Closure?

As a follow up to this blog, Jerome Barrett was found guilty today of second degree murder in the death of Marcia Trimble in 1975. I wasn't sure I would ever see this day, but I believed if I did, I would have all my questions answered.

Most people thought this conviction would bring "closure," but there are still so many unanswered questions in the case. The only real evidence they have against Barrett is DNA evidence, which is pretty foolproof, but it still doesn't all fit together quite right.

Why did no one notice a black man in this very white neighborhood? Were there other people involved? A neighbor said she saw Marcia standing in a driveway with 2 people, 1 child and 1 adult, neither of which she could identify, just before Marcia disappeared. The DNA evidence also led them to believe there was more than one male involved. Why was her body not found earlier? The garage she was found in had been searched a few days after her disappearance.

I don't know if these questions will ever be answered. Jerome Barrett has yet to confess to the crime, other than to some fellow prisoners who testified against him, and he apparently didn't give them any specifics.

So I would say there is some closure to this case that haunted my childhood as well as all of Nashville, but not as much as I had hoped for. We waited 34 years for this, and we will keep waiting, hoping that maybe some day we will know the whole, sad story.