My experience with America's Most Wanted

Tafka, thanks for your words of encouragement. It has meant a lot of suffering for the Weavers, Jean's sisters and her mother, my family. The actions of Gordon has impacted so many lives.

I also wanted to say that I agree with you about genetics being an excuse a lot of the time. People are not willing to take responsibility for their choices. They would much rather say that the "devil made me buy this dress (do it)."

The one thing in my life that has helped me to grow stronger and to live a good life now is that i have taken responsibility for my choices and owned everything I have done in my life, even the things that I felt I was a victim of. You cannot believe the personal freedom I feel from having done that. It has truly set my spirit soaring.

I have transcended my genetic predispositions. Amen

Now they are hoping that the prosecution will make a plea bargain with Gordon and that he will get what he wanted which was a conviction of manslaughter. But I think that if the trial does go forward and they are unsuccessful in getting the evidence thrown out in the retrial then the result will be the same, in spite of the change of judge.

He will be found guilty of second degree murder.

I pray for the legal team in Anoka county that they take courage with the evidence they have and move forward with justice. Jean deserves no less.

Here is something very recent that occurred to my father as a result of the lawsuit against the Weavers.

The dirty thing that the Weaver's attorney did to my father was this. In Minnesota when you loose an Appeal the defendants are awarded a $300 fee for prevailing. Our attorney promptly paid them the fee, however they did not promptly file a satisfaction of judgement (meaning acknowledging that they were paid) and so that judgment appeared on my father's credit report and he took a 60 point hit on his score right when we were trying to refinance his home to get a lower interest rate. They denied the loan based on the score.

Of course the attorneys, Winthrop and Weinstein, claim that it was an oversight on their part and when I brought it to our attorney's attention who brought it to their attention they promptly submitted their satisfaction, but they had to have known that it would have a negative impact on my dad's credit.

It will take several months to recover the loss in score points for him.

Apparently it would be hard to prove any malice on the part of the law firm for neglecting to file a prompt satisfaction.

I guess the oversight of the prosecutor in handing over information about crucial evidence was innocent, too, but boy did the Weavers jump all over that one. The prosecutor resigned and the Weaver's attorney Joseph Freidberg was quick to ask the judge to recuse herself and ask that the murder re trial be moved to another jurisdiction. The judge voluntarily recused herself and another judge denied the motion to move the trial; the trial will stay in Ramsey county.

I hear from my sister in Eugene that my mother and my other sister who declared herself a former lover of Gordon Weaver, believe that Gordon is going to be released in a year and that there isn't going to be another trial because the county doesn't want to spend the money. I have not read anything in the news about this at all. I told my sister in Eugene that it was wishful thinking on their part.

The Weaver's believe that there was deliberate prosecutorial misconduct and that the whole legal team at Anoka county has it in for Gordon. They think that because of the trial error the evidence of Jean's death from Carbon Monoxide and soot in her airways should be thrown out. This is the crucial evidence that shows that Gordon murdered his wife in cold blood, that it was not an tragic accident as he and his mother claim. This is why the jury found him guilty of Second Degree murder with Heinous circumstances.

my thoughts are with you all.

One last thing Delores, where exactly did Gordon get the $150,000 that was found on my father's property by Lueene McCracken and Norm Kunzelman?

He swears that it is true that they found the money and that he went with her to a bank to deposit the money. Who's account was that?

I don't deny that you both have had a great track record being philanthropists even adopting three children. I am sure that you must feel a great sense of pride about the accomplishments and that you could help lost souls and give their lives meaning. I never knew that Larry had a building named after him at the University of Minnesota until I watched the Dateline show. What I find unbelievable to me is that after leading such stellar lives that you would allow yourselves to become tarnished in such a manner.

But I guess since you honestly believed you were doing the right thing and you are steadfast in your assertions, there has been no point to continue to engage with you. You and I will never look at Gordy and see the same person.

