Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below 
.jpg "Research Chemical Sciences")
.png "Research Chemical Sciences")
TheProject
New member
I don't really know what it is...I admire the family for devoting so many resources to solving the murder, but it just seems odd to me that you can promise a reward without having the money, then turn to the public (but not really turn to the public, as it says below) for help in paying the reward that you promised.
Help sought to pay the price for justice
By DIANE CARROLL The Kansas City Star
Jeanette Stauffer refused to rest until her daughter's killers were brought to justice last year in Golfito, Costa Rica. Now she wants to make good on a promise she made to three persons who came forward to help her.
On Monday, Stauffer said she was trying to figure out how to come up with $30,000 in reward money. She has told two witnesses and an informant that she would pay them by the end of the month for helping convict a man and a woman in the death of her daughter, Shannon Martin, a University of Kansas student.
The lives of the witnesses and informant are in danger because of the information they provided, she said, and “I would feel awful if something happened” to any of them.
Martin was stabbed to death in May 2001 outside a nightclub in Golfito, a coastal town where KU offered a study-abroad program. She was a biology student finishing research on an unusual fern. She had planned to graduate later that month.
Stauffer pushed Golfito authorities to solve the murder. But, with scant progress being made, she and her husband, Brad Stauffer, decided to offer a reward in fall 2001 for information leading to a conviction.
Friends set up a reward fund and the Stauffers had planned to contribute significantly to it themselves. But only $6,000 has been raised and Stauffer said she and her husband have come up short because of all the money they spent pursuing the case.
By late last year, when a man and a woman were convicted, the Stauffers had spent more than $100,000, much of it in legal and travel costs. They have sold their home in Topeka and moved to a smaller home in Eudora, and dipped into their retirement savings.
They are doing all right, Stauffer said, but they still are paying off debt and would be hard-pressed to come up with $24,000.
“I'm really uncomfortable asking the public,” Stauffer said. However, she said, “It's important to me as an American to show I am good on my word. We will do everything we can to find the means to pay the reward fund to the three people who risked their lives.”
On Nov. 24, a three-judge panel in Golfito found Kattia Cruz, 32, and Luis Alberto Castro, 38, guilty of “simple murder.” They both were sentenced to 15 years in prison. A second man, Rafael Zumbado Quesada, 52, was acquitted.
Cruz and Castro appealed their sentences, as did the Stauffers' attorney, who wanted a longer sentence. In July, the two were found guilty of “qualified” or premeditated murder, Stauffer said. They now are each sentenced to 30 years in prison. The two are to be back in court this week, with another appeal of their sentence.
Stauffer initially planned to pay the two witnesses and informant by Wednesday but has told them she will pay them by Oct. 1. The three are receiving threats, she said, and want to use the money to move out of Golfito.
Cindy Maude and Nancy Daniels, both of Topeka, set up the reward fund. Their daughters were best friends with Martin. The Stauffers were in a tough situation, Maude said, trying to work with authorities in another country who did not seem committed to finding the perpetrators.
Initially, the Stauffers offered a $10,000 reward. When no one came forward, they decided to offer a larger amount. Jeanette Stauffer said she asked KU for help. But she said a KU official told her the university could not spend state dollars in such a way.
KU spokeswoman Lynn Bretz said Monday that KU was limited in what it could do because it is a state agency. However, she said, KU publicized the reward fund and the chancellor contacted Costa Rica's president to encourage authorities there to vigorously pursue the case.
“We looked for every way we could to show support and tried to do the best we could,” Bretz said.
Stauffer said she and her husband decided in March 2002 to increase the reward. Up to $50,000 would have been paid if all three defendants had been convicted.
It's unlikely anyone would have come forward without some incentive, said Larry Thomas, a Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent who went to Golfito at Stauffer's request.
The suspects were involved in a variety of criminal activities, he said, and many people in town knew them. Authorities there do not offer any kind of witness protection program, he said.
Jeanette Stauffer visited Golfito about a dozen times in her quest for justice. She hired her own attorney because she did not trust the prosecution. She also hired interpreters, including A. Jesse Ybarra of Topeka, who she says was instrumental in solving the case.
During the past year, while appeals were being heard, she and her husband spent an additional $11,000 on the case, she said. Brad Stauffer, 58, retired this summer from the Kansas Army National Guard because of medical reasons but expects to get another job. Stauffer is self-employed as an education research consultant.
