Bonnie Lou Irvine’s murder is no less tragic or disturbing because of the way she earned a living.And her life was no less valuable.
The 51-year-old Cornelius woman’s body was found buried in a shallow grave near Troutman last weekend.Bernard George Lamp, 50, was charged Tuesday with kidnapping and murdering her.
This is not the suspect’s first brush with the law and Iredell County sheriff’s investigators are digging into his past to determine whether he committed other brutal crimes.
Had a thorough investigation of Lamp’s criminal background been conducted last fall and the District Attorney’s Office aggressively prosecuted an earlier criminal case against Lamp, Irvine might still be alive today.
Lamp was charged with first-degree sex offense, first-degree kidnapping and misdemeanor assault on a female Oct. 8 after abducting a woman he met at a convenience store in Troutman.
Those are serious charges and warranted serious prison time.
Instead, Lamp skated with probation after accepting a plea to misdemeanor charges of assault and crimes against nature.
Prosecutors dropped the more serious felony charges, which carried up to 18 years in prison.
District Attorney Garry Frank defended the deal, which was influenced by the fact that the victim was a prostitute.
Bonnie Lou Irvine was reportedly in the same line of work.
Unless the District Attorney’s Office approaches Lamp’s murder and kidnapping prosecution differently than it did his earlier case in the fall, there’s no reason to expect justice for Bonnie Lou Irvine.
As Sheriff Phil Redmond said, “She was a daughter and a sister, and this is a sad thing.”
Prosecutors should focus on those facts — and refrain from judging Irvine’s lifestyle — as they prepare their case against the man the sheriff’s office says killed her.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I want to say something on behalf of Bonnie. I didn't know her real well but what I did know of her deserves mentioning. Bonnie was a sweet, blond haired, blue eyed, petite woman with a wide-eyed curiousity an easy smile and a gentle demeanor. She ran a booth selling antiques and she sold items on ebay. She adored cooking and authored a cook book called, Good Cookin', Good Lookin'. She loved to go for walks. We would talk occasionally about love and men and she never mentioned this side. I know she seemed to struggle to make ends meet. She came over my house once and I and a friend went to her family gathering last summer. She spent most of the time playing with her neices and nephews - the little ones. She was a wonderful woman with a life of goodness. She was helpful and friendly and caring. I didn't know you real well Bonnie but I know you were more than the papers say (even if they are being gentle about it) You were a light and a joy and the last time I saw you I was walking on one side of Union St. in Concord and you were walking on the other and hollered over to me. We stood and talked for a few minutes. You wished me luck on finding a job and lamented you wished you'd had something that paid better. Dear Bonnie, my last memory of you is feeling like we had a sisterhood bonding, like you sincerely cared about me and in turn, I, you. Thank you for your presence. Unti we meet again fair Bonnie. Shawn Murphy
I used to take long walks with Bonnie, and we talked about our ideas for the cookbook, and artistic endevors, and heartbreak, and our dreams for finding a man in our lives who would actually stand by us. Like so many women who reach age 50 and are still strugggling and still alone,. this is absolutely a scary place to be in one's life. And how many women have we known who were stuck raising 3 or 4 toddlers alone with no support, or getting beaten physically and emotionally and still never got the help or love they needed to have a happy life. Bonnie was a sweet shy girl who just wanted to find love in her life and in no way deserved her life to be ended in that way. Men use and abuse women all the time, and leave them emotionally damaged, alone, and struggling for the rest of their lives. How can anyone justify this murderer going free???????
Fot the second, (probably more)times!!!??????
Sweet Bonnie, my heart goes out to you and your dreams, and I hope you are in a place where you feel safe and loved finally.
Post a Comment