How quickly time passes … how full of angst and agony it has been … the horror of being accused of murdering my own child … and having the other one stolen away from me without a fair trial in a court of law … in 1983 … and watching, helpless, as she was turned against me… but also tiny moments of suspended glory … and joy … and some healing eventually, though the scars, the twists and knots of past sorrows … and the continuing loss of my daughter … are as a heavy brand of pride and honor that continue to remind me, “I survived a holocaust!” And each day I arise, every day I’m alive, I battle against the darkness of possible depression from old fears and haunts of past struggles, tucked deep inside of me … though I did then and do now … function as productive member of society.

And if you’re doing anything similar, though for different/familiar reasons, my heart and prayers go out to you.

For her graciousness, courage and inner strength, please say a, “Thank you,” to your mother the next time you see her. She gave me comfort at a time when I so greatly needed it. I imagine you might be a lot like her. Writing those letters to the judge took courage and guts beyond normal ability.

Live in peace and dignity. And may the Heavenly Father bless you, your mother and your sisters both now and in the hereafter. I give everything I have to Him for, “yea, though I walk though the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. It’s by His grace I’m saved and by no other’s.

Thank you,
Adam’s mother
Forever.

———————–

Man held in connection with 20-year-old slaying
David Madrid
The Arizona Republic
March 27, 2002

Diligent detective work and the refusal of a Glendale police sergeant to let a case go led to the arrest last week of a murder suspect in a death that occurred almost 19 years ago.

Harley Spencer, 59, formerly known as Eugene Colomvaro, lives in Clinton, Utah, and was arrested by that city’s police after Glendale police determined he was responsible for the death of a 6-year-old boy.

The death occurred Sept. 27, 1983, at a Glendale apartment complex. Police investigated a call that a child, Adam Clark, wasn’t breathing. Adam had been left in the care of Spencer, a friend of Adam’s mother’s.

Additional evidence and new medical science allowed Glendale Detective Bruce Foremny to link Spencer to the homicide. Police would not give specifics about what evidence had changed to implicate Spender.

Adam was born with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, which left him severely retarded. He faced numerous medical challenges and had a short life expectancy.

When he died, it was assumed the death was due to his illness, Detective Brian Wilkins of the Glendale police said.

In the past, he said, a lot of children’s deaths were chalked up to reasons such as sudden infant death syndrome or natural causes, but now, with medical science improving all the time, those deaths are being looked at more closely.

Wilkins said Sgt. Mark Campbell, the first officer on the scene, didn’t believe Adam’s death was due to natural causes, and he never gave up on the case.

“He just had one of those feelings,” Wilkins said. “Something just didn’t seem right to him.”

When detectives were looking over old, unsolved cases, Campbell suggested they look at this one again.

Foremny, who has extensive child-abuse investigative experience, followed through on the case and with the help of the medical examiner and new technology, police now believe Spencer was responsible for the death.

If not, it should.