I ask for your prayers

[The Stranger]

my condolences...i think its outrageous...i dont pray but yur in my thoughts

[Dîn-Heru]

My condolences, and sympathy to you and your family.

[Templar Knight]

I am sorry to hear this, my deepest condolences to you and your family Gawain

[Papewaio]

I sincerly feel sorry for your loss Gawain. I hope they find these cowards and throw the book at them. If you need anything just PM us.

Regards,
Pape

[ArcticSonata]

I don't know what to say, I mean I am sorry for your loss and I wish could could say I know you feel but I doubt many of us have gone through something quite like this, and all of our sorries still are not going to be able to take away that loss, so the best I can do is offer my prayers for you and that justice will come. and that is what I will do .

[Togakure]

I just read this thread--yet another despicable outrage. Gawaine: my sincere condolences. Unfortunately I can relate somewhat to this loss, though in my experience it wasn't a family member, but a close friend. I can't even begin to imagine how you feel. Strength to you. May your brother rest in peace.

[Alexanderofmacedon]

I'm sorry Gawain. I feel for you. Words I say may not help at all, but you are deffinetly in my prayers.

Rest in peace Bill and let this not be a hate crime. Sometimes I'd have to wonder if it was and I'd be sick to my stomach if it is...

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

My prayers are with you, your brother, and your family.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

I would like to thank you all for the suport you have given me and especially to those who sent me pms. It really means a lot to me silly as it may seem.

Rest in peace Bill and let this not be a hate crime.

Im afraid it was. As I mentioned he was gay. The police finally gave us more details today. They said a bag was put over his head . Then he was bound gagged and tortured before being beaten to death with a blunt object. It seems like much more than a robbery to me.

Again my thanks to you all.

[Alexanderofmacedon]

Oh, man that is horrible. I hope the man responsible is caught...I'd give him a thing or two to hate!

Once again I'm so sorry Gawain. I mentioned this to my mom and she is very sorry as well...

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

I'm not eloquent enough to properly express how sorry I am for your loss with words, Gawain.

I'm praying for you and him just on the off-chance.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

The scum that did this deserves to be shot. Absoloutly horrible.

[Don Corleone]

Wow. I'm stunned. Nothing to say, really, except God bless you and your brother, and may He provide you strength and your brother comforting rest. I am so sorry for you Gawain. You and your brother both are certainly in my prayers.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Wow Dons Back. Well still no word on who did this. We finally got the call to come down and identify the body. Hes totally unrecognizabe and Im afraid we will have to have a closed coffin. For those who were asking there still is a death penalty in NY but I cant remember the last time it was used. It was back in the mid 70s I think. Again Id like to thank you all for your support.

Would you believe I went out to my car about two hours ago and someone had broken into it and taken 150 new DVDs out of the trunk? They say things come in threes. Im dreading whats coming next.

[Lemur]

More coverage from the local papers:

Store owner's death a mystery
Central Islip victim, found bound and beaten, last seen with unknown male in a car
BY SAMUEL BRUCHEY
STAFF WRITER

December 30, 2005

The night before his body was found tied up and beaten to death inside his Brentwood video store, William Kern pulled up to his home in Central Islip accompanied by a man who sat silently beside him, relatives said.

The diminutive, gray-haired Kern went inside, turned on a television and checked his elaborate toy train collection, then announced he was going to Burger King, relatives said.

"He said he would be back in 20 minutes," his brother Rick, 42, said.

But Kern, 55, never returned. The following morning, on Wednesday, his body was discovered in the rear office of the video store, Suffolk police said.

"We have no idea who he was with, but we'd like to know," Rick Kern said.

Suffolk Homicide Commander Det. Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick said Kern was beaten over the head with a blunt object and that cash was taken from the store.

Kern's father, Robert, 79, said it was not unusual for his son to go out after leaving Pine Hollow Video, where he worked almost every day.

