Chapter 15 - Sentencing Robert faced years in prison.
Not life.
The judge separated the crimes.
Manslaughter carried the most moral weight.
Evidence tampering showed consciousness after.
Financial fraud showed motive for the confrontation.
But sentencing could not pretend every dollar was part of homicide.
Robert’s lawyer presented mitigation.
No prior criminal history.
Stable employment history.
Years of caring for me.
Acceptance of many facts.
Remorse.
Therapy begun.
Restitution effort.
The prosecutor emphasized:
Amanda repeatedly said no.
Robert converted no into administrative inconvenience.
Then physical resistance.
Then evidence removal.
Julia gave a victim statement.
She did not call Robert evil.
She said:
“My sister died during an argument she entered because she was trying to reclaim control over her own property.”
Then:
“The defendant had nineteen minutes in which he could have made Amanda the priority again.”
That was the line.
My statement was read by the guardian ad litem.
I wrote:
Robert made pancakes shaped like animals when I was little.
Robert taught me to swim.
Robert lied about Mom’s ring.
Robert took Mom’s drive before he called an ambulance.
I don’t know what sentence fixes those things.
I don’t think one does.
Then:
Please do not say I lost both parents that night. My mother died. Robert made choices. Those are different.
The judge imposed a substantial prison term on manslaughter with additional time for evidence tampering and financial fraud, some concurrent and some consecutive.
Long enough to matter.
Not fifty years.
Restitution.
Financial prohibitions after release.
No contact with me unless future court orders and I request it.
Robert spoke.
“I loved Amanda.”
Then:
“I treated her refusal as something I could solve.”
He looked toward Julia.
“I loved Katie.”
He stopped.
The judge did not let him turn sentencing into a conversation with me.
Good.
Outside court, cameras waited.
Julia took me through another exit.
I never became the child in front of microphones saying justice had been served.
Justice had been served procedurally.
I still had homework.
Calder Row’s bankruptcy continued.
Stonebridge recovered part of its loan through project sales and Robert’s guarantees.
Not full.
Melissa paid her portion of civil settlement.
Amanda’s duplex remained protected.
The old house proceeds sat in trust.
Financial consequences became numbers.
Then Robert appealed.
Of course.
He challenged manslaughter jury instructions and admission of parts of Amanda’s recording.
The story did not end at sentencing.
It became appellate briefs.
Less dramatic.
Still important.
Meanwhile, I turned eleven.
At my birthday, Julia put nine candles on one side of the cake and two on the other because she accidentally bought the wrong pack.
I laughed so hard frosting came out my nose.
For ten minutes, nobody said Amanda.
Nobody said Robert.
That was healing too.
Then I opened Julia’s gift.
A small wooden jewelry box.
Empty.
“The ring?” I asked.
“Still evidence until appeals and property procedures finish.”
I nodded.
May you like
The box waited.
So did I.
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