To the Editor:
Dirty politics have hit a new low. I was surprised to receive a
letter - from Winchester. The hand printed letter tugs at your heart
strings. The writer emotionally describes visiting her bloody Policeman husband as he dies and the birth of her son 7 months later. She is happy when the courts uphold the death sentence for his slayer then assails the fact that Tim Kane, then running for Lieutenant Governor, had called for an end to the death penalty. Mrs. Kelly Timbrook claims that, as a lawyer, Mr. Kane "volunteered to defend death row murderers"
Obviously she ignores the fact that all lawyers are required to provide "pro bono" defense for the indigent. She expresses concern that Mr. Kane will overturn the death penalty for her husband's murderer.
If that happens, she asks "How will I ever explain this to my
little boy?". She concludes that she doesn't trust Kane to carry out the death penalty. Although Tim Kane expressly confirmed that he would support and execute the death penalty handed down by a Virginia court.
I wondered how she found the time, energy and money to mass mail
her letter? Only when I happened to turn the last page over did I understand how this "spontaneous" letter, with its misleading facts, was created. On the bottom on the page, in extremely fine print, it stated "Paid for and authorized by Virginians for Kilgore." Getting a grieving widow to use false and misleading statements
in a letter designed purely for political purposes is the lowest form of mudslinging. Ideally, the Attorney General (Mr. Kilgore himself) should investigate such matters. He won't - in fact, he might have authorized this sleazy action.
I urge your paper to publish this letter so your readers will realize how low the Kilgore supporters will go.
Edward J. Bielecki
Col USA Ret.
Vienna