Family Urges Anyone with Information to Come Forward
VESPER, WISCONSIN (OnFocus) – Brenda and David Week tragically lost their daughter on March 24, 1995. To learn more about Deidre’s case, visit this page.
Submitted Letter from Brenda and David: “On March 24th, 1995 our 11-year-old daughter Deidre was killed in a tragic Vehicular Homicide. She was struck by a speeding car around 6:35 P.M. and died shortly thereafter. While there have been many leads and efforts to get to ‘who was responsible’ for this tragedy as of this, the 28th anniversary, we have no definitive answer– no closure.
We have long been aware of others in our area who have also suffered this purgatory of no closure. That is why on Friday February 17th, we along with other family members attended the sentencing of John Sarver for the brutal murder of Eleanore Roberts some 38 years previously. We wanted to show our solidarity with the Roberts Family, and also to renew our hope and prayers that Deidre’s Case would also at some point reach closure.
While the two cases are dramatically different in many regards, there are common elements; the most notable one being the actions of former Wood County Sheriff Brian Illingworth. We have been knowledgeable for some time that the former Sheriff assumed an adversarial relationship with the Roberts Family; telling them that ‘the suspect is a friend of mine’. The same thing occurred in Deidre’s case but probably on a much larger scale. The eyewitness to the tragedy and several of his family members were and are close friends of the former Sheriff. He made that perfectly clear early on privately, and openly in the press.
Initially we were supportive of the eyewitness; we in fact sent a dozen roses to him to show that. But as the days passed, questions arose in our minds and we eventually got to the point where we didn’t believe he was revealing all that he knew. His side of the narrative was supported by his much covered passing of a polygraph test in the early months after the incident. What has never been publicly disclosed, however, until now, is that he did have a slight reaction to two of the questions asked in the polygraph test, one being : did he know who was driving the vehicle that struck Deidre? Also never before disclosed is that Laverne Reigel , who conducted the test said later it was the strangest test he had ever administered; and that he felt the truth lay with the eyewitness and Sheriff Illingworth. Mr Reigel sent us a letter stating just that. The letter is in the possession of the authorities. We now think it would be appropriate for the eyewitness to retake that polygraph.
Also even more enlightening might be if the former Sheriff would submit to taking the test. If he has nothing to hide or fear, why not?
As the spring turned into summer in 1995 the Sheriff on several occasions from our perspective seemed to try to provoke us–
We first met sheriff Illingworth in his office two weeks after we lost Deidre. He immediately SLAMMED a letter down on the desk and said, “It looks like this is Weeks versus Illingworth!” Lieutenant Levendoske witnessed this. The letter was from Deidre’s grandma, voicing her concerns on Deidre’s case. This letter obviously made Illingworth very upset. His friend, the eyewitness, was being questioned. We were shocked and confused. He never acted as a figure of authority on our behalf. Deidre and her family were not the victims in his eyes!
Illingworth then came to our house and tried to provoke David into confrontation. He argued with us and advanced within a few inches of David, as to provoke him. We couldn’t believe this was happening! Besides that incident, we saw Illingworth seemingly “staking out” our house as his vehicle sat on a dead end road across from us. This was the case at Deidre’s grandma’s house also. All of this was just not right and very threatening! We felt he was mentally unstable. We then applied for a restraining order against him. Judge Masons first words to us were “Well, I just want you to know that Brian Illingworth is a friend of mine.” We trusted that he would make the right decision since he was a judge. We were denied! Within 2 years of all of this, Sheriff Brian Illingworth was committed to a mental health facility in Rock County.
We did our best to not fall victim to those efforts, but the net effect was that to some people our family became the villains versus the victims. That, in addition to Deidre’s death, has weighed on our family over these long 28 years.
With the Sarver conviction, and with a Sheriff and a Wood County Police Department that now is committed to equal justice, with no favorites, we are hopeful that someone will now finally come forward and reveal the whole truth about what happened that tragic evening.
One of the stunning revelations in the Roberts/ Sarver Trial was that there was a man who had knowledge of what had happened at the murder scene, but kept it secret for 35 years out of fear. As he came near the end of his life the burden of that secret became so great that he went to the authorities and gave riveting testimony at the trial.
There are persons who know what happened and who was driving the car that hit and killed Deidre. It is our prayer that someone with that knowledge will now have the courage to come forward before they pass away. It is never too late if you’re still alive to tell the truth. We will continue to pursue…
Brenda and David Week”
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Author: News Desk
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