I hope that, since Jodie Trexler Laird was on the Dr. Phil Show, your town and its citizens will apologize to her and treat her like the human being she is. You prevented her from being able to mourn the loss of her sister 34 years ago because she has been treated like a guilty party. Shame on you.

Laura Lear gave a somewhat insincere apology on the show after the lie detector test showed Jodie had not lied about not being responsible for the death. Jodie showed much more maturity in her behavior.

Laura apparently had no knowledge of the information surrounding the murder and only embarrassed herself in front of millions of watchers. She criticized Jodie for not crying about the death, but everyone handles death differently. At 13 years old, and having seen her sister lying in the bedroom, Jodie was probably in shock. Some probably would have criticized her if she had cried too much.

Laura kept saying that Jodie was always saying that she hated her sister and wished she were dead; however, she only noted one time hearing that on the bus. How many siblings get mad at each other and say those types of things but would never act on such comments? I can’t say that I ever said I wished one of my sisters or my brother were dead, but we argued all the time, but we still loved each other.

Thank goodness Dr. Phil and his audience were much more understanding. The lie detector test was proof that Jodie had no responsibility in her sister’s death; and an expert noted a profile of the perpetrator does not lean toward her at all.

I hope that you all give Jodie a chance now to mourn the sister that she obviously loved and misses.

— Patricia Turner

Lexington, Kentucky