A story of evil -- and its flip side

Posted: Friday, May 23, 2008 9:45 PM by Dateline Editor
Filed Under: Crime, Investigations

By Jack Cloherty, Dateline NBC National Producer

In 30 years of covering crime, cops and courts, I've never heard a story so evil: a 22-year-old woman is abducted and taken to a "party" where she is humiliated, abused, gang raped and strangled. At least two dozen of her so-called friends are at this "party," but no one intervenes on her behalf. Her naked and battered body is dumped in a snowdrift off the interstate, and for 25 long years, no one goes to the police. That's the thumbnail sketch of Janet Chandler's murder, and it is so gruesome it makes you want to stop believing in the decency of human beings.

But on the flip side of this horror is one of the most affirming stories about the human spirit that I've ever covered: a college professor and a group of students at Janet Chandler's old college make a documentary about her case, and spark a new police investigation. A tenacious cold case team works more than two years to track down the killers, and cracks the decades-old conspiracy of silence. Then Assistant Michigan Attorney General Donna Pendergast and the prosecution stepped up to put on a bullet-proof court case, and by late 2007, six people had been convicted of Janet Chandler's 1979 murder. There is a measure of justice for Janet today, but only because dozens of people worked in harmony for years to to win that justice.

For the students and the cold case team, the Janet Chandler investigation was a life-changing experience. And correspondent Victoria Corderi and I agree that covering their work has deeply affected us as well. We both stand in awe of the dignity of Jim and Glenna Chandler, who bore their overwhelming grief with the help of their deep faith, and their own personal courage. We were impressed by the determination and creativity of former Hope College professor David Schock, who helped turn a class project into a major prosecution.

The inspiration to do the documentary came to him when a former Holland police detective gave a guest lecture to his class. Schock asked him if there was "one that got away," a case the cop wished they had solved. He answered, "Janet Chandler."

That sent Schock and his students off on a journey that ended with six people being convicted of Chandler's murder. Now Schock has devoted himself full-time to telling cold case stories, in the hopes of tracking down more killers. We have posted a link to his site: delayedjustice.com.

There were others besides Schock and his students who were critical to making a new investigation a reality. Holland Chief of Police John Kruithoff and retired Detective Jim Fairbanks both pushed hard to get the Chandler case back on the front burner. And we would be remiss if we did not heap some well-deserved praise on the cold case team itself, made up of detectives from the Michigan State Police and the Holland City Police. They traveled to 19 states and worked for more than two years to break the Janet Chandler case.

When progress was slow, the team resisted the easy way out. They could have pulled the plug on this case and moved on to something a little easier, but they didn't. They kept "turning over rocks," as Lt. John Slenk said. The smart and skillful interrogations conducted by Det. Geoff Flohr played a big role in bringing the killers to justice, and you can see more of Flohr in action on this site.

We in the press cover many, many stories where we are compelled to report that "the system" didn't work. Here is a case where it worked in a spectacular, if belated, fashion. Victoria Corderi and I would like to thank all of the people who helped us bring this story to Dateline, especially our colleagues at WOOD-TV-8 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

This story is a story we won't forget. It showed us the face of evil, and the power of faith.

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