Wendy Hile or Mark Goldsberry ring a bell to anyone?

[George]

Just wanted to know if anybody remembered the Wendy Hile and Mark Goldsberry incident that happened back in 1974.

[Cindy]

George wrote:

Just wanted to know if anybody remembered the Wendy Hile and Mark Goldsberry incident that happened back in 1974.

Wendy Hile was my cousin. I was 10 yrs. old when she was murdered.

[Cindy]

George,
I am very interested in what you have to say about the murder of Wendy Hile.

[Northeast student 1974]

George wrote:

Just wanted to know if anybody remembered the Wendy Hile and Mark Goldsberry incident that happened back in 1974.

Yes, I remember it well. I was a senior at Northeast at the time. Mark was a junior and Wendy was in 10th grade. Several days had passed that Wendy was missing. They questioned every student who ever came into contact with her. Mark lived on North 63rd street just a few blocks south of Northeast. Then one day a neighbor recalled seeing Wendy get into Marks car in the morning on the way to school. It was pouring rain and he offered her a ride to school. She never made it. They found her body in parts on his grandparents farm property out by Hastings, NE.

[Chrissy]

Has anyone been able to find any news articles on this? I forgot all about it and now would like to read more!

[Sue]

Wendy was a good friend of mine. She and I went to Robin Mickle Junior High, and she went to Northeast HS,and I went to SE High School. Yes, Mark murdered her and left her in a field near Table Rock, NE. Mark apparently served some time in prison, but he is now a big wig in the Administrative department at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, because I took some classes there, and he signed my transcript. Sad, huh?

[Sue]

George, Mark dumped her body near Table Rock, which is south of Omaha, rather than Hastings.
Mark supposedly suffered a head injury in football, and it was said that he had some psych problems after that time. I have a good friend who was on the NE football team and remembers when the cops came to football practice, and took him away for questioning.
I am now 51 years old, and I remember hearing the news on the radio right before I headed to school. It was one of the worst days of my life...cried all day at shool, and walked around in a fog all day, and probably all week long. The Lincoln Journal carried all the information on it, but I tried to Google it and couldn't find anything on it. Maybe too long ago!?

[Michael]

Mark and I grew up together in NE Lincoln -- parents were close friends, went to the same church and even were baptized together. I moved away from Lincoln a couple of years before the murder, and we lost touch. Sue mentioned that he did "some time" in prison -- it was 14 years,plus 5 more on parole, longer than he'd been alive at the time of the murder. Since release, he has married, raised a family and become respected in his profession. I've only seen him once in all that time, but I do believe he's paid his debt and become a productive citizen.

[Chris]

Michael,Wendy was my 14 year old cousin at the time she was brutally raped and murdered.Mark took her from us and paid with less days in prison than Wendy spent days on this earth alive.Its wonderful for him that he could put his past behind him,get married ,have children,have a career,but his "debt" is in no way paid.Wendy never had a chance to have what hes enjoyed and never will.MY aunt and uncle never saw her graduate,never danced at her wedding,and never held her children, they never even got a last chance to tell Wendy goodbye and that they loved her.How can spending time in prison ever pay back all that he has taken, it cant.

[Michael]

Chris wrote:

How can spending time in prison ever pay back all that he has taken, it cant.

No individual or institution can replace that which was lost, and I'm sorry if it sounded like I was suggesting that was the case. A lifetime in prison or even death could not restore those things to your family. I meant rather that once he became an adult, Mark chose to use his time in repentance and becoming a better person -- which many (maybe most) in his position do not. Rather than remaining a burden on society, he has become a taxpaying citizen who helps others realize their potential in college. I would never suggest this excuses what he did, only that he's made an effort to atone.

[Sue]

well, I am glad that he did pay his debt to society and has become a respected citizen, rather than sponge off society and not ever get rehabilitated. However, I can certainly understand how Wendy's cousin is hurt and lost her cousin, in a cruel and inhumane murder. I guess we all have to come to terms with what happened, and what we will do with it. To forgive or not to forgive... that is all our choices. I hope that Chris can forgive him sometime, as it will release her from the hatred that can destroy her. Wendy was a loving and kind person, and I will always have a warm spot in my heart for her.