Few could blame the victims and all those touched by the Farmers’ Market tragedy of three years ago for wanting a piece of the man responsible, but even a piece has proven elusive.
The collective frustration left in the wake of George Russell Weller’s Buick LaSabre — the car he used to plow through the bustling open-air marketplace on Arizona Avenue, killing 10 people and injuring 68 others — only mounts as subsequent civil court trials get postponed, defendants get dismissed and the man at the center of it all gets probation.
Making matters worse, through it all, there has been no word from Weller.
Due to reports of his declining health, Weller was excused from appearing at his criminal trial, and even his sentencing, despite being found guilty on 10 counts of manslaughter. Throughout the ordeal, victims and witnesses testified as to what Weller said following the catastrophic crash. Meanwhile, members of Weller’s family spoke to the remorse that the 89-year-old still feels today, more than three years later, though no one outside his 25th Street home would have any way of knowing that.
LA Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson concluded after the trial that Weller “displayed enormous indifference” to human life and seemed to care only about himself following the accident, going so far as to lie to police to protect himself. So what’s to change the public perception of Weller that he remains stubborn and defiant?
At the Nov. 20 sentencing, Weller’s nephew, Dr. Robert Bone, said that his uncle accepted responsibility for the accident and has expressed remorse. It just took him a couple years “to understand the extent of the tragedy.”
Still, the victims don’t know that to be true.
With his criminal trial now behind him and his sentence to five years probation in the books, the time is right for Weller’s family and friends to come forward and reveal what George Russell Weller said to them in relation to the crash. At least give the victims the satisfaction of hearing an apology in Weller’s own words. They deserve that much.
Meanwhile, the uncomfortable silence continues, with Weller’s defense team appealing the guilty verdict, further prolonging any semblance of healing and closure. The attorneys are only feeding the perception that Weller is detached from the events of July 16, 2003, and has indeed moved on, living out the rest of his days at home.
The victims’ calls for justice, if not a little symbolic bloodletting, are to be expected in light of losing loved ones to a tragic incident that not only might have been prevented, but one for which no one seems to have been made accountable. The Weller family should step forward, issue a statement in the words of Weller, and let the criminal case stand so that the victims can likewise get on with the rest of their lives.
