Print Story
E-mail Story
Hillis sentence challenged
| Thursday, Oct 19 2006 2:15 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Oct 19 2006 2:15 PM
This item originally was published Oct. 14, 2003.
Only mistake was to help
My brother was stabbed 16 times in the head by a psychotic, deranged man -- Chris Hillis.
You are printing lies about my brother from the mouth of a murderer as though they are true. How much sicker can this story get? Just how low can you and your editors go? Where are your values? I don't know how you can live with yourself.
Chris Hillis is a known drug addict, alcoholic, abuser, murderer who could not keep a job or a wife and could not raise a child without beating him or killing his dog.
I know you don't even have one piece of evidence about the lies you are writing about my brother. I knew my brother well. I have seen him, time after time, give unselfishly always trying to make things right.
Steve Tauzer's only mistake was trying to help too much in a world full of warped people.
MARGARET TAUZER
Korbel
Justice was not served
I'll bet Stephen Tauzer did much good and in many ways was as gentle as friends claimed. I'll bet Chris Hillis did much good, too, at law enforcement and in his recovery home work.
I can relate to the anger Hillis must have felt when Tauzer -- a man protected by those in power -- said he'd encouraged Hillis' addicted child Lance to "try some controlled drinking." (Lance was over 18, but he was a child, living in an addict's emotionally stunted world.)
I can't relate to a "blind rage" ending with a knife buried in another person's head, as Hillis did to Tauzer. I can't relate to "being in love" with a vulnerable, drug-addicted youth -- whom one has known since that youth was small, as Tauzer reportedly did Lance.
I can't relate to this "coincidence" announcement of Hillis' verdict and Schwarzenegger's victory on the same day. The trial timeline had been set for some time, but so had the recall timeline. Could any event besides Arnold's landslide have so well sidetracked major outcry over or questioning of Hillis' lenient sentencing?
I can relate to these conclusions, which I've heard from others: The D.A. should have stopped the Hillis-Tauzer problem before it turned brutally fatal. Justice has been not served, but subverted, by the powerful and unscrupulous.
JENNIFER GIA-BRIGGS
Bakersfield
Lance responsible for himself
Steve Tauzer was my friend. I did not know Lance Hillis, but I knew of Steve's involvement with him. Twelve years is not long enough for murder. I don't believe Chris Hillis' explanation of a crime of passion. I feel that he was "lying in wait." I think it was pre-meditated. And he should get no less than life without parole.
I can understand the boy's father wanting him to get the punishment he deserves and he felt Tauzer gave his son an easy way out. But he didn't have to kill Steve because he failed as a parent. Even if Lance was a homosexual, lots of people "come out of the closet," but it does not give you the right to kill someone.
Lance was an adult and responsible for his own actions, not his father. Whether or not Ed Jagels could have stopped Steve from helping Lance is a moot point. Lance was an adult. Lance had to stop it -- not Ed, not his father, not Steve. As far as the "Lords of Bakersfield," that is old news. Can't we please go on to another subject?
BRIDGET HEATH
Tehachapi
Hold Jagels accountable
Two words says why our county's justice system has a habit of making up their own rules, doesn't care who it hurts, ignores victim's rights, doesn't see anything wrong by doing so, and are never held responsible. Ed Jagels.
He doesn't see anything wrong with how he does his job. Why should anyone else working under his management?
Has he forgotten what that job is, or have we? It is insuring the people have equal justice for all. It was Jagels' responsibility his job and his duty to correct the situation long before Chris Hillis went begging to him.
Hillis admitted to and is being held accountable for his actions. Jagels has never been held accountable for anything because nobody can prove he's done wrong. He's not even concerned about it. He knows how powerful the right to remain silent truly is.
Abusing a position of power equals corruption and, I for one, won't waste time reading court records from his office, should they be made available. That time would be far better spent in finding a way to have him fired. Twenty years has been too long. Anymore years is dangerous.
SUSAN ADKISSON
Bakersfield
Sentence is unbelievable
Twelve years! Twelve years for killing the assistant district attorney! When I heard this news, my blood boiled and I heard pounding in my ears.
This man, while I feel for his loss, killed another person for no other reason than he disagreed with his relationship with his adult son.
Hillis wants to be remembered as a father who lost his son? I say we all remember him for what he is: a monster and a murderer.
RUSSELL BROWN JR.
Bakersfield
Everyone involved lost
In regards to the letter, "Case reflects prejudice," the issue here is not blatant fear and misunderstanding of homosexuality. The issues revolve around abuse of power and abusing a fellow human being's addictions. It is not about religion. It is not about insecurity. It is about right and wrong.
Everyone here lost. I do not condone anyone's actions in this case.
ROSEANNE KOBILIS
Bakersfield
Take responsibility
I knew both Steve Tauzer and Chris Hillis for years in a professional capacity. I liked both of them. For months after the death of Tauzer, I tried not to form an opinion of what happened until the facts came out. Unfortunately, the facts still have not come out -- only Hillis' version of what happened.
Reading the coverage of this tragedy, I have again questioned the media's portrayal of this crime. It appears to me that the staff is so determined to expose the "skeletons" in the District Attorney's Office that it is allowing Hillis to use the paper to justify murder -- on the front page, no less.
When is frustration with "the system" and fear that one's son may be in a homosexual relationship justification for killing someone?
Hillis said he killed Tauzer because he was distraught after Tauzer "admitted" he had a homosexual relationship with Hillis' son, Lance. He wasn't too distraught to attempt to cover up his crime, lie about it for months afterward and carry on as if nothing had happened.
Let's not forget that there is no one left to dispute that alleged admission by Tauzer of his relationship with Lance Hillis. Does Hillis really think this community is really so ignorant and homophobic that this should be considered a defense? I am disappointed that prosecutors chose a safe route instead of going all the way. I hate to think it is because they agree with Hillis and think the community might really consider that as justification for killing someone.
If Hillis really wants to honor his son, maybe he should start by accepting responsibility for his own actions and quit acting like everyone else is to blame.
WANDA CONNER
Bakersfield