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Tragedy hits the hobby...

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  • #1

    Tragedy hits the hobby...

    Dear members of the hobby,

    Yesterday, Christopher Motes and his mother Kathy were found murdered by Kathy's husband. Chris was only 17 and was a senior at New Trier High School in Wilmette, Illinois. He was a member of my former unit and was so enthusiastic about this hobby. I spent a week with the young man this summer at the Gettysburg re-enactment. He was so excited for his first national event as well as his interview at Gettysburg College, where he hoped to go next fall. His mother was also a very tender and caring woman who would do anything for her son. I suppose it is only fitting that they enter God's Kingdom together. Since I know may of you are good people, I am asking you to offer a prayer for the Motes' as well as their family and friends, as we try to cope with such a tragedy.

    Thank you,
    Matt Wood

    Latest Headlines – Chicago Tribune
    http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/03/3-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide-in-wilmette.html
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Tragedy hits the hobby...

    My prayers are with Kathy and Christopher Motes. Such a tradegy.....
    Marc Riddell
    1st Minnesota Co D
    2nd USSS Company C
    Potomac Legion

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Tragedy hits the hobby...

      My prayers go out to all who have lost so much through this tragedy
      [B]John C. Holman[/B]
      Liberty Rifles

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Tragedy hits the hobby...

        Horrible :(
        Frank Perkin

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Tragedy hits the hobby...

          So much lost to all of us. Prayers for you, too, Matt.
          [FONT=Times New Roman]-steve tyler-[/FONT]

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Tragedy hits the hobby...

            A similar situation happened last year in my condo community...it literally makes my heart sick to hear of such things. Jesus understands.
            Tom "Mingo" Machingo
            Independent Rifles, Weevil's Mess

            Vixi Et Didici

            "I think and highly hope that this war will end this year, and Oh then what a happy time we will have. No need of writing then but we can talk and talk again, and my boy can talk to me and I will never tire of listening to him and he will want to go with me everywhere I go, and I will be certain to let him go if there is any possible chance."
            Marion Hill Fitzpatrick
            Company K, 45th Georgia Infantry
            KIA Petersburg, Virginia

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Tragedy hits the hobby...

              Very sorry to hear this.
              2

              Brett "Homer" Keen
              Chicago
              [I]"Excessively spirited in the pranks and mischief of the soldier"[/I]

              OEF 03-04 [I]Truth Through Exploitation[/I]

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              • #8
                Re: Tragedy hits the hobby...

                Originally posted by Emily S. Achenbaum, Chiacgo, March 3rd, 2009
                Investigators found a muzzle-loading long gun they believe Christopher Motes used in Civil War reenactments next to Wiley's body, police said at a press conference.
                This terrible news has certainly shaken the community as a whole.
                Last edited by WoodenNutmeg; 03-03-2009, 01:32 PM.

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                • #9
                  Re: Tragedy hits the hobby...

                  This is horrible. My thoughts and prayers are with the family.
                  [FONT="Book Antiqua"]Respectfully,
                  Joseph S. Danner

                  [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
                  [COLOR="Red"]The Pine River Boys - 7th Wisconsin, Company I[/COLOR][/FONT]

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: Tragedy hits the hobby...

                    THeyare in my prayers, God will out.
                    Johan Steele aka Shane Christen C Co, 3rd MN VI
                    SUVCW Camp 48
                    American Legion Post 352
                    [url]http://civilwartalk.com[/url]

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: Tragedy hits the hobby...

                      Thoughts and prayers fro the family. Sad...very sad.
                      Regards,
                      Scott Dallimore
                      14th SCVI Co. I "McCalla's Rifles"
                      Reedy River Mess - 16th S.C. The Greenville Rg't
                      -------------------------------------


                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Tragedy hits the hobby...

                        truly sorry to hear such shocking and terrible news. my thoughts and prayers are with the family at this dark time. God guide them and give them strength.
                        [FONT=Arial Narrow][SIZE=4][B]David Wellerding[/B][/SIZE][/FONT]
                        [B][FONT=Arial Narrow][SIZE=4]Mess No. 1 [/SIZE][/FONT][/B]

                        [URL="http://www.mess1.homestead.com"]www.mess1.homestead.com[/URL]
                        [URL="http://www.6thohio.homestead.com"]www.6thohio.homestead.com[/URL]

                        [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]


                        [B][FONT=Arial]"Grant stood by me when I was crazy and I stood by him when he was drunk. Now we stand by each other."[/FONT][/B]

                        [B][FONT=Arial]-William Tecumseh Sherman[/FONT][/B]

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: Tragedy hits the hobby...

