Bizarre trial concludes with respect for victim

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, March 3, 2002

The 12 jurors and one alternate in the Indle King murder trial spent five long weeks listening to testimony about a case so bizarre and tragic it attracted national attention. In a matter of hours following attorneys’ closing remarks last month, the jurors found King guilty of first-degree murder and witness tampering. But in the end, it was about Anastasia King.

In a rare move, 11 of the jurors not only met with Anastasia’s grief-stricken parents from Russia, they joined Alevtina Solovieva and her husband Anatoliy Soloviev at their daughter’s grave to pay their respects and share their grief.

"I feel Anastasia has become part of my life," juror Robbie Lovejoy told a Herald reporter. "I needed to put her to rest like (her parents) put her to rest."

After five weeks, who could blame the jurors if they just wanted to go home to their families, get back to their normal routines and put the trial and its crazy characters behind them? They did their duty, participated faithfully in our legal system and deserved some rest. Instead, they gave even more of themselves. What an example to Anastasia’s parents that their daughter’s dreams of finding a good life in America were not unfounded. The Indle Kings of this world do not represent the majority of Americans, thank goodness.

By sharing in the Solovievs’ grief, jurors not only demonstrated compassion, they honored an intelligent, talented young woman whose life was exposed to the world for possible judgment and criticism after she had suffered the most cruel treatment at the hands of her husband. As various jurors pointed out, through the course of the trial Anastasia became a real person to them, someone who they realized wasn’t coming back.

Through their graciousness, they recognized her dignity.