Stauffer said the two do not regret the price they paid for justice.
“You do what you have to do,” Stauffer said. “I wasn't about to let it go, no matter what.”
Help sought to pay the price for justice
By DIANE CARROLL The Kansas City Star
Jeanette Stauffer refused to rest until her daughter's killers were brought to justice last year in Golfito, Costa Rica. Now she wants to make good on a promise she made to three persons who came forward to help her.
On Monday, Stauffer said she was trying to figure out how to come up with $30,000 in reward money. She has told two witnesses and an informant that she would pay them by the end of the month for helping convict a man and a woman in the death of her daughter, Shannon Martin, a University of Kansas student.
The lives of the witnesses and informant are in danger because of the information they provided, she said, and “I would feel awful if something happened” to any of them.
Martin was stabbed to death in May 2001 outside a nightclub in Golfito, a coastal town where KU offered a study-abroad program. She was a biology student finishing research on an unusual fern. She had planned to graduate later that month.
Stauffer pushed Golfito authorities to solve the murder. But, with scant progress being made, she and her husband, Brad Stauffer, decided to offer a reward in fall 2001 for information leading to a conviction.
Friends set up a reward fund and the Stauffers had planned to contribute significantly to it themselves. But only $6,000 has been raised and Stauffer said she and her husband have come up short because of all the money they spent pursuing the case.
By late last year, when a man and a woman were convicted, the Stauffers had spent more than $100,000, much of it in legal and travel costs. They have sold their home in Topeka and moved to a smaller home in Eudora, and dipped into their retirement savings.
They are doing all right, Stauffer said, but they still are paying off debt and would be hard-pressed to come up with $24,000.
“I'm really uncomfortable asking the public,” Stauffer said. However, she said, “It's important to me as an American to show I am good on my word. We will do everything we can to find the means to pay the reward fund to the three people who risked their lives.”
On Nov. 24, a three-judge panel in Golfito found Kattia Cruz, 32, and Luis Alberto Castro, 38, guilty of “simple murder.” They both were sentenced to 15 years in prison. A second man, Rafael Zumbado Quesada, 52, was acquitted.
Cruz and Castro appealed their sentences, as did the Stauffers' attorney, who wanted a longer sentence. In July, the two were found guilty of “qualified” or premeditated murder, Stauffer said. They now are each sentenced to 30 years in prison. The two are to be back in court this week, with another appeal of their sentence.
Stauffer initially planned to pay the two witnesses and informant by Wednesday but has told them she will pay them by Oct. 1. The three are receiving threats, she said, and want to use the money to move out of Golfito.
Cindy Maude and Nancy Daniels, both of Topeka, set up the reward fund. Their daughters were best friends with Martin. The Stauffers were in a tough situation, Maude said, trying to work with authorities in another country who did not seem committed to finding the perpetrators.
Initially, the Stauffers offered a $10,000 reward. When no one came forward, they decided to offer a larger amount. Jeanette Stauffer said she asked KU for help. But she said a KU official told her the university could not spend state dollars in such a way.
KU spokeswoman Lynn Bretz said Monday that KU was limited in what it could do because it is a state agency. However, she said, KU publicized the reward fund and the chancellor contacted Costa Rica's president to encourage authorities there to vigorously pursue the case.
“We looked for every way we could to show support and tried to do the best we could,” Bretz said.
Stauffer said she and her husband decided in March 2002 to increase the reward. Up to $50,000 would have been paid if all three defendants had been convicted.
It's unlikely anyone would have come forward without some incentive, said Larry Thomas, a Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent who went to Golfito at Stauffer's request.
The suspects were involved in a variety of criminal activities, he said, and many people in town knew them. Authorities there do not offer any kind of witness protection program, he said.
Jeanette Stauffer visited Golfito about a dozen times in her quest for justice. She hired her own attorney because she did not trust the prosecution. She also hired interpreters, including A. Jesse Ybarra of Topeka, who she says was instrumental in solving the case.
During the past year, while appeals were being heard, she and her husband spent an additional $11,000 on the case, she said. Brad Stauffer, 58, retired this summer from the Kansas Army National Guard because of medical reasons but expects to get another job. Stauffer is self-employed as an education research consultant.
Stauffer said the two do not regret the price they paid for justice.
“You do what you have to do,” Stauffer said. “I wasn't about to let it go, no matter what.”