                          My prayers are with them as well....
                          Shawn Sturgill
                          Governor Guards
                          SCAR

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: Tragedy hits the hobby...

                            He did it with a muzzle loader too! link

                            Man shot family with Civil War replica rifle
                            March 3, 2009 5:33 PM
                            An investigator with the North Regional Major Crimes Task Force carries evidence today from Wilmette home where the apparent double murder-suicide occurred. (Tribune / David Trotman-Wilkins)

                            Police said this morning that the man involved in an apparent double murder-suicide in Wilmette shot and killed his wife and her son on Saturday with a replica Civil War gun, then killed himself a day later after leaving a 40-page note saying that he wouldn't go back to jail.

                            The bodies of Richard Wiley, 54, Kathryn Wiley-Motes, 50, and Christopher Motes, 17, were found Monday afternoon in their home at 826 Greenleaf Ave. Wiley and his wife were found in a second-floor bedroom, and Christopher Motes was found in an upstairs bathroom, police said.

                            Autopsies showed that Wiley died of a gunshot wound in the mouth, Wiley-Motes died of a gunshot wound to the neck and Motes died of a gunshot to the face. Investigators found a muzzle-loading long gun they believe Motes used in Civil War reenactments next to Wiley's body, police said at a press conference this morning.

                            It appeared that Wiley had sawed off the barrel. Motes had a valid Firearm Owner Identification Card, police said. Police said Wiley left two suicide notes -- one inside the front door directing the reader to call Wilmette police, and a second one upstairs that was 40 pages long.


                            Deputy Chief Brian King called the longer note a "rambling dissertation" that was handwritten and showed "hints of remorse." Wiley indicated in the note that he had argued with his wife and killed her. He then shot Christopher.

                            The mother and son had been shot once each in the head, police said. Police said they had no prior contact at the home and there were no orders of protection against Wiley. Wiley was sentenced in 1987 to 30 years in prison for stabbing his 25-year-old wife to death two years earlier. At the time, he claimed insanity because of "intermittent explosive disorder."

                            Former Cook County Assistant State's Atty. James Morici said of all the violent criminals he prosecuted in more than seven years, Wiley was the one who gave him chills.

                            "I remember that case vividly," Morici said in a Monday interview. "Oh, my God. ... Sometimes people have asked me over the years if there is anybody I was afraid would come after me. And the only one I could think of was Richard Wiley. I could picture him sitting in the penitentiary, biding his time."


                            In that case, he called police himself and when they arrived, he was "leaning over the victim, hugging her and crying, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry,' " according to a 1987 Tribune account.

                            Wiley told a detective he was angry at her because he heard a comment about her staying out late, and believed she was having an affair. He told the detective he picked up a ceremonial knife and stabbed his wife several times--23 times, according to the autopsy.

                            The judge rejected the insanity claim. Intermittent explosive disorder, or IED, is defined as repeated, uncontrollable anger attacks that often become violent. Wiley was paroled in 2000 and discharged from supervision three years later.

                            A relative of Kathryn Wiley-Motes, who lives in Minneapolis, said Monday that she knew about her husband's criminal history when they wed after his release from prison.

                            "He served how many years in jail and got out for good behavior and supposedly was clean," said the man, who identified himself as the partner of David Motes, Wiley-Motes' brother. He declined to give his name.

                            At this morning's press conference, Pastor Sarah Butter, head of the First Presbyterian Church of Wilmette, said that members of the congregation knew of Wiley's criminal past, but "our faith community welcomed and loved him."

                            Even so, Butter several times over the years asked Motes-Wiley, who worked at the church, if she felt safe living with Wiley. The pastor would not say what prompted her questions.

                            Wiley, who met his wife at the church, was known as a friendly man with a good sense of humor, but one who "struggled with tremendous health complications."

                            He had been receiving mental health treatment and had several surgeries that caused him to live in pain, she said.


                            Motes, a senior at New Trier Township High School, planned to study U.S. history when he enrolled in college this fall.

                            He had been accepted to Roanoke College in Virginia, but was waiting to hear from Washington and Lee University and Gettysburg College. He was a Civil War buff who participated in reenactments in Wisconsin, a teachers and advisers said.


                            Wiley-Motes had led religious studies at the Living Faith United Methodist Church in Waukegan. She came to the north suburban church about a decade ago as a student pastor from the Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary, said Pastor Melissa Earley.
                            GaryYee o' the Land o' Rice a Roni & Cable Cars
                            High Private in The Company of Military Historians

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: Tragedy hits the hobby...

                              My prayers and thoughts to all.

                              Ron Hopkins
                              Co. D, 13th US Inf
                              Unity Lodge #130

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