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To the editor: (Copy)
Discovery ID "When
Murder Comes To Town"
On January 20, 2014
the Discovery ID Channel aired an hour long segment on the Gee
Murders in Beason. A film crew came to Logan County in the fall and
conducted numerous interviews with police officers, attorneys, news
media, neighbors, family and friends of the Gee family. The
Discovery ID film crew put the show together based on the
information they received from all of the interviews, court records,
and previous news accounts of the crime. We do not dispute that the
program is only as good as the information fed to the film crew.
We do take great
exception to the depiction of Dillen Constant as a crazed teen
locked in on violent video games with a propensity to do violence to
his family. The attorneys for Chris Harris portrayed Dillen as such
in the trial, alleging that Dillen Constant killed his family and
Chris Harris showed up at the house and was attacked by Dillen. The
defense theory alleged that Chris Harris then killed Dillen Constant
in self-defense and then left the scene and covered up what had
transpired. The film indicated that Chris Harris provided this
statement to police after his arrest. This could not be further from
the truth. This theory was put forth by the defense attorneys nearly
three years after the crime.
[to top of second column in this letter] |
 The graphic make-up
utilized in the film by the actor portraying Dillen Constant was
over the top, giving the appearance that Dillen was anything but a
normal teenager. Interviews conducted during the investigation
indicated that Dillen was like many teenagers who enjoyed playing
video games. Information that would indicate he was violent toward
his family or anyone else was never substantiated. As a matter of
fact, Dillen did crawl out of a window and could have saved himself.
Chris Harris followed Dillen and brutally beat him on the steps and
porch outside the house. When Harris reentered the house, Dillen
followed him in to help his family. Chris Harris then finished
beating Dillen to death. The jury in the trial of Chris Harris
rejected the defense claims of self-defense and convicted Harris on
33 counts of murder.
The film was
accurate in many ways, but to depict Dillen Constant as anything but
a heroic teenage boy trying to save his family is a serious
injustice to this youth and a drastic deviation from the facts.
Sheriff Steve
Nichols & Former Lincoln Police Chief Stuart Erlenbush
[Posted
January 25, 2014]
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