By Jim Lisk, Editor
Sunday, August 31, 2008 — For over three hours Monday evening, the Sasser family and District Attorneys Gene Morris and Tim Rodgers listened to a series of plea bargains from defense attorneys for Richard Purser.
But after 15 years of patiently waiting for justice, the Sasser family wanted to insure several key things before agreeing to spare Purser’s life.
“It was very important to the family that he stand up in court and say that he committed these crimes,” said family spokesman Clif Robinson, husband of Diane Sasser Robinson, daughter of Clayton and Dean Sasser.
In an interview at The Stanly News & Press on Thursday morning, Robinson spoke for the Sasser family and released a written statement from the family.
“If he were to have been found not guilty on some technicality, or guilty and later paroled, and then have committed this crime on someone else, we could not have lived with ourselves,” Robinson said.
“Our whole objective was to get him off the streets so that he could not do this to anyone else.”
After agreeing to the final plea bargain, one that will put Purser in prison for the rest of his life, the Sassers had the plea they wanted.
“We knew we had a strong jury, we’d been there through the two long weeks of selection,” Thompson said.
“The prosecutors had involved us in the selection as much as they could and showed great compassion for us.”
Then, when Judge Erwin Spainhour asked Purser point-blank if he in fact had committed the crimes, Purser responded, “Yes.”
And the Sasser family had a semblance of closure.
“Crimes like this can go on forever and never get solved. We got lucky,” Robinson said.
“Throughout all this, we’ve dealt with some of the finest people we’ve ever met. We owe them a great debt of gratitude. They never quit, never gave up.
“It’s been very difficult, but now, maybe we can go on with the rest of our lives.”
Contact Jim Lisk at snaponline28@carolina.rr.com.
