Whitney Heichel killed by multiple gunshots

by AndersonsInfo 78 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  undercover

  I get ya, BB... This story really caught my attention, not just the JW angle, but how a normal (as a JW can get, granted) happy couple suffered a nightmare you only see in movies.

  I gathered from her photos, both on the news sites and on her Facebook page, and comments of people that knew her, that she was the kind of person that lit a room up just by walking in. An infectious smile, doting on her nephews, adored her husband, was loved by all around her. By all indications she was really a good kid. It's really sad, no matter what a person's religious preference is.

  Maybe Holt misread her bubbly personality and friendliness as something between them that wasn't really there. Who knows. But even still, he had to be unstable up to this point. I just don't see him snapping and deciding to do this. It's much darker than a momentary lapse of sanity.

  I feel bad for Holt's wife as well. The pain she must be going through...
• 

  AnneB

  Moshe: Here's an article to answer your question about what the elders knew: http://www.oregonlive.com/gresham/index.ssf/2012/10/jonathan_holt_disappeared_with.html

  Whitney Heichel case: Jonathan Holt disappeared with friend's rental car in 2011 in 'mental breakdown'

  "Jonathan Holt, who faces aggravated murder charges in the death of Whitney Heichel, disappeared with a friend’s rental car one afternoon in 2011 then reappeared early the next morning, saying he had “a mental breakdown,” according to a Gresham police report.
  
  "The report was filed by Holt’s friend, Nathan Bargas, who told police that the two of them went to Best Buy at 1148 N.W. Norman Ave. in Gresham about 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 18, 2011. Bargas said he went into the store to buy a game and left Holt in the rental car with the key in the ignition.

  "When Bargas came out of the store, the car and Holt were gone, the report says.
  
  "Bargas told the officer that he and Holt often played jokes on each other so he waited for his friend to return. When he didn’t come back, Bargas ended up filing a missing person report.
  
  "Bargas said the incident was “very much out of character” for Holt, who he said “was a well-known and trusted friend” and had just completed his EMT training. He told the officer he had no idea where Holt might have gone. He said Holt had shown him a house earlier in the day in Troutdale, saying that he and his wife were planning on renting it.
  
  "Bargas told police that after his friend and the car disappeared he called Holt’s wife, Amanda Holt, who had no idea where he was and knew nothing about a rental house. The Holts were living in an apartment on Northeast Roberts Avenue in Gresham at the time.
  
  "Holt returned the rental car to his friend at 12:30 a.m. the next day. Holt apologized, saying he had had “a mental breakdown,” the report says. He said he “needed to get away and rethink his life and straighten his priorities,” the report says.
  
  "Holt said he had gone to a Washington park where he grew up and stayed there for several hours.
  
  "Bargas did not return a call seeking comment."

  There's more to the article but it just recaps the crime and says nothing further about the stolen car incident.

  Now I read that the local Kingdom Hall is having an Open House for the public, separate from Whitney's memorial. An Open House? At a Kingdom Hall???
• 

  Gayle

  "Open House?" An Open House is usually considered a 'gala' affair?
• 

  james_woods

  Open House is a pretty poor choice of title in these circumstances.

  At least they are attempting to hold some sort of remembrance or memorial.

  I sincerely hope that they can refrain from trying to preach to everyone who attends it. I very much doubt that they will.

  BTW - the above account does indicate that this suspect was indeed doing some bizarre behavior before this crime.

  I still have serious questions about what the local elders knew about him and when they knew it.
• 

  sir82

  I still have serious questions about what the local elders knew about him and when they knew it.

  I agree. It defies imagination that this guy was a sterling JW until a Thursday and then just snapped on a Friday.

  He was exemplary enough that he had a Kingdom Hall wedding 2 years ago.

  He was not DF or DA since an active JW readily gave him a ride.

  But was given "counsel" by the elders in the meantime?

  Was he on reproof? That would be the clincher, because there would be a file on him with lots of details in the KH filing cabinet.

  Pure speculation here, but how much do you want to bet, if he was on reproof, that when the local elders called Bethel, they told them to "accidentally" lose the file? And that such a file is by now ashes?
• 

  james_woods

  Pure speculation here, but how much do you want to bet, if he was on reproof, that when the local elders called Bethel, they told them to "accidentally" lose the file? And that such a file is by now ashes?

  Without a doubt. And here is another disgusting (but probable) speculation: If he had not shot the girl to death, and she had reported it to the elders - they would no doubt have had to bring her into a JC meeting to see if she "led the guy on". For example - did she scream? etc. etc. etc.
• 

  undercover

  I still have serious questions about what the local elders knew about him and when they knew it.

  Pure speculation here, but how much do you want to bet, if he was on reproof, that when the local elders called Bethel, they told them to "accidentally" lose the file? And that such a file is by now ashes?

  I doubt we'll ever know. If Holt was unstable, had been reproved, counseled... Sir is right - those files will disappear. If Holt was unstable but inactive/irregular, he may have avoided elder contact over the last year or so and there would be no record of anything. If this was a recent development, say over a period of just a few months, the elders may very well have not known anything.

  It's too easy to cast doubt on anything that would involve having the elders deal with the legal department, but maybe they didn't know anything. We've admitted it before, elders are pretty darn slack about sheparding and keeping up with those that are 'missing'. Holt could have been known by everyone but the elder body to be acting strangely. Sometimes elders are the last to know anything when it comes to congregation gossip. I'm willing to give em a pass, until such a time, if ever, it comes out that they actually did know something and kept it hidden.
• 

  undercover

  ... [had] she reported it to the elders - they would no doubt have had to bring her into a JC meeting to see if she "led the guy on". For example - did she scream? etc. etc. etc.

  I thought about that the other day. I don't know these people, but it really bothered me for some reason that she might have gone to her grave worried that somehow she was committing a sin by giving in to his demands at a gunpoint. It makes me shudder to even think about it.
• 

  AnneB

  Undercover: I, too, have been thinking about that statement that he forced her to have oral sex. That's his statement! It could be that he shot her because she wouldn't comply! I just can't imagine that the good JW that Whitney is painted to be (and I believe it) would go against God just because somebody pointed a gun at her.

  The other thing I've come to realize is that Holt's wife won't have any trouble divorcing him; he's admitted to adultery!

  I do feel very, very sad for her and for Whitney's husband and family. This is a case that will remain in my memory for a long time, maybe for the rest of my life. It's not just because she was a JW; I don't know exactly why it is. Maybe it's because no one has had a single bad word to say about Whitney; hat's rare these days.