Amish mourn after attack, urging forgiveness of gunman
Killer's relatives say he never molested them
NICKEL MINES, Pa. -- Two relatives of the man who attacked an Amish school, killing five young girls, said they were not molested by him 20 years ago as he had claimed, investigators said yesterday.
Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, told his family in notes he left behind, and in a cellphone call to his wife from inside the West Nickel Mines Amish School, that he was tormented by memories of molesting two young relatives 20 years ago. He also spoke of having dreams about molesting again.
Investigators spoke to the two women, who would have been 4 or 5 at the time, and they said there was no such abuse.
``Both of them have no recollection of being sexually assaulted by Roberts," said a State Police trooper, Linette Quinn. ``They were absolutely sure they had no contact with Roberts."
Roberts stormed the school Monday and shot 10 girls before turning the gun on himself. Investigators said Roberts, who brought lubricating jelly and plastic restraints with him, may have planned to sexually assault the Amish girls.
As they struggle to understand the slayings of five of their children in a one-room schoolhouse, the Amish in this Lancaster County village are urging forgiveness of the killer and are quietly accepting what comes their way as God's will.
``They know their children are going to heaven. They know their children are innocent . . . and they know that they will join them in death," said Gertrude Huntington, a Michigan researcher and a specialist on Amish children.
``The hurt is very great," she said. ``But they don't balance the hurt with hate."
In the aftermath of Monday's violence, the Amish are looking inward, relying on themselves and their faith, just as they have for centuries.
They hold themselves apart from the modern world, and have as little to do with civil authorities as possible.
Amish mourners have been going from home to home for two days to attend viewings for the five victims, all little girls laid out in white dresses made by their families. Such viewings occur almost immediately after the bodies arrive at the parents' homes.
Typically, they are so crowded that ``if you start crying, you've got to figure out whose shoulder to cry on," said Rita Rhoads, a Mennonite midwife who delivered two of the five girls who were slain.
At some Amish viewings, 1,000 to 1,500 people might visit a family's home to pay respects, according to Jack Meyer, 60, a buggy operator in Bird in Hand. Such visits are important, given the lack of e-mail and telephone communication, Meyer said.
The Amish have also been reaching out to the family of the gunman, 32, who committed suicide after the attack. Dwight Lefever, a Roberts family spokesman, said an Amish neighbor comforted the Roberts family hours after the shooting and extended their forgiveness.
``I hope they stay around here and they'll have a lot of friends and a lot of support," Daniel Esh, a 57-year-old Amish artist and woodworker whose three grandnephews were inside the school, said of the Roberts family.
Huntington, the specialist on the Amish, predicted that they would be supportive of the killer's wife, ``because judgment is in God's hands: `Judge not, that ye be not judged,' " she said, quoting a passage in the New Testament.
A coroner yesterday described a gruesome scene at the school, with blood on every desk, every window broken, and the body of a girl slumped beneath a chalkboard. Roberts' body was face down, next to the teacher's desk.
``It was horrible. I don't know how else to explain it," said Amanda Shelley, a deputy coroner in Lancaster County.
Funerals for four of the victims -- Naomi Rose Ebersole, 7; Marian Fisher, 13; Mary Liz Miller, 8; and her sister Lena, 7 -- are scheduled for today at three homes.
The funeral for the fifth girl, Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12, is set for tomorrow.
About 300 to 500 people are expected at each funeral, said Philip W. Furman, an undertaker. The church-led services typically last about two hours, then mourners travel in horse-drawn buggies to a cemetery for a graveside service.
In keeping with custom, the Amish use simple wooden caskets. An Amish girl is typically laid to rest in a white dress, a cape, and a white prayer-covering on her head, Furman said.
Five other girls remain hospitalized, three in critical condition and two in serious condition. They ranged in age from 6 to 13.
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