Arlington man, 88, out of Mexican jail, back in U.S.

Published 4:41 pm Sunday, March 15, 2009

ARLINGTON — After 65 days in a Mexican prison, Edward Chrisman is finally back on American soil.

The 88-year-old Arlington man walked out of a prison in Mexicali on Saturday a free man.

It was sweet relief for the man’s family, who feared the World War II veteran wouldn’t survive the ordeal.

“We are ecstatic,” beamed Marix Saxton, Chrisman’s daughter who lives in Arlington. “I broke out crying when I found out. We just can’t wait to get down to him and grab him.”

Chrisman was released from prison this morning, but was held up at the border for five hours before he was allowed to cross to American soil. His family immediately checked him into a Yuma, Ariz., hospital, even though Chrisman had other priorities.

“The first thing he said was, ‘I want a big fat cheeseburger,’” Saxton said. “He wanted to go home and take a hot shower and go to sleep in his own bed.”

A Mexican judge approved Chrisman’s release nearly two weeks ago, but prison officials wouldn’t release him until paperwork made its way through the system.

His family was told the ruling means Chrisman will not be required to return to Mexico at some future date to address the allegations that put him behind bars in the first place.

The waiting was agony for the family, which has branches in Yuma and here. Chrisman appeared to develop pneumonia while being held.

The elder Chrisman was wintering in Yuma when he decided on Jan. 8 to take a quick trip across the border with his grandson.

The family said the pair were arrested after Gary Chrisman Jr. stopped at a convenience store for a soda. While there, the younger Chrisman asked a woman if he could take photos of her daughters. He’d been taking photos of Mexican culture all day with a new camera. The mother granted permission and he gave her $25. He snapped head shots of the two fully clothed girls and left the store. The woman and the girls called police soon after, alleging that he’d asked to photograph the girls in more explicit poses.

Edward Chrisman never went into the store.

Chrisman’s grandson will remain in custody awaiting trial.

The Arlington community has followed the Chrismans’ plight closely. Dozens of friends, family and neighbors attended a breakfast Saturday morning to support the Chrismans.

At the breakfast, people slipped money into a box, funds that will go to pay the Chrismans’ legal bills. They also sat at long tables to eat doughnuts, sip coffee and talk about one of their own.

“This is so devastating to me,” Mary Green of Arlington said.

She has attended church with Edward Chrisman for decades. She and her sister drove the long way here, past the house where Chrisman was raised.

She remembers Chrisman telling her about a youthful trip he took to Eastern Washington with his brother. They spent all of one hot summer picking fruit. When they returned home to Arlington, he gave all his earnings — $22 — to the church’s pastor so he could buy a mattress.

“When I read that (Chrisman) didn’t even have a mattress to sleep on in the prison, I was devastated when I remembered that story,” she said.

J.Y. Dycus of Arlington spent years carpooling with Chrisman to his job at the Naval base. A Mexican prison is the last place Dycus expected Chrisman to end up.

“He is one of the straightest guys I know,” Dycus said.

“He was a very righteous man and a good provider for his family,” said Dycus’s wife, Sylvia. “I can’t understand how they could have anything against him.”

Sylvia Dycus said she’s known the Chrisman family for 45 years. She saw him last at the cemetery before he left. Chrisman was visiting his wife Norma’s grave.

“I’m surprised he’s lasted this long,” she said. “When I first heard I thought he’d never make it out.”

Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com.