...About two weeks prior to the jury verdict I was contacted by the associate producer regarding shooting footage in Philadelphia as a final part of the shows preparation. The two other victims (his girlfriend at the time would not participate in this part) and I would meet at a hotel room to have our hair and makeup (disguises) done again and we would shoot footage on the streets and in the bars that we had me him. There would be no speaking for this part. We all met on June 23rd for another very long day of filming but it was important and as we had done previously we made the best of it. We discussed the upcoming sentencing and our hopes as to what would come of it.
On Monday July 13th I woke up knowing it would be an emotional week. The ABC News special I was interviewed for, Primetime Crime, would be airing Wednesday July 15th and I was excited to see how the show turned out and anxious to see how I looked and came across on camera, not to mention I was going to see Jeffrey Marsalis be interviewed. These were to be the first words I would hear him speak since we parted over 4 years ago. I was poking around the ABC News website and did come across a promo for the show. There was a text description and a link for a preview. I watched it and saw a glimpse of myself speaking a few words which I immediately thought was very strange. I then shared the link via email to my mom, brother and the other victims with whom I was interviewed.
My mom called me Wednesday morning to say she saw a very long live report on Good Morning America by David Muir (who conducted the interview) and discussion with Chris Cuomo. I went online right away to see if I could find it and viewed it. I just wanted the day to go by quickly so I could watch the show in its entirety.
Finally 10:00pm came and I sat on the edge of my couch for an hour viewing the show and digesting my thoughts and feelings regarding my interview along with the other women, the reporting done by David Muir, the coverage of the Idaho trial and sentencing and most importantly interviews with several jurors and Marsalis. I wrote later in an email to the producers that the jurors perspective was very important to me because they believed the victim and that meant everything. On the other hand listening to Marsalis just angered me. He played the victim blame game and came off as his usual smug, arrogant self. He couldn't even answer David Muir's question of "who is Jeffrey Marsalis?" because he is nobody. His persona is fabricated so he can't even describe to someone who he is and to top it all off he said he couldn't even remember me which isn't true at all because I saw that scared look on his face 2 years earlier at the closing arguments in the Philadelphia trial.
I finished watching the show thinking overall I was happy with way it was put together. Of course I wish there was more, it could easily have been 2 hours instead of one to include much more of our interview but the show was tastefully done with the time limit they were allotted. I sent an email to the other victims with my opinion and asked what they thought too. We later discussed having read a few negative posted comments. I can only explain reading them is like knowing you shouldn't touch the hot burner on stove but still do. I also email the producer and associate to thank them for covering the story thoughtfully and their professionalism throughout the entire interview process. The fallout from the show airing would be unexpected yet another way for me to move forward...
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