My personal thoughts & respect for Joanna Gately

I did not get to view Joanna Gately's testimony until this evening. The first thing that struck me was how much she resembled my dead (murdered) sister Colleen Ann Smith Battaglia. For me, the resemblance in her face & hair, it was chilling and haunting. I must admit, this connection immediately caused me to feel an instant kinship towards Joanna Gately. The second reaction I had to Ms. Gately was the apparent grieve on her face in the loss of her dear college friend Rachel. Unfortunately, I can identify with the depth of her loss and will not even try to placate it with token words. It's hell.

Repeatedly, I was touched by the simple acts of kindness that Joanna and her sister Maureen demonstrated on the evening of January 21, 2006. She meets my criteria as a great friend and proper lady. Firstly, she got alarmed when Rachel was not @ home as planned. After finding Rachel's mom note left earlier in the day she promptly contacted Priscilla. These actions resulted in Priscilla calling the Hopkinton PD. Joanna in a second act of kindness, thought of Sally, the family dog, and repeatedly took care of Sally's basic needs. We can only imagine what Sally probably witnessed! And for anyone who listened to the complete testimony knows - Joanna's acts of love out of friendship did not stop at these two examples.

OK - here is how she meets my definition of a proper lady! In the middle of the night whilst camped out in her car she drove to find an available bathroom. Versus my choice most probably would have been to squat in a bush @ 2 a.m. I, when it comes to bodily fluid urges, have no pride. I have been known to squat in a bush next to a pride of a lioness with her cubs in South Africa - what can I say!

Joanna, your distance stares into space as you relived the horrible and brutal end to your Rachel and her baby Lilly are what I see as I sit here editing the video of your testimony. I wish there was some fancy editing technique I could bestow upon you to magically have this pain disappear! I wish that from my own experience with the lost of a love one from a violent act I could state "it will get better". But the reality is that there will probably not be one day where your thoughts will not wonder back to Rachel. And definitely for every major event that happens in your future when you most need a female shoulder or friend to share life experiences with you - you will miss your dear friend called Rachel Souza Entwistle. You will never know what your life would have been like had Rachel lived. But you will now know what it is like since her death!

Lastly, thank you Joanna & Maureen Gately - from Rachel, Lilly & Sally :)

Not only man's best friend but Rachel's best friend.

Additional and full testimony from the Neil Entwistle trial may be viewed:
http://www.youtube.com/user/RealityCanBeEvil