Sunday, April 17, 2005

Captive or Cohort?

I can't decide whether Bobbi Parker, the wife of a prison warden who disappeared along with escaped convict Randolph Dial 10 years ago and was recently found, was really being held against her will or was a voluntary participant in the whole affair. A lot of people are comparing it to Patty Hearst, but it also reminds me of Colleen Stan, the so-called "Girl in the Box." She stayed with her kidnapper for years, even bringing him home to meet her parents. The big difference between these older cases and Parker is that both Hearst and Stan said they were brutally raped and tortured for days or months before they were given any freedom of movement. Stan was actually kept locked in a box and made to sign a sex slave contract. I haven't heard any allegations like that in this most recent case--just that he threatened the lives of her family. As a defense attorney, I would have a field day defending either Mrs. Parker, if she were charged with aiding and abetting a fugitive, or Mr. Dial if he were charged with kidnapping. If I were a prosecutor, I wouldn't know who to believe.

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