One thing that I said on Camera in the Dateline episode that didn't make it onto the screen is this. Besides them asking what I planned to do with any money from the lawsuit, had we prevailed, I asserted to them that I intended on donating the money to the Minnesota Battered Women's Coalition. The interviewer asked me what I thought about Gordy's conversion to Christianity and his involvement with my mother's church. I responded that I didn't believe it for one second and this is why. Of all the hundreds of letters he has sent to various family member of mine, he has never sent me one letter; acknowledging to me that he had done wrong and that what I did by turning him in was the right thing to do. He has never taken responsibility for his actions in a letter to me. This I said speaks very much to his character and that he is faking the whole conversion thing. Because if he had truly embraced Christian principles he would have sought to make amends with me and my father.

Instead he writes letters describing my father as one who worships money and everything that has happened to him, loosing his wife, having his family ripped apart were all things he had coming to him for being such a lousy father, grandfather and husband. Gordy's exact words were that "Satan has Jaime in his grasp." Gordy only knows half of the story and is basing his pronouncements about my father on what he was told by my mother, who is not a saint either. When I was a child I had to see her drunk and kissing another woman in my bedroom when I was sick with a fever and my parents were having a party in the house. I remember that I cried after I saw that, it broke my heart; because I didn't understand.

But now that I have grown up and live through many experiences in my life, I am a very happy and well adjusted person. I love myself and from the feedback I get I am well liked and people see me as a compassionate and caring person. You can think whatever you want about me, it will not shake who I am.

Frankly I am glad that the lawsuit is over because for me it was a big headache. I participated in it with my father because it helped him to ease his suffering. I really could care less about you or Larry, although I am sorry that he is suffering with Alzheimer's, that must be very difficult to deal with. I do not have any hatred in my heart against you or Larry. My conscience is clean.

As for Gordy, I cannot say that I hate him, but I have no love for him what so ever. To me he is a fraud and a faker and I will continue to do everything in my power to assist in his conviction and be sentenced to the maximum time he can serve for that conviction. If that means that I must decry his wrongdoings in this or any other forum I will continue to do so. He has done nothing to demonstrate that he is deserving of mercy. Yes he may be a stellar inmate and he may be involved with prison ministry, but anybody can fake that.

This will be my last entry directed at you.

DeeW wrote:
I hope you will establish a relationship in your life with someone who truly believes in you.

I do have many relationships in my life with people who believe in me and know that I am an honest person. I have rarely ever gone out of my way to go after people for what they have done to me, or my family. But the things you and your precious Gordy have done to our family is beyond the pale.

You write so nicely describing things in such an innocent way. I am sure that you truly believe what you are saying and that is your reality. Who am I to change the mind of a woman in her 80's?

As for the lawsuit being about profit, you should know that suing someone for $20K would barely cover the legal fees. This lawsuit was serving another purpose. If the lawsuit would have been for $1 that would be just fine with me. I am not about profiting from the tragedy of Jean Weaver's death. I am all about holding guilty people accountable for their actions. I have never collected one dime for any of my troubles, in fact it has cost me money. But I am sure it has cost you lots of money, but whatever you spent, I am sure that it was a drop in the bucket compared to what Larry has earned in his lifetime and with his many patents on orphan drugs.

My hope is that I can use these events as an impetus to being lobbying our state government and perhaps even the federal government to change the laws to start holding people who aid and abet fugitives liable for their actions. I was shocked to find out that there was no such recourse for victims of these types of crimes.

This is not a contest. Jon obvioously has the advantage - this is not my venue for discussion. I believe this will be my last contribution. If Jon wishes to continue he knows my private e-mail. It may be difficult for him to envision a relationship between a family and a son who lived at home through graduate school. We knew Gordy well and found it impossibe to believe the accusations against him by people with no valid information. We also knew Jean well. Before she and Gordy were married she was in school as an "emancipated adult" and felt that she could not stay in her parents home overnight without jeprodizing her status. Our daughters were away from home at that time so she occupied their room. I had had telephone calls from her the week before her death and very recently she had commented that she had been a part of our family for more than half of her life. We loved her and miss her. I will never understand how an involved soccer mom like JEAN would be passing up a playoff game of her son to spend time at the cabin with her sisters = she had just spent the previous week end with them and she was the type of soccer mom who had traveled to Great Britain with the team and just a few months before had driven to Colorado with her son for tournaments. The title Aunt Rita came from a misunderstanding between Gordy and your father and became a joke between us = I never used the title. Our "help" for Gordy with the credit card was limited to furnishing the means of transportation home after 9/11. We also arranged for an attorney at the same time - the telephone number was on his to do list at the time of his arrest. The penalty for me was to continue the volunteer work I was already doing. It seemed a violation of the judicial system to continue the charges to trial. I have more respect for the judicial system than to abuse it in frivolous lawsuits although some people do find them to be profitable. I hope you will establish a relationship in your life with someone who truly believes in you.

