I never got to meet one of my brother-in-laws, or is that brothers-in-law? Oh well that's beside the point.
My husband talks about his younger brother a lot. The stories are wonderful. He was a typical brat of a brother. A good brother none the less. He was the kind to never step down from a fight. He truly loved life and enjoyed every minute of it except for the last five years of his life. He passed on before I met my husband. His life snuffed out at the age of 27, when his life should have begun.
He was out with a friend drinking. They were drinking Manhattan iced tea in a bar. They had over heard someone talking about a party and decided to go check it out. Several members of the college wrestling team were at the party. Mostly under age drinkers.
My brother-in-law and his friend were talking to some of the young ladies that were there and of course some jealousy ensued. One of the wrestlers accused my brother-in-law of pushing one of the young ladies. So an argument arose, and my brother-in-law and his friend were told to leave. Which they did.
When they were about a block away they realized that three of the wrestlers were running after them. The two of them began to run. After running for two blocks my brother-in-law stopped. He decided to fight and get it over with. He was tired of running. The three wrestlers began attacking my brother-in-law. They did not hit punch or kick his body, they saved it all for his head and face. His friend turned and saw what was happening and went back to help him. After knocking my brother-in-law out and into a coma they started on his friend. Had my brother-in-law not been drinking he might have been able to defend himself a little better. But it was three college wrestlers on one rather drunk young man. His friend sustained many injuries as well.
While my brother-in-law lay in a coma, one of the wrestlers went to Hawaii, one went San Diego, and one stayed here in town. Two of the wrestlers turned states evidence against the one that stayed here in town. The way the case was laid out in court my brother-in-law beat his own head against the ground. The court nightmare went on for 2 years. My brother-in-law was never able to defend himself in court because of his severe injuries. He was kicked in the head repeatedly, stomped in the face and his head slammed on the pavement. It ended with the death of my brother-in-law and the attorney of the wrestler stating they should pin a medal on him and put him next to the liberty bell for what he did. What he did was beat my brother-in-law to death, a slow miserable death. Does this deserve a medal just because my brother-in-law was known to get into trouble? They found this wrestler not guilty of this horrible crime.
My brother-in-law has a child out there somewhere. Who should be receiving money due to his death but, we can't locate him. He should be 21 years old now. His son's mother married and changed her last name so we can't track her down to let his son know anything.
My brother-in-law has passed on. He suffered for 5 years before he died of respritory failure. The person that was put on trial for the beating of my brother-in-law is now a teacher in southern California. When my husband gets picked for jury duty, he makes sure he never gets picked as Juror. He tells them this story and how he does not support the system here. He tells them, "I think they're all guilty."
