Strangled Woman Found in Zion Hill Cemetery

P"W™^| HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT ^TRINITY WED..FAIR. 40: THTI, PT T TP Body Less Than Block Away From Trinity Camp Strangled Woman Found In Zion Hill Cemetery D BY JONATHAN HEUSER News Writer • Grim reality shattered the relative peace of the Trinity campus when the body of a young woman was discovered last week in the Zion Hill Cemetery. According to Lieutenant Frederick D. Lewis of the Hartford Police Depart- ment, the body of nineteen year-old Sandra Rivera was found by a cemetery caretaker about noon on Sunday, March 4. Police investigators concluded that she had been strangled by hand but had .not been sexually assaulted. Ms. Rivera, of no certain address, had been arrested several times for pros- titution but had not been convicted. She was found with her white tank top, white rugby shirt and black wool sweater pulled up over her face, and wore nothing else except white socks and pink and white rosary beads around her neck, said Officer Lewis. Hartford police have no suspects and. few clues. "It's another baffling investi- gation," said Officer Lewis, referring to A view of High Rise dormitory, as seen from the nearby cemetery where the body of a young DAN SCAN LAN the discovery of the body of Carla Terry, woman was found last week. a twenty-nine year old woman found week over their own safety and the Ron Irwin'92, a resident of the Ver- PrasantSar'93,aresidentoftheNorth strangled in an empty area of the Blue proximity of the site of the grisly discov- non Street dormitory, said, "Ifs obvi- Campus dormitory, roughly half a block Hills neighborhood. ery to the campus. The Zion Hill Ceme- °usly a matter of concern that less than a from the cemetery, had a different per- Sergeant Frank Rudewicz reported tery is nearest the Trinity campus at the quarter of a block from a fraternity and spective on the discovery. "For Hart- thatpolice were looking atboth cases for corner of Allen Place and SummitStreet. near dorms this kind of crime could take ford, this is no surprise/" hesaid, "And I connections, but as yet have no evidence It is across the street from St. Anthony place. It really makes you wonder about thought that drugs were the big prob- that the murders were related. Hall and near many campus residence whafshappeningwithoursafetyaround lem." Trinity students were concerned this halls and off campus apartments. campus." • please turn to page 3 Prosecutor Discusses •Rape & The Law' U The Sexual Assault Task Force has launched the second no specialized unit [to deal with sexual "The testimony of the woman," Ms. annual Sexual Assault Aware- assault crimes]," she said. Fairstein stated," would be legal in the ness Week, which runs from As a result, the speaker said that her robbery case, but her' testimony in the March 10 to March 15, and unit developed a set of three general rape case would not be." began Sunday with a lecture goals to aid the victims of sexual assault The Keynote Speaker discussed the on Rape and the Law by Key- offenses when it began over 15 years two main types of sexual assault cases note Speaker Linda Fairstein, ago. The first of these, according to Ms. that her prosecution unit faces. The first who was the prosecuting at- Fairstein, was to "make the survivor of type, shesaid, were "strangercases," those torney in the Robert Chambers the crime more comfortable." •• i • i • instances when "Preppie Murder" case. For a She said that by taking the vic- the identifica- i-inda Fairstein DAN SCANLAN completepre view of events left tims out of the "normal course The laws...were ar- tion of the as- scheduled for this week, please of events," like sitting in large chaic, resembling Old sailant was un- • BYJAYAKASIE known to the turn to page 4.- waiting rooms with people British laws actually, News Editor whose cars had been stolen, J victim. THE TRINITY COLLEGE SEXUAL As- much less embarassment ex- andwehadtodOSOme She charac- H Professor of English Bar- sault Task Force kicked off its second terized these isted. bara Benedict has received a annual Sexual Assault Awareness Week lobbying to change cases as The attorney said that her $2500 research grant from the with a talk by Linda Fairstein entitled "everyone's prosecuting unit also devised them. St. Anthony Hall Foundation "Rape and the Law" Sunday. Ms. worst night- ways to make these cases "more _,—— to "figure out how audiences Fairstein, the week's Keynote Speaker, v Drosecutable" in an effort to improve mare about a woman they know and care in the 18th century were indoc- is the Chief Attorney for the Sex Crimes fheprosecutionrates. She said that leg- for." The attorney said that victims usu- trinated with a literary