VERY BAD NEWS! Brandon Miller accused of murder

[TigerAlum]

Since you are all very interested in this case, I thought you would want to read this letter from Jason's Mom. This is a cut and paste from the Belgrade News. I know that Stacey sent the letter to the chronicle also but I don't know if they ever printed it.

2006-07-21 BELGRADE NEWS
LETTER: Mom defends son’s honor



I am writing the newspapers regarding articles that were printed about my son, Jason Wright, who was murdered.

I was told by a member of law enforcement that once Jason was identified, they received an overwhelming number of phone calls, many expressing sympathy and a desire to help. I am so grateful to all those who helped in any way, and to law enforcement for working tirelessly on Jason’s case.

I also want to thank the victims’ advocate service, which is helping my family and I deal with our loss and the court proceedings ahead. Law enforcement and the victims’ services team have been professional and compassionate to no end and I cannot express my heartfelt thanks to them for making the arrests so quickly.

All of us who knew and loved Jason know that the person portrayed in the news articles was not who he was or his essence. Jason always continued to be devoted to his family and friends and cared deeply about the young men he coached on the baseball fields. He often told me stories about so many of you and I was fortunate enough to watch many of you play.

When Jason was coaching in Bozeman, he began working with the players long before the season started, and for anyone who wanted more practice, he would stay and work with them well after the games had ended. He also continued to work his job at a local restaurant.

When he coached in Livingston, he spent many hours working alone at Legion Field, on his own time, using his own equipment, keeping the field and the facility in good shape.

As anybody who ever played with or coached him knows, he was a baseball purist. He felt a great responsibility to make sure that all the hard work his father had done be maintained. He was thrilled when so many pitched in to make the place look so great for the Division tournament.

Anyone who ever witnessed his relationship with his father knew there was none closer in the world, and Jason missed him desperately. He was truly such a loving and caring son and brother. So many folks approached me over the years, and in recent days, to tell me what a “wonderful young man he had become.”

Thank you so much to everyone for the tremendous outpouring of love and support and to the ball players and their families writing to let me know what Jason meant to them and the positive impact he had on you or your sons’ lives. Your words mean more to me and my family than one can possibly imagine.

Jason never would have wanted to bring pain or grief to his family or friends and I will not let the people who took him from us destroy his spirit or my life. That is the last thing he ever would have wanted. With the help of our families, all of our wonderful and caring friends, all those who knew and loved him, and a community that has meant so much to us, we will find a way to be strong for Jason.

As one of his lifelong friends that wrote to me said, “God I loved, still love that guy.” I can only say, “me too, me too!”

Stacy Richards Wright

Livingston

[CARDIAC_CATS]

There is a lot of criticism of the Chronicle on here. I'm usually nobody to defend that rag, except this time I want to say that with a few minor exceptions, they have done a pretty good job with the information provided so far in the case. Yes, they are by and large idiots, but that's no reason to get your nose all out of joint because they report on a story that all of us wish never happened.

A few points:

1. "Dumpster" is a brand name, and thus should be capitalized. Maybe some of us would prefer they call it "an oversized garbage receptacle." Why this became an issue I'll never know.

2. Their police report about the MSU athletes was probably reported verbatim from the Bozeman Police reports, which any of us can access by stopping by the Law & Justice center. You people are shooting the messenger here, apparently out of some misguided belief that MSU athletes can do no wrong. Yes, the Chronicle should have changed the wording on that report instead of just puking up what the police department wrote, but for gosh sakes, some of you are acting like they killed the sacred cow.

I am amazed that so many of you are so critical of the Chronicle's coverage of these two (alleged) murderers. The Chronicle didn't commit these crimes any more than any of us did, so why all the hostility? If you don't like their coverage, go to the court house, pick up the case documents and read them yourselves. See if you can do a better job.

That said, I think I should add that I've been reading these message boards for a long time, and never felt compelled to join. However, some of the sh*t is getting shovelled pretty high on this particular thread. You accuse the Chronicle of making MSU look bad... how about our former golden boys sitting in jail, accused of KILLING ANOTHER HUMAN BEING??

You say the Chronical didn't commit these crimes any more than the rest of us did .. so why the hostility to the Chronical? Well MSU alumni/friends didn't commit these crimes either so why are they still labeling them as MSU athletes when they both had been out of school. The fact is they were out of school and the paper is reflecting this back on all the MSU/STUDENTS/FANS. I'm pretty sure the people that are currently at MSU didn't committ these crimes either. I guess if it was a former Lays potato chip worker that killed someone they would have Lays potato chip work at the front of his name for 3-4 weeks on every article in his name.

