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The children of Lakshman Rao and Shanta Chervu, who were brutally murdered on New Year's eve 1989, have a question for the judge who overturned the conviction of their killer: "Haven't you heard of the Rev Joseph Towle?"
The Catholic priest recently came forward after 12 years with the murder confession of a teenage gang member. His information led to freeing of two men wrongfully convicted for the crime. The real killer had died a few years ago.
Many Catholics felt that Towle had betrayed the confidence and sanctity of the confessional rite, but Towle said he had received support and understanding not only from a number of Catholics but also church leaders.
But Judge Charles Brieant thinks differently.
He recently set aside the conviction of Paul Cox, who had killed the Chervus by stabbing them with a kitchen knife. Brieant said the prosecution was wrong in using the testimony of Alcoholics Anonymous participants in whom Cox had confided. The AA discussions should be treated like a confessional, he ruled.
Arati Johnston, the daughter of the Chervus, and her brother Arun are livid over the judge's decision. They are urging the Indian community to write to the Westchester district attorney to appeal against Brieant's judgment.
"Victims have their rights too," said Arun, who like his parents is a physician. "Cox got away with murder, he got a light sentence [a little over 16 years] and he has not even served it fully. Now a judge wants him to be freed."
Arati and Arun are further upset that Cox never really owned up his crime nor showed adequate remorse. Cox, who says he had a troubled childhood and turned to alcohol for relief, resented the Chervus into moving into the house where he had spent his childhood.
Joshua D Siegel, a New York attorney who worked nearly four years on Cox's appeal, feels that Cox has an excellent chance of winning the appeal against the verdict.
He said that since its beginnings in 1935, AA recognised that the integrity and effectiveness of the programme could only be sustained when anonymity and confidentiality were preserved.
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