A couple of weeks ago, I made the community aware that the man that murdered our daughter Emily was up for early parole. I asked if the community would support us in making sure this heinous criminal didn’t get early parole after spending just 11 years of a 15-years-to-life sentence.
We want to thank all those who stood beside us and sent emails to the parole board. On Nov. 2, we had the parole, which lasted over three hours. We were fortunate to have help from a Marsy’s Law attorney, former Deputy DA Susan Schwartz; and an incredible man who became a close family friend, Mark Lilienfeld; he was the investigating detective on the case. These fantastic people gave their time and energy to help us prepare and guide us through the process; we would have been lost without them.
The result was that the murderer must wait for three more years before applying for parole again. In the present climate in LA County, this is a win, and in three years, we will, of course, reach out again and hope to have the tremendous support that this community gives freely to its members.
In life, you can’t stand alone. You must have family, the energy of friends and the kindness of strangers. In this way, we are fortunate and blessed.
We thank you, and this is the best-kept secret about Malibu. Outsiders see this as an enclave of the rich and famous. What we indeed are is a caring community that always stands to help our own.
In passing, we would like to mention that on Nov. 14 at 2 p.m., please join us for Butterfly Magic at Pepperdine’s Alumni Park. Help us celebrate the Emily Shane Foundations’ semi-annual event. For more info, visit emilyshane.org. Come by and see us; we would love to see you, and it will be a fun afternoon for all ages.
Thank you from my whole family as a proud member of the Malibu community.
Michel Shane