[whitetrashgriz]

I am glad I wasn't the only one who thought that letter was way overboard. I read it yesterday and I was annoyed with that guy. Yes this is a bad incident and has a negative impact on MSU, but to say Fields and Gamble don't know right from wrong and that they should be fired is stupid. They are both excellent leaders!

this is actually pretty amazing. that exact letter from the chronicle is in my wallet! i read it the other day, and was so flooered that i ripped it out, and put it in my wallet so i can write a response. it had to have been the most ignorant letter i have ever read. i guess my theory is this. he wants to hold fields, and gamble, and msu responsible for the murder of a young man. our "win at any cost" is what brought this scum to bozeman he says. well then, i hold HIM responsible. clearly he knew the moment that these guys stepped foot in bozeman that they were scum. he knew from the second that they laid there eyes on msu's beautiful campus that these guys were capable of murder. yet he did nothing. he clearly has a gift of seeing the future, a gift that fields and gamble unfortunately don't have. a gift that none of us have. but he has it, and i hold him responsible for not sharing his vast knowledge with the rest of us. now i ask you, who's theory is more rediculous? his theory that administration should have seen what these guys were capable of, and stopped it, and because they didn't...they are to blame? or my theory that because he knew something we didn't, HE should be to blame?

[lifeloyalsigmsu]

There is a lot of criticism of the Chronicle on here. I'm usually nobody to defend that rag, except this time I want to say that with a few minor exceptions, they have done a pretty good job with the information provided so far in the case. Yes, they are by and large idiots, but that's no reason to get your nose all out of joint because they report on a story that all of us wish never happened.

A few points:

1. "Dumpster" is a brand name, and thus should be capitalized. Maybe some of us would prefer they call it "an oversized garbage receptacle." Why this became an issue I'll never know.

2. Their police report about the MSU athletes was probably reported verbatim from the Bozeman Police reports, which any of us can access by stopping by the Law & Justice center. You people are shooting the messenger here, apparently out of some misguided belief that MSU athletes can do no wrong. Yes, the Chronicle should have changed the wording on that report instead of just puking up what the police department wrote, but for gosh sakes, some of you are acting like they killed the sacred cow.

I am amazed that so many of you are so critical of the Chronicle's coverage of these two (alleged) murderers. The Chronicle didn't commit these crimes any more than any of us did, so why all the hostility? If you don't like their coverage, go to the court house, pick up the case documents and read them yourselves. See if you can do a better job.

That said, I think I should add that I've been reading these message boards for a long time, and never felt compelled to join. However, some of the sh*t is getting shovelled pretty high on this particular thread. You accuse the Chronicle of making MSU look bad... how about our former golden boys sitting in jail, accused of KILLING ANOTHER HUMAN BEING??

You say the Chronical didn't commit these crimes any more than the rest of us did .. so why the hostility to the Chronical? Well MSU alumni/friends didn't commit these crimes either so why are they still labeling them as MSU athletes when they both had been out of school. The fact is they were out of school and the paper is reflecting this back on all the MSU/STUDENTS/FANS. I'm pretty sure the people that are currently at MSU didn't committ these crimes either. I guess if it was a former Lays potato chip worker that killed someone they would have Lays potato chip work at the front of his name for 3-4 weeks on every article in his name.

I was thinking the same thing along those lines. While we're at it, next time Joe Blow gets busted for DUI, I would like it if the Chronicle phrased it something like this.

***Joe Blow, who attended Monforth (sp?) Montessori School, attended [insert school name] High School, and graduated from MSU in 200X, and has been employed by [insert local business here], was cited for driving under the influence of alcohol this past weekend (run on sentence intentionally done). Further investigation is being done to ascertain if his affiliation with Montana State has anything to do with his decision to drink and drive.***

[bobcatgrad2005]

So many people crticize MSU athletics for letting these kids into the program, the campus, and community. But consider this, coaches visited these kids at home, the kids visited campus, and the coaches spoke to the kids parents, former, and current coaches. How many of the 12,000 other students on campus went through such a rigorous interview process?

Some may reply that such an interview process should have weeded out these kids. My reponse is that any time you compile a group of people, such as collegiate athletic teams, you will have a sampling of society. It can not be avoided, unless we say, recruit only upper middle class kids (of which Miller is one) from Montana, who have blue eyes and have never drank, smoked, or made a mistake in their life. Then we better build the a bubble to live in, because any of us who lived in South Hedges will know these "pure" athletes would be corrupted.

Rant over.

[catmom]

So many people crticize MSU athletics for letting these kids into the program, the campus, and community. But consider this, coaches visited these kids at home, the kids visited campus, and the coaches spoke to the kids parents, former, and current coaches. How many of the 12,000 other students on campus went through such a rigorous interview process?

Some may reply that such an interview process should have weeded out these kids. My reponse is that any time you compile a group of people, such as collegiate athletic teams, you will have a sampling of society. It can not be avoided, unless we say, recruit only upper middle class kids (of which Miller is one) from Montana, who have blue eyes and have never drank, smoked, or made a mistake in their life. Then we better build the a bubble to live in, because any of us who lived in South Hedges will know these "pure" athletes would be corrupted.

Rant over.

Just a quick correction, Miller's family was not an upper middle class family (not even close). Just what I was thinking when I read that idiots letter in the paper.

Unfortunately, there are quite a few people that are thinking the way that man wrote (from what I am hearing). But I am sure true Bobcat fans are not thinking that way if they follow the sport programs.