Following is an open letter published in a newspaper in Minnesota. It was penned by a woman whose husband, a minister, was cruelly and senselessly murdered. She wrote this only a few days after his death:

"During the past three days my grief and desolation have been eased and comforted by the love and faith of so many wonderful friends and relatives. But in the midst of all of this and especially in the quiet moments, my thoughts keep turning to you three. You may feel that you are men, but to me you are just boys like my own sons. And I wonder to whom you are turning for comfort and strength and reassurance.

I suppose I will never know what motivated your actions that night, but if the shots were fired out of sheer panic, my heart aches for you and I wish there were only some way I could help you in what you must be suffering now. If hate made you pull that trigger, I can only pray that you can come to know the love of God that fills the heart and leaves no room for hate. If you were under the influence of drugs, please for my sake and your own, don't waste your lives too. Get help and rid yourselves of that stuff.

Please, if you see this, find a church some place where you can be alone and read this again. Know that God forgives you and that my family and I forgive you. Then go out and make something worthwhile out of the rest of your lives."