canon," UnitoftheManhattan District Attorney's islativeworkwasnecessaryaswell.'The ally do very well in the courtroom in a she said. Wow. Page 3. Office. laws [concerning sexual assault offenses] "stranger case," citing the modern ad- vances in identifying suspects. Accord- Attorney Fairstein complimented the Tverearchaic,resemblingoldBritishlaws ing to Ms. Fairstein, DNA coding has now Sexual Assault Task Force for the logo actually/and we had to do some lobby- proven to be more precise than finger- on the cover of its brochure, "There's No ing to change them," she said. Safety in Silence," citing the growing prints in the identification of suspects. "WE prominence given to women who are • •••••• The other type of case the unit sees is victims of sexual assault "speaking up "acquaintance rape," according to the and coming forward" around the na- Attorney Fairstein said that many of speaker Ms. Fairsteinsaid that there was tion. The Manhattan prosecutor added these laws went unchange, dj unti...,uli 1975io7c;. ^ additional psychological burden on WON ! wat although more women are report- Before thatdate rape cases were the only the victims who experienced date rape. m ca S ses of sexual assault, occurrences ones in the judicial system which re- Sh_ e said_ tha__ t these cases are often more And how. Page 13. of these crimes are also on the rise..:; - quired collaborative identifications for d-ff jcult t0 proseCute as well. "Whatever prosecution. She used the example of a attitudes tne jurors bring into the court- Attorney Fairstein spoke of the great hypothetical case of a woman being strides made in prosecuting sexual as- room," she stated, "will color the verdict sault crimes over the past 15 years robbed and raped by the same man to please turn to page 3 When I began my job in 1972, there was illustrate her claim. PAGE TWO THE TRINITY TRIPOD OPINION To 'Take Back the .Night1 Is Even Thin Ice Would Be Nice Among Aims of Sexual Assault Awareness Week F WE HAVE HEARD IT ONCE FROM THE ADMINISTRATION, we BY JESSICA GILBERT I have heard it a thousand times. A small liberal arts MEMBER OF SEXUAL ASSAULT TASK FORCE AND RA PEER MENTOR FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT I college has as one of its advantages its sense of community. The Trinity tradition is one of community spirit. Well, the In a 1988 survey concerning of sexual assault issues. The week will best example we've seen of Trinity's community spirit is at our sexual assaulton college campuses, one culminate on Friday, March 15 with a in every six female students reported Take Back the Night March, followed by home ice hockey games. having beena victim of rape orattempted a Speak Out Rally. Only our home hockey games are at a local high school's rink. rape that year, while one in every fifteen By now you may have heard that Trinity's men's Ice Hockey male students reported having commit- Begun in the early 1970's, the Take team beat Fitchburg State in sudden-death overtime to become ted rape or attempted to commit rape. Back the Night march symbolizes the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III champions. From this statistic, one must acknowl- woman's struggle for autonomy and They are the best at what they do. And the thing is, this year edge that rape has become the most seri- freedom in a man's world. During these season's success was no surprise". Trinity's hockey team is always ous crime committed on college cam- first marches, women banded together good. They hit hard. They skate hard. They shoot hard. And they puses. Asa result of this epidemic crime, and walked the streets of their cities and never let up. Trinity's hockey team is consistently one of the many colleges have been forced to reas- towns, affirming their right to walk in school's strongest. BUT TRINITY STILL HAS NO RINK! sess the social environment within, as the dark of night without 'asking for/ or As a result, we also have no women's Ice Hockey program, well as surrounding, their institution of being subject, to injury. Almost two higher learning. decades later, the Trinity College com- although we personally know of several women who have lob- munity will reenact this Take Back the bied in vain to have one begun. We also have no junior varsity Here at Trinity College there has been an effort to not only educate Night March in the hopes of bringing hockey program. Add to that list of things we do NOT have one of individuals, but also to raise awareness awareness of the issue of sexual assault the most well-received winter time activities at other colleges our concerning the issueofaquaintance rape. to men and women alike. Within this size: intramural hockey.

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