lawyer to keep you in the loop. To make sure YOUR rights are not set aside. I can't find a way to express myself for you.......hold tight.....i2f

[GordMay]

Greg and Jill:
Somehow I missed the news of Aaron’s untimely and unnatural death.

Although death may be the natural outcome of life, parents should never have to bury their children.

Words cannot express our dismay at your son’s murder, nor is there any effective manner to convey our respects and support for your family in this very trying time. Rest assured that our collective thoughts and prayers are with you and yours.

Please don’t allow your justified bitterness and anger at your son’s untimely & unjust death (by MURDER) colour your entire outlook on life justice.

With deepest sympathy,
Gord & Maggie

[Agur's Wish]

My heart is broken for you and nothing I can offer will take away your pain. It's a little known fact in the US that if a crime happens on an Indian Reservation, the US Government has little control. I think that's correct info but I could be wrong. God Bless.

[stevensc]

Tragic! I pray events occur which will allow you to find closure.
Steve

[Stillraining]

I am so sorry for your loss..And my heart and prayers all go out to you.

[exranger]

As a father, I can only imagine your pain. I don't pray often, but will for you tonight.

[Therapy]

Greg and Jill,

So sorry to hear of your tragedy.

[Cacique]

Sorry to hear of your loss.
It will be the little things that you will remember, the quiet moments, the smiles, the laughter and although it may seem hard right now, it will be the memories of these little things that help to push away the pain and bring the smiles back again.
Please try to be strong.

[maxingout]

My condolences to you.

I work on one of the reservations in Arizona, and I'm not surprised by the convoluted course that justice takes as it works it's way through the tribal judicial system and Federal legal system. Because a crime happened on a reservation, it has to go through the Tribal System before it can be turned over to Federal authorities. From what I have heard when talking to tribal police, the tribal authorities are happy to pass these types of cases on to the Federal government. It solves a big problem for them. I did not know the tribe had the power to control whether there was the possibilty of the death penalty. I suspect that their control is limited in this area and is subject to review and revision depending on the circumstances. This sounds like a gray area that is cast in politics rather than in the Federal law. If you hire your own lawyer, you may be able to direct the outcome in a significant way.

[First Mate]

I am so sorry for your loss.

I sincerely hope that justice finally prevails for your family.

[Ex-Calif]

I cannot even begin to imagine the tragedy of losing a child. Many heartfelt condolences. I sincerely hope that the facts come out and that you eventually can reach closure at least on what happened.

[Delezynski]

Thank you all so much for your condolences. It means a lot to us. Some times, it seems we are alone here as we have very few close friends in the local area. Most of the people we are close to are cruising, as they should be. We do draw strength from you all.

We are trying to keep our perspective on all that is going on. But it becomes VERY hard to do. We have always thought that the American justice system was the best. Now we are facing the reality of what our system has become.

One thing that we are more than a little concerned about is the complete autonomy that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has investigating this murder. It seems that not even the FBI can intervene. Remember the official statement directly copied from the BIA site says, “The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) mission is to: "… enhance the quality of life, to promote economic opportunity, and to carry out the responsibility to protect and improve the trust assets of American Indians, Indian tribes, and Alaska Natives." (from the BIA web site at: Bureau of Indian Affairs )

Conflict of interest.......

This sets up the opportunity for an investigation that only focuses on what they want to find! With no possibilities of any oversight or a view into the investigation, how do we know that critical evidence was not withheld? Keeping in mind, that the investigation drives the trial.

With that in mind, the third person we feel was included in the investigation by the sheriffs office has not been included in the investigation that the BIA did. During the first few days the sheriffs office was looking into the matter, this 3rd person was questioned and was found that he had what looked exactly like a bullet hole in his leg. He had the leg X-rayed in the tribal medical facility. After repeated efforts by the sheriffs office, the tribe chose to never release that X-ray or a copy of it. WHY? We were told by a number of people close to the tribe that anything pertaining to this 3rd person would be very hard to get as his parents were high in the tribal community.

So, by not fully investigating the crime, some one might go free!

The next thing that we believed was that ALL PERSONS were treated the same under the law. We now find that this is NOT true! The law is NOT blind as we see so often in so many photos of the famous statue with the scales!

It seems the tribe has the ability to “opt-out” of certain penalties. So, even if they do find one or both of the persons now in custody, guilty, they will never have to face some of the penalties that you or I would. Maybe it is time, in this political climate of “transparency” to take an in depth look at this inequality among ALL US citizens.

We want to thank Imagine2frolic and Maxingout (on the http://www.cruisersforum.com/ board) for suggesting we contact a victims lawyer. We never even knew such a lawyer type existed. And who would have thought we would NEED one? We will be looking into one here in the Phoenix area ASAP.

Once again, we would like to warn people.....

WARNING:

We want those of you who gamble or attend shows or shop on any

Indian reservation or Indian Casino to be aware,
that if you or a loved one, become a victim of a crime on a reservation—
all your legal rights DO NOT APPLY.

Greg & Jill

[wlshor]

You and your family have our deepest condolences. Will keep you in our prayers.

[maxingout]

A colleague of mine had both of his parents murdered with a shotgun by their estranged son-in-law. The authorities decided to prosecute the case as second degree murder as it was "family related" rather than premeditated. The facts were otherwise. The son-in-law had a peace bond against him, and he phoned ahead indicating his intent to commit mayhem. My friend was on the phone talking to his parents when they were gunned down.

The authorities had a clear case of premeditated murder, and they refused to prosecute it as such. My colleage went to one of his friends, a former district attorney, and had him deputized to prosecute the case as a first degree murder against the recommendations of the authorities.

My friend paid the lawyer with the inheritance from his parents to prosecute the case. The criminal was given a plea bargain by the lawer. He could either accept two consecutive life terms for first degree murder without possibility of parole, or they would persue the death penalty. The dude sat in jail for nearly a year, and then he decided to go for the plea bargain. He took the two life sentences without possiblity of parole rather than risk a certain death penalty.

I tell you this story only to point out that a lawyer may be able to influence the outcome to a significant degree. I don't know anything about the law in this case, but I do know that my colleage put his parent's killer away for the rest of his life. I am sure it would be very expensive to pursue justice in this manner, but it may be possible.