JUSTICE? or APPEASING the PUBLIC and MEDIA

The mysterious death of Jeff Kashmir reaches it’s creshendo on wednesday 1\24\07 at 1:30 pm. Or does it? The young lady who is accused of killing Mr. Kashmir as he lay prone in the street in a drunken stupor is scheduled to be sentenced. There are still many lingering questions about this man’s death. I intend to walk you through this entire case: things that are known, as well as things that are not known.

Mr. Kashmis’s body was found laying in the street in Olyphant, Pa. the night of Jan. 5, 2006. He appeared to have been run down in the street. But was he? There have been substantial reports of his being out drinking heavilay and using drugs with several friends. One of which committed suicide shortly after Mr. Kashmir’s death. It was rumored that this friend and two others jumped Mr. Kashmir outside of an Olyphant bar and proceeded to beat him senseless, then, drove him home and dumped his body in the street in front of his home. This now dead “friend” is said to have left a suicide note detailing what was done to Mr. Kashmir and why.

Mr. Kashmir’s body was found by a woman named Romayne Wrightson. She was returning home from work between 11:10pm and 11:20pm. I know this because I work with Mrs. Wrightson. I relieved her that night. Mrs. Wrightson is also the neighbor of Mr. Kashmir. They lived in the same building next door to each other. This puts Mrs. Wrightson on the scene behind the wheel of her car at the time Mr. Kashmir is alleged to have been killed. Mrs. Wrightson was never questioned by the Olyphant police about the possibility she might have been involved. Why is a question we may never fully understand. Mrs. Wrightson told a neighbor to call the police and proceeded into her home. She then called me. She wanted to know how far behind her a co-worker was. This co-worker had been out with me that night from 7:45pm until 11:15pm. Mrs. Wrightson left our place of employment at 11:10pm. The co-worker in question was still there at the time Mrs. Wrightson departed. She left approximately 5 minutes later. This suggests Mr. Kashmir was dead before the second person arrived. This person, a 25yr old woman, arrived on the scene approximately 5 to 10 minutes after Mrs. Wrightson. She apparently turned onto the the street Mr. Kashmir’s body was laying on, and ran over his body. When she rounded the corner, she did not see his body at first. The street was dark and the cars parked on the street obstructed her view. When she did see it, she swerved to try to avoid it. Unfortunately, she was not able to do so. She ran over the lower extremities of his body. The young lady, realizing what had occured, panicked and left the scene. She returned approximately ten minutes later, sought out the police and told them what happened. Two hours later, the Olyphant police took her to a local hospital for a blood alchohol test. The young lady told the police where she had been and that she had a couple of drinks. This ended any possibility of an actual POLICE investigation. As I stated earlier, the first driver on the scene was never questioned or investigated. I should also note, Mrs. Wrightson phoned a second time. She called at approximately 5:05am to inform me that the young lady in question “definately did it”. She was basing her accusation on the fact that the news report said that a “dark colored car was involved”.

Over the next month or so, the incident was recreated by the Pa. State Police accident re-creation team. At the end of their investigation, they apparently concluded that this person had dragged Mr. Kashmir’s body 47 yards. Just shy of half a football field. I find this to be ridiculous. I’ve been on that stretch of road, there is no way Mr. Kashmir’s body could have been dragged like that. Especially when you consider it was found in very close proximity to where the young lady saw it when she came around the corner.

In February, a grand jury was convened to “investigate” Mr. Kashmir’s death. I was one of the people that testfied. Mrs. Wrightson also testified. I’m not going to bore you with the details of my testimony, I will however point out a few things. The first thing being this; the Assistant District Attorny doing the questioning, asked me of several occasions what time my friend left the bar we were at. I counted approximately half a dozen times. He also repeatedly asked me if she had left the bar and returned some time later. The answer to his first question; no she did not leave the bar at any time between 7:45pm and 10:55pm; which is the time we left the bar. I had to be at work at 11:00pm. Since she did not leave, she had no reason to return, she was already there. To this day, I don’t get why these questions were asked repeatedly. Unless……Mr. Kashmir was dead BEFORE we left the bar at 10:55pm!

I had never testfied before a grand jury before, I really did not know what to expect. My thought process led me to believe this would be a fair and impartial inquiry into this man’s death. After testifying, I don’t believe it was. Here’s why. One of the members of the panel, sitting less that six feet in front of me, and in full view of the rest of the panel and the assistant D.A. amd the DEPUTY D.A., would violently shake his head NO every time I gave an answer he did not like. Specifically, what time my friend left the bar. Half a dozen times, same answer, same result. A second member of the panel became agitated when I placed someone else at the scene. In my opinion, this is witness intimidation. This was all done in front of and in full view of the A.D.A, and the D.D.A. All of this leads me to believe Mr. Kashmir was dead long before my friend arrived on the scene. I also believe this Grand Jury was tainted from the beginning. They had no intention of looking at anyone other than my friend. Why? She had a couple of drinks; therefore she is guilty, even if she had nothing to do with his death. It should also be noted that a third party has been involved from the beginning: The M.A.D.D. organization. I believe this to be a violation of my friends constitutional right to due process of law. Third party involvement in a criminal proceeding is not supposed to happen.

Mrs. Wrightson’s testimony included testimony about Mr. Kashmir’s girlfriend crawling threw Mrs. Wrightson’s bedroom window to retrieve something. Makes me wonder if this particular article incriminated her in Mr. Kashmir’s death.

The Grand Jury “deliberated” and returned with the recommendation to charge my friend with homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident where a fatality occurred, and D.U.I. All these charges, I can understand either homicide by vehicle or involuntary manslaughter, but not both. That’s ridiculous. Who does this man’s family know and why are they involved? If it is just the M.A.D.D. organization, what right do they have being involved? NONE!

Grand Jury Investigation or Witchhunt……..you decide.