Kern, the store owner for 18 years, was single with no children, but had a wide circle of friends. Because of his poor vision, Kern relied on those friends when he drove at night, his father said.

"He trusted people," his father said. "If he met you a couple times, he considered you a friend."

It was that trusting nature that may have left Kern vulnerable, his brother Rick said.

Fitzpatrick said that Kern returned to the video store sometime after it closed at midnight.

"Why he's there, it's not clear," Fitzpatrick said.

Although they do not know where he went after leaving home, Kern's relatives say they believe he was forced back to the store, perhaps by the man seen in his car.

The alarm was deactivated about 1 a.m., relatives said. But a panic button on the keypad by the front door was not triggered. Nor was a second panic button, located in the office where Kern was found.

Kern's father said that $4,000 in rent and store receipts were missing.

Police would not detail Kern's injuries, but relatives said he had large cuts over his eyes and a bag had been pulled over his head.

Thursday morning, Kern's 1994 Honda Accord was recovered in the parking lot of a strip mall near Hilltop Drive and Commack Road in Brentwood, a mile away from the video store.

Investigators spent the afternoon questioning proprietors of nearby stores on Second Avenue. Kern's bedroom was dusted for fingerprints, then locked so no one could enter.

And inside the video store, which opened for business, customers talked about the murder, a Christmas stocking with "Bill" written in silver glitter hung behind them on the wall.

[AntiochusIII]

Death is natural, but hard to bear, nonetheless, for those whom you know and love.

Death by crime is much harder to bear. You will have to ask yourself again why it would be you and why did they do that.

Death by hate crime or crime of opportunity...however...is despicable.

My condolences, Gawain. That death is most undeserved.

Hopefully justice will somehow be done.

[Lanemerkel1]

my condolensences (sp?) as well, I shall add you to my current list of people to pray for, and don't worry, I try to pull the thing out 5 times a day. I know what it feels like to lose a sibling, I lost my sister to a misscarriage, however I was only 2-3 years old and it was not in any way like losing someone to a murder. I can see that men die when their time is up on this otherwise pathetic planet, and that alone is alot of pain and suffering. But for someone to die at the hands of a cold blooded jackass who just wants to be the topdog like all the drug dealer/serial killers in the CSI shows would go beyond the line for me, I wouldn't be weeping sad, I would be steaming PISSED.

If this world was Star Wars and I lost someone I'm close to to a ghetto a-hole that thinks he's the best cause he's got a stupid gun, I would definatley be drifting, as yoda would say "too close to the dark side you are"

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Gawain, I know we have had our differences, and it is quite possible that you hate me,

Oh please. I hate verry few people and certainly no one on these boards would fall into that category.

I would suggest you stay away from your computer until you are feeling better- it is very unhealthy for treating depression, and can even make it worse.

If you have noticed I havent been posting much in the backroom as Im certainly not in the mood for heated debate at the moment. VI however is still theraputic to me.

Again my thanks for the concern. Im a tough old geyser and I will be alright.

[Reenk Roink]

Oh please. I hate verry few people and certainly no one on these boards would fall into that category.



If you have noticed I havent been posting much in the backroom as Im certainly not in the mood for heated debate at the moment. VI however is still theraputic to me.

Again my thanks for the concern. Im a tough old geyser and I will be alright.

Pwning Vik is theraputic .

[Kaiser of Arabia]

Oh please. I hate verry few people and certainly no one on these boards would fall into that category.



If you have noticed I havent been posting much in the backroom as Im certainly not in the mood for heated debate at the moment. VI however is still theraputic to me.

Again my thanks for the concern. Im a tough old geyser and I will be alright.

If you ever get around to getting NTW I'm sure you could get some more games in. We have them daily.

Keep us informed on the investigation, I'm sure justice will take place, in one way or another.

[Byzantine Mercenary]

Very sorry to hear about your brother, I will definately pray for him, I can only hope that the monsters that did this are caught.