Michelle O'Connell's 32nd birthday, October 6, 2017

Michelle O'Connell would have been 32 years old today.   

St. Johns County's Sheriff DAVID SHOAR's unhinged coverup has been repeatedly exposed, and he remains under investigation.  Every day he finds new ways to show his guilty conscience, most recently lashing out at homeless people who criticized the "accommodations" provided by deputies at a temporary hurricane shelter at Pedro Menendez High School (sleeping on the floor without blankets, with yellow wristbands).

Like the murderer Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov (Russian: Родиóн Ромáнович Раскóльников; IPA: [rəˈdʲɪˈon rɐˈmanəvʲɪtɕ rɐˈskolʲnʲɪkəf]) in Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, SHOAR wants to confess.  SHOAR cannot sleep.  SHOAR must wonder, when will the FBI come and relieve him from his inner torment?

Surely, the FBI will understand his motives.  And as he repeatedly bragged to the O'Connell family, he "paid for the funeral."  Really?  Or was it his dodgy 501c3, the "St. Johns County Sheriff's Office Four Star Association, Inc.?"

Seven years ago, on September 3, 2010, before the sun came up, St. Johns County Sheriff DAVID SHOAR was already claiming that Michelle O'Connell committed suicide.

The coverup continues.

"This investigation stinks" said murder expert Vernon Geberth to The New York Times and PBS/Frontline..

"Who stinketh the most," in the words of the song from 1776?   Local newspapers, reporters, editorial writers, public officials, clergy or public interest groups?  All share responsibility and blame.

o When Michelle O'Connell died, local news media did not even report the victim's name -- Sheriff SHOAR issued a press release stating that a Sheriff's Deputy's girlfriend.  The Record, addicted to handouts, printed it.

o Not one word in today's St. Augustine Record newspaper about the coverup.

o Not one word in a St. Augustine Record editorial about the coverup, ever.

o Not one word from any minister, priest or rabbi in public about the coverup.

o Not one word from "Compassionate St. Augustine."

o Not one word from any of the Republicans we elect to local offices.  Only one (1) courageous public official (Nancy Shaver, eleven months before her election as Mayor) ever spoke the truth about the need for a federal grand jury investigation.  SHOAR dropped a money bomb on her, and she handily won re-election against his sock puppet, Hate Radio station WFOY owner KRIS PHILLIPS, a ninnny who recently wrote that the Civil War was "not about slavery."

o Coverup mastermind Sheriff DAVID SHOAR has twice been chair of the Florida Sheriff's Association. He's tried to have FDLE Special Agent Rusty Ray Rodgers criminally prosecuted and fired for doing his job in the O'Connell investigation.  He's used attorney ROBERT McLEOD II to file harassing litigation against Rodgers and FDLE.  Meanwhile, FDLE has not stood up for the rights of its agent, keeping him on paid leave for three years as he exhausts his funds on legal fees.

o Coverup accomplice State's Attorney RALPH JOSEPH LARIZZA is chair of the Florida Prosecuting Attorney's Association for the next two years.

Both are dull Republicans, part of a corrupt political machine responsive to developers.  Not you, not me, not the O'Connell family.

o Coverup accomplice DR. PREDRAG BULIC, M.D., District 23 Medical Examiner, is up for reappointment to a three-year term, after professional disciplinary procedures.  Governor RICK SCOTT is in no hurry -- BULIC's term expired on June 30th, and despite recommendations from County Administrator MICHAEL DAVID WANCHICK and the FLORIDA MEDICAL EXAMINERS COMMISSION, BULIC has apparently not been reappointed.  Fire him, please Governor Scott.

Meanwhile, "We, the People" are not satisfied with our local newspapers, reporters, editorial writers, public officials, clergy or public interest groups.  Yes, all share responsibility and blame.  But so do you and me -- what have we done about it?   Justice for Michelle O'Connell.  Now.

Paraphrasing Edmund Burke, JFK said to the Canadian Parliament, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing."  See now-Mayor Nancy Shaver's December 2013 letter: http://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2015/07/nancy-shavers-eloquent-december-18-2013.html   The world is watching us. See, e.g.:

The New York Times, "Two Gunshots on a Summer Night" by Walt Bogdanich & Glenn Silber (November 24, 2013):  http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2013/two-gunshots/

PBS/Frontline,   "A Death in St. Augustine (November 26, 2013):  

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/death-in-st-augustine/   
The New York Times, "A Mother's Death, a Botched Inquiry, and a Sheriff at War," by Walt Bogdanich, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/17/us/michelle-oconnell-jeremy-banks.html?_r=0
NBC News Dateline, "Two Shots Fired" (April 18, 2014):  
http://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/full-episode-two-shots-fired-n84816  

Folio Weekly: Jeff Billman, "Somebody's lying -- An activist accuses the St. Augustine Record of bowing
to pressure from Jeremy Banks' attorney. The paper accuses her of spreading misinformation" (September 17, 2014),   http://folioweekly.com/SOMEBODYS-LYING-ST-AUGUSTINE-RECORD-ACTIVIST-JEREMY-BANKS,10912  

Folio Weekly, "Murder, He Wrote," by Susan Cooper Eastman (November 19, 2014), http://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2014/11/michelle-oconnell-shooting-read-folio.html  

Folio Weekly, "The Proxy War," by Derek Kinner (March 4, 2015):   http://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2015/03/folio-weekly-deputy-jeremy-banks-and.html  

Dr. Phil, "The Mystery of Michelle O'Connell" (November 3, 2014):   http://www.drphil.com/shows/show/2298  

Photo credit: The New York Times  

Here's a song in memory of Michelle O'Connell:

Song: "Michelle O'Connell's Body" (to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "John Brown's Body"

"Michelle O'Connell's Body"
(to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "John Brown's Body")

Michelle' O'Connell's body is a-lying in her grave,
Michelle' O'Connell's body is a-lying in her grave,
She lost her precious life while she was struggling to escape
Her soul is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Her truth is marching on.

Michelle, she was a heroine, undaunted, true and brave
She showed her strength and valor as she fought her rights to save
But now the grass grows green above the silence of her grave
Her soul is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Her truth is marching on.

She planned to leave oppression and begin her life anew
Her deputy refused her, and into a rage he flew
Two gunshots and her screams, and then she died before we knew.
But her soul is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Her truth is marching on.

Michelle is gone and no grand jury ever got to speak
But justice will be done and that's the outcome that we seek
And soon throughout St. Augustine the truth will set us free,
For her soul is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Her truth is marching on.

Copyright © 2015, All Rights Reserved, The Estate of Michelle O'Connell