On Thursday night, Andrew Wagner was hit with a bombshell as he casually scrolled through X while taking a break at the gym.
asserted
he → hit → gym
His feed was filled with the news that California Gov. Gavin Newsom had commuted the death sentences of all 548 death row inmate in the state.
asserted
Newsom → fill → state
“My blood was boiling,” said Wagner, a freelance sports journalist in Milwaukee.
asserted
Wagner → boil → Milwaukee
“One person overturned the will of 548 juries.”
asserted
person → overturn → juries
Newsom’s unilateral decision, which he explained in a three page letter, reopened a deep and painful wound for Wagner.
asserted
he → explain → Wagner
His mind immediately flashed back to the devastating 2001 phone call informing him that his dear friend Christina Burmeister had been murdered near Los Angeles.
asserted
friend → flash → Angeles
“[The news] felt like that call all over again.
asserted
news → feel → call
It’s that same gut punch,” he said.
asserted
he → ’ → ?
Burmeister, a student at Cal Poly Pomona, was headed to a fraternity party when she was kidnapped by James Dixon, his wife Markeisha and Henry Singer, who took her to two ATMs to withdraw money.
asserted
who → head → money
They then drove her to the mountains, where a sadistic Dixon slit her throat, and left her to die in Azusa Canyon.
asserted
Dixon → drive → Canyon
“They got a total of $450 from her.
asserted
They → get → her
That could have been that,” he said of the theft.
uncertain
he → say → theft
They killed for fun.
asserted
They → kill → fun
They killed for lust.
asserted
They → kill → lust
They killed for sport.”
asserted
They → kill → sport
After her brutal murder, her bereft loved ones were tortured even further as authorities embarked on a frustratingly long search for her killers.
asserted
authorities → love → killers
It took more than six years for the savages to be brought in front of a jury.
asserted
savages → take → jury
In 2006, when the death sentence was handed down for Dixon, Burmeister’s grieving mother Rosalie Burmeister said, “It was true punishment for the crime that he committed.”
asserted
he → hand → that
She called it “justice.”
asserted
She → call → it
Dixon was also found guilty of two unrelated rapes.
asserted
Dixon → find → rapes
Wagner provided a written victim’s impact statement at the sentencing.
asserted
Wagner → provide → sentencing
Wagner, who has remained close with the family, said they learned of Newsom’s death row commutation from a victim’s advocate as the story was breaking.
asserted
story → remain → advocate
They feel victimized all over again.
asserted
They → feel → ?
Who is to know if this clemency goes even further.”
asserted
clemency → know → ?
Newsom argued for mass clemency, writing “state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values, undermines the foundations of our legal system, and diminishes all of us.”
asserted
killing → argue → us
But Wagner said the governor’s decision diminishes the work done by prosecutors and juries.
asserted
decision → say → prosecutors
And the will of California voters, who rejected referendums to abolish the death penalty.
asserted
who → reject → penalty
“It’s not just about putting these monsters to death,” Wagner said.
asserted
Wagner → ’ → death
“They should have to live with the same terror knowing that these are their last few minutes on earth, the same way their victims had to.
asserted
victims → have → earth
I keep seeing people talking about sparing the lives [of these inmates] and that pisses me off because these 548 people had no decency to spare any lives.
asserted
people → see → lives
Wagner and Burmeister met as children through a German dance group.
asserted
Wagner → meet → group
Their parents were friends, and the pair formed a deep bond, connecting on many levels as they grew older.
asserted
they → form → levels
They had an on-again, off-again romance but most importantly, a deep friendship sustained by regular hours-long phone calls, frequent letters and instant messaging.
asserted
They → have → calls
At the time of her murder, Wagner said they were both dating other people but remained “best of friends.”
asserted
they → say → friends
This past Labor Day, their dance troupe gave out a friendship award named after Burmeister.
asserted
troupe → give → Burmeister
It also marked the 25 years since her senseless murder.
asserted
It → mark → murder
Wagner spoke to the group about his slain friend, lamenting that a generation of people in the room had never met her or experienced her kindness.
asserted
generation → speak → kindness
He described Bermeister as the “center of the party.
asserted
He → describe → party
She was as good of a person I have ever met in my life.”
asserted
I → meet → life
“When I was standing up there giving my speech, it broke my heart,” said Wagner knowing that she wasn’t there.
asserted
she → stand → heart
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