DeeW wrote:

"We wil always believe that Jean's death was a tragic accident."

**********

Living in denial at your age is all you have to give you peace of mind and believe it was a tragic accident, well good for you. How heartless of you to send these words to Jean's mother in a Christmas Card.

I think the Dateline NBC speaks for itself in it's portrayal of your son. I especially liked the way it portrayed your picture when it portrayed your picture on the air and talked about your crime of "aiding and abetting a fugitive" to which you pleaded guilty.

To me it conjured up images of Ma Baker and her sons Gordy and the other one.

Not one person that I have talked to about the case can wrap their minds around your devotion to Gordy. I can assure you that if the table were turned and I was the one in Gordy's place, Lueene would not be so devoted or compassionate to me as you have been to your son.

My father was driving in a car when the whole story about Gordy's biological mother came out. Gordy was telling my nephews that they were bastards just like he was. That was when my father asked him what he meant about being a bastard, and he confided that he was adopted and that his adopted mother told him that his biological mother was a prostitute; to which my father responded "I cannot believe that about your mother, who would tell you such a thing?"

Gordy became unglued and went into a rage saying "Are you calling my mother a liar!"?

Then Gordy started demanding that my father pull over to the side of the road so he could get out. My father told him to stop being ridiculous, "I can't believe your mother would tell you such a thing." But Gordy persisted in his agitation and even tried to jump out of a moving vehicle.

Clearly this reaction is not a normal reaction if this were such a benign thing as DeeW wrote: "We do not know the background of Gordy's biological mother and would consider it irrelevant."

DeeW called my father's home pretending to be someone else, an Aunt Rita. By taking out a credit card in Gordy's assumed name they participated in a deeper way than merely supporting their son with unconditional love. The document that was discovered in a raid at DeeW's home with Gordy's master plan for acquiring a new identity speaks volumes about the intentions of the Weavers with regard to my family.

This is like sticking a knife in someone's back with a big smile on the face.

I hesitated to answer directly but there were so many misrepresentations that I could not let this pass as fact. Jon neglected to say that the lawsuit against us was "dismissed with prejudice" and the dismissal was upheld upon appeal. The sentence of another son was overturned as the result of a law student project and is a frequently referenced case in Minnesota. Southern Iowa is not near the Twin Cities and we were not in need of additional care - we welcome our meeting with Luweene as a new friend with whom we share many values. We do not know the background of Gordy's biological mother and would consider it irrelevent. Our faith and values do not encompass judgment of people we do not know. Gordy grew up as a popular well liked individual. An honor student with many friends he received much attention because of his accomplishments. He had zero tolerance for recreational drug use and refused to socialize with people who were using. However, he has a history of helping people who were addicted and trying to help them turn their lives around. I was past 80 before I was confronted with someone who was intentionally trying to hurt me. I have had trouble assimilating such actions into my value system but continue to believe that most people are good. We wil always believe that Jean's death was a tragic accident.

For anyone who wants to follow this story, here is a link to the Dateline NBC presentation of:

The Stranger

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23414195#23417031

This link will open up their player window and you have to sit through a 30 second sponsor commercial and then the video starts with Chris Hanson announcing the story and Sara James the moderator.

I have had some interesting exchanges with various people involved and I have heard that the murderer's mother is not pleased with the portrayal of her son. Apparently she thought the video was going to be about prosecutorial misconduct and not about the fact that her son murdered his wife in cold blood.

You know that was certainly part of his charm. Undoubtedly he used his politeness to get people to feel affection for him. It makes sense....ah ha

one thing about cyclepaths ( as we call them in my neck of the woods) is that they are inherently polite. Hence in my opinion, the code of chivalry derives, and comes to us through the ages. (well mabe, apart form the sufis but i digress). If you are in the company of such people it pays to be polite. "psyco killer Qes que say"-talking heads. They are also sociopathical and demonicly manipulative.

