Murder Victims Remembered At State Ceremony
Family, Friends Attend Ceremony At Capitol
Posted: 10:16 pm CDT September 25, 2007
MADISON, Wis. -- The state held its first ever Day of Remembrance ceremony for murder victims Tuesday at the Capitol.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportIt was the state's official commemoration of the first National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims and the ceremony was held without reference to any religion. The Freedom from Religion Foundation got the attorney general to remove prayer and hymn from the state ceremony due to constitutional concerns.About 150 friends and family members of murder victims statewide filled the upper Capitol rotunda Tuesday. Hymns and prayers were replaced with guitar music and poem readings, WISC-TV reported.A memory board honored murder victims from central Wisconsin, while others displayed their own photographs."Our friends and our extended family will have their memories reawakened once more and they will remember at least for one day each year that special person they knew whose life was lost to violence," said Bill Swanson, of the Wisconsin chapter of Parents of Murdered Children.Alice McNiece, a Milwaukee mother, attended the ceremony. She lost two daughters -- one was murdered in 1993 and the other in 1994. She said only one killer has been caught.She said time has helped her heal but that it is still tough. She said that when murder occurs, all the hurt comes flooding back."You might be feeling better today then somebody might be murdered. That brings all this back on you because your thinking about your family," McNiece said.Last year in Wisconsin 207 people were murdered, WISC-TV reported.Nationwide, an average 16,500 people are murdered each year.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportIt was the state's official commemoration of the first National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims and the ceremony was held without reference to any religion. The Freedom from Religion Foundation got the attorney general to remove prayer and hymn from the state ceremony due to constitutional concerns.About 150 friends and family members of murder victims statewide filled the upper Capitol rotunda Tuesday. Hymns and prayers were replaced with guitar music and poem readings, WISC-TV reported.A memory board honored murder victims from central Wisconsin, while others displayed their own photographs."Our friends and our extended family will have their memories reawakened once more and they will remember at least for one day each year that special person they knew whose life was lost to violence," said Bill Swanson, of the Wisconsin chapter of Parents of Murdered Children.Alice McNiece, a Milwaukee mother, attended the ceremony. She lost two daughters -- one was murdered in 1993 and the other in 1994. She said only one killer has been caught.She said time has helped her heal but that it is still tough. She said that when murder occurs, all the hurt comes flooding back."You might be feeling better today then somebody might be murdered. That brings all this back on you because your thinking about your family," McNiece said.Last year in Wisconsin 207 people were murdered, WISC-TV reported.Nationwide, an average 16,500 people are murdered each year. Copyright 2007 by Channel 3000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
