Editorial

UNIQUE CASE OF INNOCENSE UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY

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The continued employment at a sheltered workshop of a woman who faces a murder charge in connection with the 1993 shooting death of her husband surprised most people but not those who work with her and know her.

Fellow workers at VIP Industries Sheltered Workshop at Fruitland, Mo., and parents of some handicapped workers there speak highly of Connie Pair, who is charged in connection with the death of Rocky Ice in Poplar Bluff., Mo. The VIP Industries board felt the same: They kept her on after she managed to post a reduced bond to get out of jail pending her trial.

(Not all parents agree with the board's decision. See the letter to the editor elsewhere on this page.)

Pair had been charged before with her husband's death, but a judge dismissed the charges for lack of evidence. The attorney general's office brought the latest charges after reopening the investigation earlier this year.

Given the nature of Pair's work -- she is a supervisor of handicapped workers -- her case appears to be an extreme test of the concept that everyone is assumed innocent until proven guilty.