Stanley Sisters Mystery Update
Back in September of 2007, I wrote about the death of two sisters, Erin and Kelly Stanley, both in their late teens, who died mysteriously, just days apart.
My original post was on Steve Huff’s True Crime Weblog. I also wrote another update about the story here on my blog. Clearly, for me, Lonny Stanley, the mother of the two deceased girls, raised my eyebrows, and in a big way, several times over.
Read moreYou see, Erin died on September 1, 2007, after just moving back home to her parents’ house with her boyfriend, and new baby, Alexis. Six days later, after Erin’s death, her sister, Kelly, who still lived at home, was also found supposedly “dying” by her mother, and by the time the EMT arrived, she was deceased.
The person who was arrested and charged with Erin’s murder, however, was a big surprise. It was her boyfriend, James McFarland, who was asleep with her on the night she died, and who subsequently moved out just after her death, and was not in the house when Kelly died. McFarland has been in jail ever since, awaiting trial, until this past week.
Shortly McFarland’s arrest, the death of the second daughter, Kelly, was ruled a death by natural causes (a seizure).
As you can see, the story has taken incredible twists and turns that no one could expect. I was really baffled by it. The arrest of McFarland, the boyfriend of Erin, made little sense to me when I considered the untimely and strange death of her sister, Kelly. Worse, the actions of the girl’s mother made my hair stand up on end. Repeatedly.
For the past year, I have looked for news on this case, concerned about McFarland. I was hoping for video of him so I could feel at ease that they did get the right guy, but nothing ever surfaced. Nothing happened on this case until this week, when jury selection began, and then the most surprising news came out.
The murder charges against McFarland have been dropped.
You read that right. They have been dropped.
[Pal-item.com]”…forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph Czaja reversed his original finding that Erin Stanley had been strangled. On Monday, Czaja testified that he couldn’t be medically certain of the cause of death because Stanley’s body had been washed and sterilized and tissues had been removed prior to the autopsy.”
Another article from the Pal-item.com says:
Defense attorneys Terry O’Maley and Adam Forrest contend in their motion Shipman knew there were problems with the case after a discussion with Czaja in November 2007. That was more than a year before O’Maley and Forrest learned of the pathologist’s doubts, they contend.
It looks like this mystery has yet to be resolved. I only hope there is enough evidence for police to find the real killers of these two innocent young women. If only the parents would speak out. Lonny Stanley makes me very uncomfortable, to say the least. Has she ever been investigated?
