Show J w letter To T The e Editor w Dear Friends in Ephraim r Your expressions of sympathy your cards calls flowers and money have been so numerous we hope you will understand the impossibility of thanking each of you personally personal y As we have said so many times before the people in Sanpete are some of the bestin best bestin bestin in the world and our leaving there has only increased our love and feelings of closeness to all of you We can never begin to express our gratitude for all that you have done for us at this trying time me We have had many sad experiences in our lives but none of them have compared to this Knowing your sincere concern to learn the truth about what r. r actually took place we are using us us- ing this means to inform you of i the details as we now know them r As you already know Ray found Randy between and 3 am a.m. in the morning Sept 19 I in the back seat of a car parked at a service station just a couple I of blocks from our house He had been working all summer at another station on the other end of town and had closed the station station sta sta- tion about 8 that evening taking the m money ney to the home of one oner r of his bosses We usually took his lunch out to him early in inthe P. P the evening when he worked at night but that night he told us not to bother he would either come come ome home after work for far a bite to eat or he would pick up a hamburger at the in drive-in right next to the station because he had to help work on a float for forthe f the homecoming game to be held heldt the following Friday and might be late getting home t r We didn't get too uneasy about him until midnight and a little after 1 I Ray went out looking for him He checked the station and drove all over town coming back home once thinking that he surely must be home by that time When he finally found him between 2 00 and 3 Randy had been dead for some time tune He appeared appeared appeared ap ap- to have been beaten and the bruises and cuts on his body and head seemed to verify this An autopsy was performed and the pathologists pathologist's s 's report on the actual cause of his death was that gastric contents had backed into his lungs An inquest was held on Saturday after untiring questioning by the police and highway patrol d during ring the four previous day to the four boys involved involved involved in in- in the accident Two vo of them are ue Evanston boys and two are from Salt Lake They were not allowed to compare testimonies ies during the week and each of them had a different story to tell about the nights night's happenings Conflicting testimonies were given the entire week and the theone theone theone one boy changed his again on the witness stand All of them seemed seemed seemed seem seem- ed able to remember exact times and circumstances about everything everything everything every every- thing except Randy's death and when anything was asked about that they conveniently remember At two in the morning before the inquest Steve one of the Salt Lake boys asked to talk with a patrolman and everyone feels that he has come came nearer the truth than any of them Its It's true that they were all drinking Randy included We learned earned at the inquest that this was the third experience for Randy the first being the last night of Cowboy Days our wonderful wonderful wonderful won annual 3 day 3 day y celebration celebration celebration tion held each Labor Day weekend weekend weekend week week- end when the whole town has a legitimate excuse to get drunk and its it's labeled having a good time Rodeos are held in the afternoons dancing and bingo games go on in the downtown streets and the bars run full blast for three glorious days and nights What a tremendous example example example ex ex- ample for all of the young pea peo people pie Randy's second experience was at a football game in Jackson Jackson Jackson Jack Jack- son the Friday before his death and the third was the night of his death It seems he teamed up this night with a couple of Evanston boys Larry who is 19 and Lex who is 17 Randy's friendship with Larry began with Cowboy Days Lex he has known casually the past couple of years They started drinking together and during the course of the evening evening eve eve- ning Wing encountered the two Utah boys Steve and Tom at a drive drive- in Unfriendly words were exchanged exchanged exchanged ex ex- changed and when a fight seemed seemed seemed seem seem- ed brewing one of the little girls at the in drive-in said she would call the she police if anything started Then immediately according according according ac ac- cording to the testimonies everyone everyone everyone ev ev- became friendly and the Utah boys teamed up with the Evanston boys all of them riding riding riding rid rid- ing around together in Lex's Mustang with Randy driving A number of stops were made during the evening several times they drove up in front of the in drive-in where they met and talked with kids out there More liquor was purchased by Tom some at a liquor in drive-in just up the hill from our house With Randy driving they stopped at a hotel where one of the Utah boys went in to get a room for far the night It was here that Steve testified that Larry pulled Randy from the drivers driver's seat on an to the ground and closed the door star starting ng the car up and d hitting Randy with the car Evidently words had been exchanged about Randy's driving after he had backed into a car parked near the hotel They put Randy into the backseat backseat back backseat seat after hit hitting ng him and Steve said that Randy kept saying My leg hurts Instead of securing securing securing se se- curing help for far him they drove on out to a gravel pit where the police later took pictures of evidences of scuffling and someone someone someone some some- one being dragged through the dirt and gravel Steve and Larry testified that they saw Tom Tam and Randy on the ground together and Tom was pouring whiskey in Randy's face Larry said that Tom wanted him to slap his face but he didn't want to The jurors passed these incidents off as perhaps perhaps perhaps per per- haps they were trying to revive him Steve said that Randy was then dragged and dropped a couple of times and put back into the back seat of the car and that he was awfully hard to get in because his body had gone awfully limp He said it was then that he became concerned that Randy might be dead But the others denied being concerned concern concern- ed they said they figured he had only passed out Another stop was made out atthe at atthe atthe the in drive-in according to a couple of their stories but this time instead of driving up in front as they previously had they stopped about fifty yards away Then Lex was dropped off at his house with Larry driving and nd Steve Stave dropped off at the hotel ho ho- tel Larry and Tom drove up to the Fr Frontier station where they parked the car and took off separately separately separately sep sep- on foot e The police have so many questions questions questions ques ques- G still unanswered and so many pieces of the stories dont don't add up right Why did they say they all went out to the gravel t pit in one car when the police have photographs of both Lex's car tracks and Toms Tom's car tracks What actually went on at the gravel pit was it intentional as asa asa a result of the unfriendly remarks remarks remarks re re- marks made earlier in the evening evening even even- evento to ing Was pouring the whiskey in j Randy's face what caused him to l strangle or was he pouring it down him Why wasn't some help sought for Randy after they hit him with the car and he said he was hurt And why did they leave him alone in the parked car ear and take off We were told at the close of the inquest that the matter was far tar from closed but as to what will be done besides the fines given the boys and the establishments we have no idea All we wanted from the Inquest inquest in quest was the truth regardless of what it was but only bits of truth were uncovered Both of the Utah boys have police records records records rec rec- and the one looks like he came straight from the hippie colony in California He has long bleached hair and its it's easy to see why the unfriendly remarks were made in the first place by bythe bythe bythe the Evanston boys This is all the information we have for the present but if anything anything anything any any- thing further develops we shall let you know We are grateful for all of your interest and help and especially for the help of our Heavenly Father Without that we could never never endure the deep hurt in our hearts Were We're so grateful that we were privileged to have Randy in our home for seventeen years The tragic cir cir- If the last few hours of his mortal life are hard to understand and harder to accept but all we can say is Father Thy will be done We realize that His wisdom is much greater than ours and weve we've learned from previous experiences that His decisions are to be trusted We know that Randy was loved by his Father in Heaven as he was by all of us and that our lives are going to continue to be enriched by our association with him in this earth life The money which was sent is being put into a missionary fund and some some people sent theirs di directly directly directly di- di to the Primary Childrens Children's Hospital As far as we know now we will soon be moving down to Salt Lake so were we're counting on seeing seeing see ing all of you more often God bless each one of you We shall never forget your kindness Ray and Leoma Cook |