Shirley Judge is Chair of the East Haddam RTC. She wanted to share some thoughts on the victim and her close friend, MaryEllen Welsh.

It is the morning after I first learned of the brutal murder of someone I have known; MaryEllen Welsh. I have seen her face in the paper and heard her name on the news. I have read the police report and spoken to others who knew her. It is the morning after and I still cannot believe this woman who is being described as elderly and defenseless, who is now known as a victim, murdered woman and the body is the woman I knew.

I cannot resolve that this is the same person who as twenty and thirty somethings, had no worries other than where the next party was to be, the same person whose sound of laughter infected all with laughter of their own, the same person who had the ever present sparkle of Irish in her eye, the same person who was so full of life. It is the morning after and I realize that it must in fact be her. It is the morning after and I realize that I, and all who knew MaryEllen, are victims too.