Farewell, Harvey Family (NEW THOUGHTS IN RED)

This is gonna take me a while. I may add to it on and off.

I fall asleep OK, and I get up OK, but each day around 3pm I start to lose it. I just get so sad, and I can feel my brain trying to shut down. Today I was out on an errand, and suddenly thought about all those guys getting up and singing at the memorial, and I just started sobbing in my car. They were so strong, I just don't know how they did it. Stephen's voice was so clear. And I feel so bad, and then I think how really bad they must feel - they've all been living in Richmond for all these years, spending time with the Harveys... it makes me weep and weep.

Here's a lovely comment posted to this blog:

Hey there, I really enjoyed reading your post. Got the link from the blog, "Buttermilk and Molasses". I enjoyed your photos as well. I did not go to the Bryd Theatre b/c I did not know the Harveys and wanted to leave space for those who did. I do know several people who knew the Harveys very well. Such beautiful spirits they were. An amazing family. I cried for them and I almost cried reading you blog. My stomach hurt all last week because of this heinous crime. The thing that has helped me deal with my feelings is being in the here and now and not thinking about the crime, because that vision is horrendous. I imagine them in peace now and if they are happy that is what really matters. I also imagine how they have affected people on a global level. That are true inspiration for SO many people that will read their story and be inspired to change and become better people. The Richmond community will come together in amazing ways. We will erect a beautiful park in their memory. I will take my children there to play and make music there. Such a huge loss to humanity. Time will help heal the pain as will really trying to be in the present moment and doing beautiful things every day.

When I lived in LA in the lates 70's, early 80's, I managed bands, booked bands, lived with bands, etc. My friend Stephen, a member of The Long Ryders, asked me, another friend named Gary Stewart, who did A&R at Rhino Records, and from what I remember, a whole bunch of other folks, to listen to a tape by his friend Bryan Harvey. It turned out, Bryan told me later, that Gary and I were the only people that talked to him.

So, when Bryan formed his band House of Freaks with Johnny Hott, I became their manager, with my partner John Silva, and Gary signed them to Rhino. What a great part of our lives that was. Sometimes you're lucky and you meet folks who'll be your friends for life, no matter how things change, or where people go.

Johnny and Bryan moved back to Richmond, Virginia, John and I stopped working together, and the band eventually left Rhino, but we all stayed friends, along with all the other friends acquired along the way. Johnny, Bryan, Stephen, Armistead Wellford, formery of Love Tractor,

and Steve Wynn, formerly of The Dream Syndicate, formed Gutterball, and I'd see them (rarely) when they came through New York, where I'd moved to in the 90's.

Just a couple of weeks ago, a comment appeared attached to one of my blogs ... 'is this the famous Spock who used to manage House of Freaks?"... signed by a Bryan. For some computer-related reason, I couldn't link back to the poster, but I was sure it was Bryan Harvey, and I thought, 'gee, I should call those guys'. I never did.

This past week, Stephen and Johnny told me that it was Bryan, and he had found my blog, and said to them, 'hey, look at Spock - she's looking pretty good!' Classic Bryan. And, it turns out he'd had a couple of bands going in Richmond these past few years, one called NRG Krysis, a soul music kinda band, as well as another band with Stephen, where he dressed up, wig, white suit and all, as 'Fat Elvis'.

So, where does all this lead? As I said in my last post, Bryan and his wife Kathryn, and his daughters, 9-year-old Stella and 4-year-old Ruby, were all murdered on New Year's Day.

I did take the dog and drive to Richmond, as I also said, and I was there from Thursday night through Sunday afternoon. I cried on and off all the way down on the 10 hour drive, and I cried on and off with all our friends while I was there, and I cried on and off all the way back home.

And, I'm crying now.

You can't imagine what it's like, in the middle of a conversation, to see your friends suddenly start to cry... and you know it's because that at that moment, they've lost the battle to try and not think about what happened, or how much they've lost, or how incredibly sad they are. It is absolutely heartbreaking.

This is totally, utterly, fucking senseless; a random robbery turned murder. The police couldn't seem to find the murderers, and they even started intimidating some of the friends of the Harveys. But, when the police in Philadelphia pulled over a car a couple of days later, they found it was stolen from Richmond and filled with stolen stuff - because - THEY DID IT AGAIN. These 2 guys, one of whom had been released from jail in November after 10 years in for armed robbery, killed the Harveys, and then within a week, killed ANOTHER FAMILY - one which included the woman who it seems had been driving the car the 2 killers were in when they murdered the Harveys.

We all found this out Saturday night,

while a whole bunch of Harvey friends were gathered to remember the family. Folks were there from Nashville, North Carolina, New York, Los Angeles, and I don't know where else.

We had all been at a memorial service Saturday afternoon, along with 1400 other people, where one friend had put together a

wonderful slide show of the family - sweet and funny-

and 13 other friends performed 'All Things Must Pass'. I think they barely made it onstage; needless to say, it was very hard for them to do, and they did it well. The theatre

as filled with pictures, candles, wonderful arty things so reminiscent of Kathryn, and beautiful flowers. That's what all these images are from.

It seemed to really help us, although it was also pretty difficult to deal with. I had been afraid to look at the photos, but Mugsy convinced me it was a good idea, and she was right. I stood in front of the walls of photos, tears streaming down my cheeks, but there were so many wonderful images of this family that I'm glad I didn't skip the pictures.

The day before, Friday, there was a service with the immediate family, but I'm so bad at funeral homes that I wouldn't have even made it out of the car, so my friend Mugsy (and her dog Annie), who live across the street from Johnny, and put me up with open arms (we had never met before Friday) took me with her to the Harvey house, where we neatened up and relit the many, many candles placed out in front of the house.

