Continuing from yesterday's blog "Truth is stranger than fiction; the arrest of a man who dismembered a woman's body (which continued from Tuesday's blog "Reporting as a diagnosis; the search for a woman's dismembered body parts."

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The arraignment of James Bommer was expected to be on a Friday afternoon, but the paperwork didn't go through on time. I didn't even know his name because police didn't want to release the information. Through some chatting with neighbors I got the name and called the court. They didn't have an arraignment set.

Bommer was arraigned on Saturday, August 27 on one count of dismembering and mutilating a dead body and one count of obstruction of justice.

The judge told Bommer good luck because he said he would need it.

The preliminary hearing was at 9 a.m. the morning after Labor Day. It was 11:30 before Wayne County Jail  brought Bommer into the court room.

The media was sitting in the jury box. The detective told us that Bommer would be coming out soon and pointed to the door he would be walking in from. We all got our cameras ready.

I had seen a picture of Bommer from 2005. I thought I knew what he would look like, in a general sense at least. It was nothing like that...

An officer wearing blue latex gloves walked him in. Bommer kept his head down. His hair was long and tangled. His face was wrinkled and his eyes were droopy. 

A long-time freelance photographer for The News-Herald was there with me to take photos. He started at the camera. He started into the video cameras that were there. Prpich's mother held her head high and looked at his back while the judge addressed him.

View a slideshow of photos from the preliminary hearing here. 

His lawyer had to tell him when to speak. Previous felonies of his were mentioned, none anywhere near the extent of this. However, the intention of making his past known became apparent to us. Someone wants him put away for a long, long time.

His lawyer asked for a competency and criminal responsibility exam because he doubts Bommer's level of sanity after interviewing him.

Afterward, everyone was saying things like, "Well obviously he's not competent, look what he did." It wasn't clear whether anyone was supportive or non-supportive of the decision.

The lawyer made Bommer tell the judge that he had agreed to take the exams. Bommer said he had alredy agreed. The judge ordered the exams.

Bommer was hunched over the whole time, with his hands still cuffed behind his back. He looked far beyond the age of 52. The took him back through the door that he entered from. The judge told the media bye and we walked out behind Prpich's mother.

We talked with Prpich's mother. She discussed her now-deceased daughter's ambitions and how she was turning her life around. No one claimed she was murdered. But it's apparent that the dismemberment bothers the family, as it should.

The competency exam has not yet been set, meaning it could be months before Bommer is back in court. Until then, he is being held on a $500,000 cash bond.

It's a weird thing, seeing someone who has the capabilities to chop up a body - whether it be dead or not. It's still someone he knew. And there are still so many questions. How did he do it? Where did he do it? Why was that the decision he made to hide her death? Why hide the parts is several places? How was such a frail man capable of doing this so discretely? Did he feel guilty? Is he competent...?

The picture of him staring at the camera is creepy. Just knowing what he is capable of. No matter who you are, the story will stop you in your tracks for a second...



Well, I'll keep you updated on this whole case. Thanks for tuning in.

Catch 'ya later, Internet World.

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first." - Mark Twain.