However i belive in the inherent nature of choice for all human beings "timsel" in hebrew. We all choose or what would be the point.

I feel that genetics are an easy excuse perhaps? hey ho nature nurture again.

A story. a woman i worked with Aileen in 91 told me that her father battered her mother and her and her brother. This happend every time he had a drink. The police used to take him to the sells in a medium sized scottish city and give him what for , as our english cousins say!

However he always came home. ad infinitum
She told me that she had never laid a finger on her chilldren nor had her brother. she told me its choice.
bit heavy sorry

i like the article and the sentiment jubal. keep up the good work

V. thank you so much for the links...I will cherish them and learn from them...so much food to digest...I feel gluttonous....heh heh

Jon my dear friend. :)

You might find the following three websites very informative and interesting with regard to psychopaths - I reckon that Gordon Weaver was born a psychopath, as it seems that there might well be a "psychopathic gene" transmitted by mothers, although not all psychopaths are genetically so. Here are the websites in question:

http://www.ponerology.com/

http://ponerology.blogspot.com/

http://www.sott.net/

A big hug to you. :)

One more thing I wanted to post here.

I know this may be a little sadistic and provocative of me to do so, but I want to be a thorn in this psychopath's mind.

Based on a Forensic's Psychologists profile of Gordon Weaver's handwriting, I have come up with this little back story.

Gordon Weaver was born, by his own admission, from a prostitute and given up for adoption in Minnesota. He was adopted by Lawrence and Delores Weaver who rescued this young fellow from his genetic inheritance. Although they tried to raise a normal young man, (this is the part from the Forensic Psychologist) Gordon always got himself into trouble as a youth. Delores had to come to his rescue time and time again. She never failed to remind him of the fact of where he came from and who saved him from the life he may have had with his biological mother.

The Psychologist projects that this is how Gordon Weaver was transformed into a psychopath by Delores Weaver. She wanted to save him so much that she never let him suffer any of the consequences a normal child would have to face for choosing wrong actions, bullying other children, or hurting animals. She would just defend him and cover up the incidents with cash or other commodities. Gordon never learned to have a conscience because he was rescued from taking personal responsibility for his errors.

One of the Weaver's other adopted children had caused a hit and run vehicular homicide while under the influence of intoxicants. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced. On appeal the Weavers were successful in having his conviction overturned and the man is free. No re trial was ever carried out. (there is more about this from DeeW herself down below)

When you are as wealthy and powerful as Lawrence and Delores Weaver are, you pretty much feel like you are above the law and your money can buy you anything you want; even if that means you leave a trail of destruction in your path.

My family is one of their trails of destruction.

My name is Jon Jaramillo and this is my story.

The Dateline NBC segment that was recorded last October 2007 is finally going to air on Friday February 29th, 2008.

I posted the America's Most Wanted interview and segment in the stream (hosted on Google)

Check out the story here at the current stream, then check out the Dateline interview with me and my father. You won't believe what you hear, the truth is stranger than fiction.

Yes Vierotchka, it has baffled us to no end. My mother was such a devout and steadfast fundamentalist Christian and it seems contrary to her nature to embrace someone who clearly had done wrong and intended on continuing to do wrong.

Of course I still love her and I continue to have communication with her from time to time, but she hasn't called me or emailed me since her last visit when I confronted her about what her friend told NBC. He told them that he helped my mother locate $150K in cash that Gordon left behind and went with her to deposit the money into a bank account. We don't know if it was her account or some other account.

She denied that the money thing happened and told me that her friend was crazy, only wasn't crazy as long as he was covering up for her, but now that he has turned his back on her and on Gordon, he is singing like a canary.

I think it is very sad for her, because one of these days she is going to realize that she walked away from her place in the family to save someone who wasn't worth it. By then the family will have all moved on. I pray for her not to suffer too much.

Thanks for checking out this story, and your kind words of support. You are very special to me Vierotchka.

Oh wow! That is amazing - thank God you found him out on time, there's no telling what he might have done to your parents. I'm sorry to hear that this resulted in your parents' divorce - why your mother want to be closer to Gordon is something I cannot understand, though.