We went back Saturday night to make sure they were still lit, too.

I want to know why those guys did what they did. I know it won't make any difference,

but I still want to know.

I thought about that today, though, and the day before, and the day before that, and just started to cry again, because no matter what we know or don't know, they're still gone. This just fucking sucks.

My Mom, totally against capital punishment, says she thinks she just may be changing her mind.

Time will heal, they say, but this may take more time than there is out there.

Here's some other stuff I found:

A very cool site with pixs of mostly House of Freaks, along with a few other bands Bryan was part of:

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/1091599

From Richmond: News articles today focused on friends' memories of Bryan Harvey and his family, and hopes for healing in the wake of the family's murder.

[W]hile the investigation continues, close friends of the Harvey family say they are hoping to establish a permanent memorial to the musician who was such a prominent figure on the Richmond music scene and his family. Longtime friend and fellow musician Bob Rupe, who lives less than two blocks from the Harvey house, said that members of the community are hoping to raise money to buy the Harvey house where the makeshift memorial now stands. "We're going to buy that property and we're going to level that house and we're going to put a park there," Rupe told Crime Library. "The only thing we want to do is put their walnut tree back... they loved that walnut tree... and they lost it last year when (Hurricane) Isabelle came through. We're going to give it to them." It is, Rupe says, absolutely essential that the house, now a monument to murder, be replaced with a memorial to the virtues of the people who lived and died there. "I know that it would break their hearts to think that house was a monument to their misery and suffering... we want it to go away, not for us, we want it to go away for them," Rupe said. "That piece of property needs to be what it was before. There need to be children there, there needs to be music there, and there needs to be peace there."

Suspects in Richmond Slayings Sent to Va.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 10, 2006
Filed at 8:41 a.m. ET

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Two men arrested in Philadelphia in the killings of seven people were sent back to Virginia on Monday to face murder conspiracy charges.
Ray Joseph Dandridge and Ricky Gray, both 28, were captured Saturday on charges stemming from the killings of members of two Richmond, Va., families.
Police said they found evidence linking Dandridge and Gray to all seven murders. The victims, including two children, were all bound with tape and their throats were cut, police spokeswoman Cynthia Price said.
Investigators have said they also are looking into whether Dandridge and Gray were involved in other cases, including the death of Gray's wife last year in Pennsylvania.
At a hearing Monday, Dandridge and Gray waived their right to fight extradition to Virginia.
The bodies of Percyell Tucker, 55; his wife, Mary Tucker, 47; and her daughter, Ashley Baskerville, 21, were found in their ransacked Richmond home Friday.
The murders in the Tucker home came less than a week after the slayings of rock musician Bryan Harvey and his family. Harvey, 49; his wife, Kathryn, 39, a businesswoman; and their daughters, Stella, 9, and Ruby, 4, were found with their throats cut on New Year's Day. Their house in Richmond was set on fire.
Police have said the motive in both cases appears to be robbery.
Police in southwestern Pennsylvania said Monday they were investigating whether the men had any connection to the death of Gray's wife, Treva, whose body was found Nov. 5 near Washington, Pa., 10 days after Dandridge was released from a Virginia prison. He had served a 10-year-sentence for robbery, prison records show.
Gray has always been a ''person of interest'' in the death of his wife, said John Haddad, police chief in Washington, Pa. He was released from prison in 2002 after serving six years for robbery, firearms possession and cocaine possession.
Bryan Harvey was a guitarist and singer who played in several rock bands, most notably the duo House of Freaks, which released five albums from 1987 to 1995. His wife was co-owner of a toy and novelty shop near downtown Richmond and was the half sister of actor Steven Culp, who has appeared in ''Desperate Housewives,'' ''The West Wing'' and other series.
Tucker was a forklift operator and his wife worked at a nearby cleaners.

Here's some more info:

From ABC 6 Action News in Philadelphia:

35-year-old Treva Gray (this would be one of the killers' wife) was found beaten and strangled in a wooded area on November 5th. The killing happened just days after Dandridge finished serving a 10-year prison sentence for robbery and went to live with the couple in their Pittsburgh area home.

Police tell Action News that once Ray Dandridge got to police headquarters Saturday, he quickly admitted he and Gray murdered the two families in Richmond. Police in the city of Washington are hoping he also gave up the details on the murder of Gray's wife. That's not all: we've learned that police in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland are also reviewing unsolved cases. They want to know if the pair was responsible for other brutal home invasions and at least one attempted murder. Ashley Baskerville, who had been living at her mother's home after being recently released from jail, knew these guys.

BY JIM NOLAN AND MARK HOLMBERGTIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITERS

Ashley Baskerville, one of the seven victims bound and slain in South Richmond last week, was more than a casual acquaintance of the two men charged in the killings. The 21-year-old Baskerville, who was killed Friday with her mother and stepfather in their East Broad Rock Road home, was an accomplice in at least one of the crimes that police say were committed by Ray Joseph Dandridge and Ricky Gevon "Cooley" Gray, sources close to the investigation say. (...)Police are investigating witness statements that Baskerville was with Dandridge and Gray when they drove a van into the Woodland Heights neighborhood on the morning of New Year's Day looking for a house to enter for a home-invasion robbery. According to the witness statements, Baskerville sat in the van that morning, police said, Dandridge and Gray entered the Harvey home at 812 W. 31st St. with the intention of robbing the occupants. Just two days later, Baskerville also accompanied Dandridge and Gray to a home invasion in Chesterfield County, witnesses told police.