Kate Grosmaire keeps asking herself if she has really forgiven Conor. He lived at their house for several months when he wasnt getting along with his own parents, and Andy, a financial regulator for the State of Florida, called in a favor from a friend to get Conor a job. I walk by her empty bedroom at least twice a day.. Sign up today to start receiving monthly execution alerts. Permissions. There were no kid gloves, none. And I just had never said no before to them, so I wasnt going to say no this time. Just being able to have the circle made it a success, Kate said. On one hand, the Grosmaires' decision to forgive Conor will enable him to redeem his crime after he leaves prison in a way he could not if he were there for life. They were both good kids, Julie McBride says, but they were not good together. Kate Grosmaire put it another way: Its like the argument became the relationship.. When he returned, he found her lying on the couch, breathing in a way that seemed to indicate distress. The Grosmaires were deeply disappointed. Andy in particular imagined that the end of the conference circle would be the beginning of the young mans redemption. Julie McBride was devastated. Im leaving. , Conor and Ann met in chemistry class during their sophomore year in high school, and in some ways, their relationship was still adolescent. They both sobbed, and Kate told him what she had come to say. It was easy to think, Poor Conor, I wouldnt want him to spend his life in prison, but hes going to have to, Kate says. Julie was really worried about me driving in such a state of shock, he told Guthrie. ". Andy Grosmaire, sitting beside his wife, went next. I realized it was not just Ann asking me to forgive Conor, it was Jesus Christ, Andy recalls. Im not going to cold-call them, Baliga responded. And what I saw was Christ became one with her. I just had to work through whatever emotional barriers there were. After their daughter was murdered in a fit of rage by her fiancee in 2010, a Florida couple decided to do the hardest thing possible forgive him. On March 28, 2010, Conor McBride walked into the Tallahassee Police Department and told the officer on duty, You need to arrest me. It was really, really tough. The state has an obligation to seek justice for the victim, but also to protect society from further criminal acts. A pre-plea conference is a meeting between the prosecutor and the defendants lawyer at which a plea deal is worked out to bring to a judge. People can think about my daughter, and they dont have to think, Oh, the murdered girl. I think that when people cant forgive, theyre stuck. Privacy Policy. One Sunday at church, however, they read 2 Corinthians 2, where Paul is telling the Corinthians that if someone has done something wrong and you forgive them in Christ, I must forgive them as well. Andy and Kate have learned to forgive their daughter's killer. Add your personal intention to be lifted up in communal prayer. I think about it all the time, she said. It was the right thing to do.. There she heard Tibetans recount horrific stories of losing their loved ones as they were trying to escape the invading Chinese Army, she told me. Anns mother said later, Everything I feel, I can feel because we forgave Conor. Randy Rudder received an MFA in creative writing from the University of Memphis and taught college English and journalism for 15 years. There are times when such a decision, while difficult, is not complicated. No way. I Forgave My Teen Daughter's Killer | Christianity Today Andy and Kate Grosmaire have publicly demonstrated what true forgiveness looks like.. I mean, it opened the door for us..