THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 10, 1995 TAG: 9511100698
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Long : 130 lines
During these times of constant media attention on the few bad apples in government and law enforcement, it is certainly refreshing to have experienced none of that in Virginia Beach.
Our daughter, Andrea Ferguson, was recently killed in her Haviland Drive home. The police have arrested and charged her estranged husband with the crime. As a result of the murder, our granddaughter was left unattended in her crib for about 36 hours.
The phone call we received notifying us started a nightmare that is ongoing. This is such a horrible tragedy that no one should have to go through it. We take comfort in the words of one of your distinguished citizens: ``When Eric Ferguson carried out his deeds on your daughter, he made a bad mistake by doing it in Virginia Beach.'' Everywhere we turned - from the time we received that call to the present - we have felt nothing but caring and true dedication to do everything possible to get justice for our daughter and the best future of our granddaughter.
This letter will run long but we want to include all the individuals we are aware of who were and still are involved in her case. These persons are listed in chronological order, except for one special person who will be listed last.
We will be forever grateful to these dedicated professionals.
From NAS Oceana, AIMD: Joe Burrell, Andrea's supervisor, who knew this was out of character for Andrea and cared enough to go to her home with an emergency key when she didn't answer his phone call. If he hadn't gone there when he did, we might have lost our granddaughter also.
From the Department of Social Services: Susan Holbrook and especially Jamie Kruger, who cared enough to work with us, no matter how long it took, but also were careful enough to make sure we were the right people to take care of Kathy, our granddaughter. Jamie's concern for Kathy's welfare was her top priority, not the extra hours she would have to put in waiting for us to arrive.
From the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court: Nianza Wallace and Peter Jankell, attorneys who answered all our questions and were so patient in explaining the court system and procedures to us. They were both obviously intent on seeing that Kathy's best interests were paramount.
Judge H. Thomas Padrick, who let the most important person in his court be known by the first words out of his mouth: ``The baby can make any noise she wants in my court.''
From the Virginia Beach Police Department: There is no way we can ever know all the contributions of all members of the investigative teams. Let us say that from the beginning our ideas, questions and suggestions were taken seriously and were not sloughed off as just the foolish ramblings of distraught parents. They went back to the scene again and again as we remembered possibly important details. They kept their minds open and pursued Andrea's missing status from all angles until they knew for certain what her fate was. They were meticulous in their search for clues and tenacious in the pursuit of her husband once they were certain of his guilt.
I would not want to be a criminal being pursued by the Virginia Beach detectives: Sergeants T. A. Baum and R. W. Greenwood; Detectives S. W. Dunn, L. L. Chappell, D. A. Hebert, A. G. Ball, A. B. Byrum, P. C. Yoakam and J. G. Mentus; uniformed officers K. L. Wasson and E. A. Carila; Forensic Services Unit: supervisor C. L. Lowe, D. L. Totten, B. C. Muncy and E. R. Cale. And from the Chesapeake Police Department: Detective Ron Young, forensic officers Grover Davis and Mike Toothman, and uniformed officer M. I. Slezak.
As for that one special person mentioned earlier: We have said several times to family members that if anyone wants justice done in this case as much as we do, it's Det. Steve Dunn. He and all the members of the investigative teams have put in many hours to make the case as tight as possible, but Detective Dunn from the beginning gave us confidence in the process and kept us informed until the morning of Aug. 21, when he called and told us that they had found Andrea and that her husband was under arrest.
Detective Dunn is such a caring man and radiates confidence in his abilities; there is no doubt that if it can be done, he will do it. He is always available, no matter when we call, to answer our questions and keeps us up to date on the progress of the case. He goes far beyond what you think of as the requirements to make us feel that the system really works.
Now we must wait for the legal system to do its job. We can only hope and pray that justice will be swift and sure. Andrea worked hard to find and make a beautiful and safe home for her and Kathy only to have it violated by a person who should never walk the face of the Earth again as a free man. There is not punishment severe enough for what he did to all of us, and nothing can ever erase the pain he caused our family.
If we overlooked anyone involved, we apologize to them and express our gratitude. Thank you for your time in reading this letter and please know how much we appreciate everything the city of Virginia Beach has done for us.
Don and Glenda Burris
Mount Pleasant, N.C. Neptune volunteers' hard work appreciated
I'm sure everyone who attended the past Neptune Festival knows what a great success it was. Festival planners had a good variety of different types of foods as well as arts and crafts and entertainment.
But sometimes the volunteers who work so hard to make it a success do not get the credit they deserve, volunteers like Stan Belson, who is responsible for setting up the food tents and seeing that they have sufficient ground space. I saw Stan and his wife along the Boardwalk a few days in a row before the festival making sure everything was in order for opening day.
And while the Boardwalk festivities were in full swing, Stan and his wife handled all the announcements that came over the intercom, keeping everyone informed from early morning to closing time.
On the last day after it was all over, Stan had a bad sore throat and they both were so tired they had a hard time walking.
We should all take our hats off to them and all the other volunteers for all their devotion and time spent.
Dave Strano
Virginia Beach Police conduct in arrest of son was `intolerable'
It is obvious that the Virginia Beach Police Department has never heard of the Constitution of the United States of America or ``innocent until proved guilty.''
On Aug. 8, 1995, quite the opposite was the case with my son, Kenneth Pallett, in the murder and rape of Amber Sajac. Kenneth was badgered by police detectives for 13 hours into telling nine different stories until they finally heard what they wanted to hear, subsequently arrested him for murder and locked him away in jail until DNA tests could finally prove him innocent some two months later on Oct. 13, 1995.
I believe all of this was just to appease the community and public.
Besides the humiliation, torment and scorn caused to him, his family, and his wife and her family, if this episode was not actually illegal, then it was certainly outrageous and should not be tolerated by anyone in the future.
This could very well have been anyone's son!
Roger M. Pallett
Secretariat Run by CNB