Widow of slain police chief finds solace in signs of love
RAINIER, Ore. – It's been two years since Rainier police Chief Ralph Painter was killed in the line of duty and his family is still waiting for closure.
The courts are still deciding if the accused killer, Daniel Butts, is mentally competent to stand trial.
Painter's widow, Amy, says she's found stones in the shape of hearts that have helped her keep the memory of her husband alive.
The couple got married on the beach, and Ralph gave Amy a special gift on their wedding day seven years ago – a ring with a rock she had found. So rocks have a special meaning for her.
"I still hear him," she says. "I still hear his laugh and voice. I see him in my son. We miss him."
Weeks after he was killed, Amy found another rock in the shape of a heart during a visit to the beach.
"(I) asked him for a sign, and I went on the beach and found this rock," she says.
There is a hole completely through the rock that for Amy represents "the hole in my heart."
The hole may never close for her and the couple's son, Riley, who is now nine years old. But she believes a trial for the suspected killer could move them closer to peace.
"I know (Ralph) would be wanting us to get on with our lives and trying to heal, and it's just like you don't get that without the trial," she says.
So they must wait, but each delay is difficult and painful.
"(It's) just like it's hanging over our heads, waiting to happen and the not knowing," she says.
Carrying her through is the support from the community and balloons from a memorial on Saturday. And also, she says, the heart-shaped rocks that keep showing up at her feet in times of questioning or trouble.
"I looked down and I found this one so it was like he still answers," she says holding up another rock shaped like a heart. "To me he's still here with us. So everything I do I feel like we're still connected."
The next hearing for this case is set for February, but it's already been postponed twice in the past few months so the family believes there could be even more delays.
I hope she can get the closure she needs - she deserves it. And her comment about her husband wanting her to move on and heal is touching because people say that, but it really isn't easy.
What an amazing lady, and great mama! Â Sure wish we have her mailing address to send her heart-shaped rocks when we find them so she knows the community supports her and her family. Â Her husband sounds like an excellent man.
The "dance" of the defense team to postpone the trial all this time tells me that they really don't have anything to stand on, and are trying to figure out how to weave their "magic" to get this guy free.Â
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Just stop it already! He had the gun, he killed the Chief, Â so he is not innocent. He is guilty. Done already!
Just let me get my hands on the kid. Â Bare hands. I'll only need a few minutes. Â No guns, no knives. Â It'll all be over quickly. Â Hope1, I am not personally responsible for the unfortunate mental illnesses that befall others. Â I don't need to be part of the "collective" that tries to fix this. Â "Funds" you refer to are my hard earned money. Â Be careful where you stick your hands. Â They might get bitten off.
@Muttley that would make you a killer like him . knowing the chief he would not want that . he would want to let the law work .
The news is labeling all these criminals as mentall illness,hows that make some of the mentally ill feel that are afraid of violence and guns ,then theres budget cuts in the mental health system ,so how are the mentally ill suppose to feel when authority figures they have learned to trust and share their deepest hurts with,are turning them away because no funds,when in times like now with so much chaos ,the mental health professions are needed most ,when theres no other safe place for someone thats struggling to go
 @hope1 I'll tell you why help for the mentally ill is gone. Because at some point every bad behavior a person displayed somehow was manipulated into being a mental illness. No one is responsible for themselves anymore. They're all just sick. It's the number one consideration and defense for killers. I say it's irrelevant. If you've become so ill you kill, it's time for you to be removed.
 @Lips  It would be great if we had more services in place to be able to help people who are mentally ill, before some of them start killing people. But once they've committed murder, I agree, it's time for them to go away, and not to a cushy hospital. This guy is guilty as hell and knows exactly what he did. We don't need waste resources trying to "fix" him, we just need him removed from society.
@Lips @hope1 Exactly right Lips and we have a society full of "mental health professionals" who jump at the chance to make excuses for inappropriate behavior. If a person can tell right from wrong they should be held responsible and accountable. Period.
we know the justice system does no justice to victims. It serves to coo and coddle the criminals for the rest of their lives.
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When do we truly see criminals pay for their actions? We don't. Â They crash into hour houses, kills our family members while drinking and driving, they shoot LEO's and they have no respect for the law and cause family and financial turmoil while tax dollars pay for them. The law rewards them with degrees and gender reassignment surgeries in prison. Shame.
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Unbelievable. The pain just drags on for this mother and son. As if their loss of husband and daddy wasn't enough, this filthy killer continues to take from them. Years now, from their lives. Take your due, freak. Cut this family a break and plead out.
 @Lips See my post above.
@Lips The 6th amend.: "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial," . Well, what about the victim? Shouldn't they have the same right too? Making a family member of a murder victim or a victim of rape, or any violent crime wait 2 years and more is a crime in itself.