Sunday, June 24, 2012

A Special Surprise

The Van Nuys Homicide Unit. 
From left to right, Det. Pete Barba, Det. Marc Martinez, 
Unit Supervisor Det. Rob Bub, Det. James Nuttall.

UPDATE: August 17th, 2012
I finally got around to hanging my special surprise up on my living room wall today.



June 24th, 2012
What you are looking at is a photo of a special gift that was hand delivered to me on Friday afternoon from the Van Nuys Homicide Unit (VNHU, aka "The Cowboys"). I apologize for the poor quality of the image.  The gift was too big to fit on my scanner so I had to try to take a photo of it to show you.  Here are the personal messages the detectives wrote me.

Betsy,
Thank you for the great coverage of the case.
Det. P. Barba

Betsy,
Thank you for all your help on this case.
Det. Marc Martinez

Thank you Betsy -- for your tireless effort and true dedication to the Lazarus Case.
Detective James Nuttall

Thanks Betsy. You were the conduit for information on the case! We appreciate your efforts.
Det. Rob Bub

Words cannot express how deeply touched and moved I was by this gift.  It brought home for me how much the VNHU appreciated my trial reporting efforts.  This gift will hang in a very prominent place in my home. Thank you, thank you Cowboys.

And on another note, Sunday night is the Los Angeles Press Club's 2011 Journalism Awards.  Best of luck to my good friends Ciaran McEvoy and Matthew McGough, (aka "Spider") who are both finalists in their specific categories. Sprocket

UPDATE: On June 24th, 2012, Matthew McGough won two awards from the Los Angeles Press Club for his article The Lazarus File, that appeared in the June 2011 issue of The Atlantic.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, Betsy! Just WOW!

The fact that your reporting was recognized as THE conduit for information by the actual case workers speaks volumes about the importance of accuracy in reporting! Congratulations! Well deserved!

SeniorMoments

katfish said...

Well said Senior Moments! Congrats to you Sprocket!! Your hard work merits recognition, but this is truly special for the detectives involved to take the time to express their appreciation! ;)

Days Like This said...

Betsy, I'm so PROUD of you! We all know how hard you work at what you do and how professional you are about it. To get this kind of recognition from LE is really something special! Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

Bravo, Betsy! And thank you for all you do.

ritanita said...

Kudos, Sprocket! I'm so proud of you. It's not every day a journalist recieves such thanks from those involved in an investigation.

Maddie said...

Congratulations, Betsy! Well deserved, indeed. And what a great bunch of men. I hope we get to read a lot more of the "behind the scenes" happenings in Matthew's book.

I can't help but wonder, too, if the detectives' interview with SL won't be used for training purposes. Certainly I'm not qualified to say, but I think it might be one for the textbooks.

Best wishes to all!

Robert said...

I find the timing of the LAPD detective's gift to be impeccable. Right in the middle of the Bowden kerfluffle they come down on the side of reason and accuracy in reporting. That is a highly uncommon, but well deserved vote of confidence, Betsy. Well done.

EvictObama said...

Nice one!Congrats.
I do like that name,Betsy.

Anonymous said...

I was impressed by the VNHU from the git go...now I'm even MORE impressed with that bunch of "cowboys"!!!

Congratulations Sprocket!!! Much deserved accolades!!! ♥

Kitty said...

Congrats Betsey for all your hard work on this case. You have been the eyes and ears for the world because without your excellent reporting, we would have never known the real stories. I can't wait to read Matthew's book. And to those men in blue "Whoa"...

Anonymous said...

I'm also impressed by the VNHU -- in particular with Det. James Nuttall! Simply said, he was the one who put 2-and-2 together. From there, VNHU advanced "the ball" beautifully to downtown's RHD.

VNHU detectives are the original heroes of this case.

LinZbee said...

Betsy,
I'm sure you couldn't have wanted or imagined a better gift! You deserve it and I am so happy that these detectives took the time and effort to recognize you for all the tireless work you've done on this case for all of us out here.
Enjoy your reward and I know this has encouraged you for even bigger and better things to come!
Hugs,
LinZbee

Soapbubble said...

I just wanted to state that I think Nuttall should by played by James Denton in the movie because there has to be a movie about this fascinating cast.

Maddie said...

Soapbubble -- I second your choice! Excellent suggestion.

kitty said...

Betsey are murder cases the only cases you have an interest in or do you follow other cases. I was wondering if you had an interest in the Brian Stowe assault trial.
That was a real tragedy and the fact that he will never be the same is so sad. This event captivated Los Angelinos with the senseless attack on a fellow human being.

Larry L. said...

Betsy,

I followed your reporting all during the events that led to the Lazarus trial and all the following events through the present. You did an excellent job of telling the story of this case, including your observations of details, small and not so small, that aren't usually included in reports of trials, like what people are wearing and what your sense of their attitudes was. It took a lot of effort and I commend you for an excellent job. Congratulations on the gift from the detectives. You certainly deserve it!

Anonymous said...

what is the presnet?? icannot tell

Sprocket said...

Anon @ 9:59 AM

The present is a large, nicely framed photograph of the Van Nuys Homicide Unit that they have all signed with personal messages to me. The messages they wrote I've detailed in the post.

tina from sphilly said...

awww..beautiful! enjoy..well deserved sprocket!

Anonymous said...

Who will play you in the movie?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Who will play you in the movie?



Movie could be along the lines of the story narrated by Sprocket...
("To Kill a Mockingbird" comes to mind)

Maddie said...

I'm thinking Meryl Streep!

Josh Mankiewicz said...

Congrats, Betsy!