Homosassa resident Tom Buske talks about the John Couey case with other patrons at Mike's Friendly Pub in Homosassa on Friday. Photo Credit here
Article published Aug 25, 2007
Residents applaud killer's sentencing
BY CHRISTOPHER CURRY
STAR-BANNER
HOMOSASSA - A crowd of regulars sipped canned beer and puffed cigarettes at Mike's Friendly Pub along U.S. 19. It looked like a normal Friday afternoon.
But this was no normal Friday in Homosassa. It was the day John Evander Couey would finally be sentenced for the February 2005 kidnapping, rape and murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, a crime that sent shock waves through this tight-knit, rural Citrus County community.
In Mike's, the laughter and jokes stopped when the live news broadcast of the sentencing came on TV at 2 p.m. The patrons grew restless as the hearing stretched on for almost an hour. When Circuit Judge Richard Howard condemned Couey to death, they erupted in cheers.
"Yes," bartender Pam Murrin said as she pumped her fist. "It's a relief, not that it'll bring that little girl back."
Tom Buske put down his beer and raised his fist in triumph. He was among many in the bar who said death by lethal injection after years of appeals was a better fate than Couey deserved.
"Let me dig a hole myself and put him in two plastic bags and bury him for three days, and then afterwards if people want the remains, I'll dig 'em up and I'll give 'em to 'em," Buske said. "Bury him alive just like he did her."
Other folks in the bar suggested that Couey, 49, should be placed in the general prison population, because the other inmates would quickly end the life of a child rapist and murderer.
Some said they should drop Couey off on U.S. 19 in Homosassa and let the locals deliver justice. Homosassa's Mary Cormish carried a white T-shirt decorated with a noose and the message to "save a child" by hanging a pedophile.
"There's a lot of bitter people here in Homosassa because of how he [Couey] did it," said Dennis Glover, another Mike's patron.
Glover said his granddaughter went to elementary school with Jessica. "It's really a shame the death penalty doesn't work faster because that little girl is gone, and he'll live on," he said.
Farther north on U.S. 19 is Emily's Family Restaurant, about one mile from the home of Jessica's grandparents, Ruth and Archie Lunsford. Owner George Kanaris said the Lunsford family still eats there regularly. He said he is reminded of Couey's crime every time the family comes in and Jessica is not there with them.
"Jessie will never come back," Kanaris said. "Things will never be normal."
Couey also worked there as a dishwasher in the early 1990s and lived out back in a shed for a while. Kanaris said he fired Couey after he passed a love letter to a 14- or 15-year-old busgirl. He said Couey's crime was a reality check on the fact that there are people who prey on young children, even in small town Homosassa.
"Nowadays, if anyone even looks at a 9-year-old girl, I would bring it to somebody's attention," Kanaris said. "I would tell somebody."
Following Jessica's death, Homosassa jewelry store owner Joseph H. Dawson emptied the merchandise from the window display cases at his store and put in signed petitions pushing for stronger laws dealing with sexual offenders and predators. The legislation came to be known as "Jessica's Law."
Friday, Dawson was dealing with his own family tragedy: the death of his mother the night before. But he took time to talk about one positive thing to emerge in the wake of Jessica's death - stronger laws to protect children from sex offenders. He said his organization, the Child Protection Coalition, just received its federal designation as a charity.
But Dawson, like Kanaris, said Homosassa would never be the same.
"It lost its innocence," Dawson said. "When you have a great tragedy like this you never really recover."
He didn't mince words about the sentence he felt Couey deserves.
"They can't execute him enough for me," Dawson said.
Christopher Curry may be reached at 867-4115 or chris.curry@starbanner.com.
Residents applaud killer's sentencing
BY CHRISTOPHER CURRY
STAR-BANNER
HOMOSASSA - A crowd of regulars sipped canned beer and puffed cigarettes at Mike's Friendly Pub along U.S. 19. It looked like a normal Friday afternoon.
But this was no normal Friday in Homosassa. It was the day John Evander Couey would finally be sentenced for the February 2005 kidnapping, rape and murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, a crime that sent shock waves through this tight-knit, rural Citrus County community.
In Mike's, the laughter and jokes stopped when the live news broadcast of the sentencing came on TV at 2 p.m. The patrons grew restless as the hearing stretched on for almost an hour. When Circuit Judge Richard Howard condemned Couey to death, they erupted in cheers.
"Yes," bartender Pam Murrin said as she pumped her fist. "It's a relief, not that it'll bring that little girl back."
Tom Buske put down his beer and raised his fist in triumph. He was among many in the bar who said death by lethal injection after years of appeals was a better fate than Couey deserved.
"Let me dig a hole myself and put him in two plastic bags and bury him for three days, and then afterwards if people want the remains, I'll dig 'em up and I'll give 'em to 'em," Buske said. "Bury him alive just like he did her."
Other folks in the bar suggested that Couey, 49, should be placed in the general prison population, because the other inmates would quickly end the life of a child rapist and murderer.
Some said they should drop Couey off on U.S. 19 in Homosassa and let the locals deliver justice. Homosassa's Mary Cormish carried a white T-shirt decorated with a noose and the message to "save a child" by hanging a pedophile.
"There's a lot of bitter people here in Homosassa because of how he [Couey] did it," said Dennis Glover, another Mike's patron.
Glover said his granddaughter went to elementary school with Jessica. "It's really a shame the death penalty doesn't work faster because that little girl is gone, and he'll live on," he said.
Farther north on U.S. 19 is Emily's Family Restaurant, about one mile from the home of Jessica's grandparents, Ruth and Archie Lunsford. Owner George Kanaris said the Lunsford family still eats there regularly. He said he is reminded of Couey's crime every time the family comes in and Jessica is not there with them.
"Jessie will never come back," Kanaris said. "Things will never be normal."
Couey also worked there as a dishwasher in the early 1990s and lived out back in a shed for a while. Kanaris said he fired Couey after he passed a love letter to a 14- or 15-year-old busgirl. He said Couey's crime was a reality check on the fact that there are people who prey on young children, even in small town Homosassa.
"Nowadays, if anyone even looks at a 9-year-old girl, I would bring it to somebody's attention," Kanaris said. "I would tell somebody."
Following Jessica's death, Homosassa jewelry store owner Joseph H. Dawson emptied the merchandise from the window display cases at his store and put in signed petitions pushing for stronger laws dealing with sexual offenders and predators. The legislation came to be known as "Jessica's Law."
Friday, Dawson was dealing with his own family tragedy: the death of his mother the night before. But he took time to talk about one positive thing to emerge in the wake of Jessica's death - stronger laws to protect children from sex offenders. He said his organization, the Child Protection Coalition, just received its federal designation as a charity.
But Dawson, like Kanaris, said Homosassa would never be the same.
"It lost its innocence," Dawson said. "When you have a great tragedy like this you never really recover."
He didn't mince words about the sentence he felt Couey deserves.
"They can't execute him enough for me," Dawson said.
Christopher Curry may be reached at 867-4115 or chris.curry@starbanner.com.
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