IN THE BEGINNING.....

..... God created Maxine May Fussell, and that is where the story of our ride with the Criminal Injustice System starts, but never ends.

Mom was known as “Aunt Macky” to the extended family. She was a good Aunt Macky; a good sister, daughter, mother, grandmother and wife. She raised five kids and really enjoyed her family, especially the grandchildren. Mom liked to sew and was famous for her jean purses, beautiful quilts and crocheted afghans. Her greatest passions, though, other than us, were her Christian activities and her interest in genealogy, which she enjoyed with Aunt Thelma. Mom was born the eighth child in a large family. Her parents didn’t have much money, but they had a treasure chest full of love and support for one another. Mom grew up believing in her God, her country and her family. She died the same way.

For almost fifteen years, we understood Mom to be sitting at the sewing machine when she was struck in the face and knocked backwards. This resulted in her striking the back of her head on the cement floor. We believed she was rendered unconscious immediately and didn’t experience the horror which followed. Then, at our second parole hearing we attended, the District Attorney told the Pardon and Parole Board there were “defense” wounds on her arms! That can’t be right! Every time we think about Mom being fully conscious while she was beaten, strangled, raped and finally stabbed to death in the neck and chest with two pairs of scissors, we get sick inside. My sisters and I just looked at each other and didn’t say a word. This is probably known as denial, but right then, we chose to deny. However, there’s no denying Mom worked hard as a laundress at the Helena State Training School for Boys. It’s where she smiled her last smile, drank her last cup of coffee, breathed her last breath calling the Canteen to order a snack for her errand runner and died at the hands of that errand runner, a fifteen-year-old resident with a violent past. At that moment, given no choice, we began our journey towards Victim Justice in the Criminal Injustice System.

Mom had a favorite Bible verse. It’s ironic and a little spooky she liked it so much considering the violence in her death. But we put in on her headstone. Isaiah 54:17, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.” Mom’s murderer will never prosper, if we can help it, but her family and friends will. She gave us strength, and thank goodness that strength, support and love lives on.