After 2 long weeks of commuting to Redwood City, sitting in court, and finally waiting every day while the jury deliberated, a verdict was decided. Mark Henderson, the driver who killed Rebecca Siebenmorgen was today, two years after the incident, found to be guilty on all five felony charges. Driving under the influence, possession of cocaine, gross vehicular manslaughter, hit & run, and murder. The absolute minimum punishment is 15yrs in prison, no parole; the max is life. With prior convictions Mark’s minimum sentence is 30yrs.
My emotions are extremely conflicted. During sentencing I could not help myself from crying from happiness, but also anger. Happiness that this man will not be able to do harm to anyone else, but also anger and regret that nothing in this man’s life prevented these incidents from occurring. With all his horrible faults, and all the disgusting lies he told, and awful decisions he made, he was still once a child, and is now just another man behind bars. Certainly he had all the opportunity in the world to change his ways; from previous jail time to rehabilitation centers, yet he failed to do so, the prime reason this is a murder charge and not just manslaughter. He knew that what he was doing would inevitably cause death or harm to himself or another, yet he still did it again and again, and due to his actions Becca will never see another sunset.
What in this man’s life led him down this path of addiction, anger, irresponsibility, selfishness; how could he fall so far to the bottom of the barrel of society? Is his family, friends, society, sociopathy to blame? Or can we so easily place all of the blame solely on him and the choices he made? I don’t know, but today a second life was wasted, or was long ago, but made official on this day. Justice was certainly served today, but too late to save a life. Could this have been prevented with harsher punishment at his first DUI, or second, or third? Does harsh punishment even work? The high percentage of repeat prisoners leads me to believe it does not. Perhaps people like this fallen man just needed more love much earlier. Someone to listen to, someone to help correct his faults before they blew so clearly out of control. The only way such incidents can be prevented is if we grow as a species, and help those troubled beings early when in need, else they become another shell of a human withering away in a crowded prison with our tax money keeping them alive until the bitter, lonely end.
That said I love every person reading this, regardless of whether I have said so before, and regardless of whether I know you or not. Certainly fire must be at times fought with fire; crime with retribution, but maybe with a lot more love and understanding in this world we can prevent the forlorn from spiraling down a path leading to destruction. So if someone looks like they need a hug, just fucking hug them!
A huge stress has been lifted from the shoulders of all involved in this trial. This destitute man is behind bars for a long time, justice has been served, and all can go on with our lives. We can laugh, play, love, and breathe easy again because that’s certainly what Becca would have wanted, and we must never take anything too serious, because she would have hated that (except dogs, we must take all dog related things seriously). As much as I think we’ve all learned from this process, about the judicial system, about people, about life, I hope I never have to experience anything like this again, and I think I speak for all who have been likewise emotionally invested in this trial. Thanks everyone for all your love and support.
Love you all!
-Dave & Jessica
