Victims' Relatives L:eft Without Closure
By Stacey Creasy
PLYMOUTH � Patricia Shumaker thought the convictions of the people who murdered her husband Wayne would bring some closure.
She was wrong. She is still very angry and even more hurt.
Patricia�s 20-year marriage to Wayne Shumaker came to a sudden end when Phillip Stroud and three other men shot and killed Shumaker, 58, of Plymouth, in a barn at the Sears� farm near Lakeville on Sept. 14, 2000. Also slain were Corby Myers, 30, of Bremen and Lynn Ganger,
�Wayne was such a giving, caring man,� Patricia said. �I was shocked when I heard what happened.�
Patricia could not understand why anyone would shot Wayne, Corby and Lynn to death. During the next two years, Patricia sat through the trials of Stroud, Charity Payne, Ronald Carter, Tyrone Wade and Kerel Seabrooks.
Stroud is from South Bend. Payne is from North Liberty. Carter, Wade and Seabrooks are from Detroit.
Even though it took all the strength she had at times, Patricia attended each trial and received a crash course on the judicial system. She heard in detail what happened on Sept. 14, 2000.
She still does not understand why her husband was murdered any more today than she did more than two years ago.
Shumaker, Myers and Ganger were working on a loft in the barn when Stroud, Wade, Carter and Seabrooks went the Sears home to burglarize it, according to court records. Stroud noticed there were people in the barn. Instead of fleeing the scene, they went to the barn.
Stroud ordered the men be tied up. He then shot each victim in the head.
The suspects also robbed the victims before going to the house to finish the burglary.
Payne turned out to be the link between the suspects and victims. She once dated someone in the Sears family. She told Stroud and company about the house, the valuables in it, and how to bypass the burglar alarm in order to get in.
Stroud received the death penalty for his role in the killings. Payne received 151 years in prison. Wade received 55 years and Carter 45 years. Seabrooks is to be sentenced this week.
Patricia admits she has a biased opinion. She believes each of the defendants should have been given the death penalty.
�They all had something to do with it,� she added. �Any one of them could have tried to stop it. We (relatives of victims) were really upset with the deal they made with Carter. He was supposed to get 55 years and then they took 10 years off of that.�
Wade, Carter and Seabrooks are all in their 20s. They will all be freed from prison between the age of 40 and 50. Patricia said it is not fair they will be allowed to live a portion of their lives when the rest of Shumaker�s life was taken from him.
Patricia is relieved Payne received a life sentence. Payne�s sentencing was delayed because she assisted the state by testifying against Stroud and others. Some of the relatives were worried her sentence would be reduced.
�I�m glad they threw the book at her,� Patricia stated. �She is the reason those guys were out there in the first place.�
Before the trial Patricia went to the Sears� farm. Patricia said she had to go where Wayne lost his life. She talked to a member of the Sears family.
�That helped some,� she said. �They were very supportive of us, what we were going through.�
At the end of Stroud�s trail Patricia wanted to give a victim�s impact statement, but did not. A change in the law prohibits the victims from looking at the offender when they speak.
�That really upset me,� Patricia stated. �I wanted to look him in the eye and tell him what he has done to our family, but I couldn�t. I wasn�t going to look at the judge, he did not do it.�
Patricia plans to attend Stroud�s execution.
�If I am around then,� she stated. �I want to see the fear in his eyes when they get ready to execute them.�
Patricia admits her anger gets the best of her at times. She knows Stroud�s execution will be 10 to 20 years from now. She also knows his death will not provide the closure she is looking for.
�I don�t know if there will ever be any closure,� Patricia said. �We are all glad the trial part is over, but we will live with the rest of it from now on.�
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