decide if she ever reads it . It ’ s your call .”
She took the letter and thanked Ruben . She also asked about Corey ’ s family and sent her sympathies . Wilton is a small town .
Ruben drove us back to the Braun house so I could get my pickup . This time , he parked on the street . He lit up another Marlboro Light . We sat in the car for a while , and he said , “ We need to talk . None of this will be in my report , and I don ’ t ever want to see it in any report , and I ’ m not talking about Bob Mason .”
I got his point .
“ Just so you know , this morning you weren ’ t just another lawyer . This morning , we became friends . See you around .”
That was the end of One Morning in Wilton . But that was not the end of this story .
It would continue four days later . The funeral was at a country Lutheran church tucked inside a grove of prairie cottonwoods . The church sits alone alongside Highway 36 . Bethany Lutheran Church . Founded in 1883 , six years before North Dakota became a state . Swedish immigrants came to farm and settled mostly over the Burleigh County line , Jared and Carrie ’ s people . The Ukrainians arrived later and worked the mines . Corey ’ s people .
The church is quite large , with dozens of pews reaching front to back . The only thing the Swedes were optimistic about was the size of the church . The families of Jared , Corey , and Carrie all belonged to Bethany Lutheran Church .
Two months earlier , Jared ’ s funeral was held on a blistering hot day . The church was packed . As is the custom at Bethany Lutheran , after the service , lunch was served in the church basement . Scalloped potatoes , baked ham , coffee , lemonade , 24 different varieties ( it seemed ) of Jell-0 .
Several months later , a second funeral was held at Bethany Lutheran Church , same pastor , same service . Corey ’ s funeral . I sat in the second pew , behind the family . The church was not packed . The pews behind me were empty except for two people . Seated way in the back was Carrie . Sitting beside her was Ruben Two Hearts .
Death by suicide makes the survivors uncomfortable . Death by suicide of someone charged with a terrible crime makes people more than uncomfortable . It makes them invisible . The collective grief of a small town is not shared at these funeral services . The Braun family grieved alone .
Pastor Schonauer ’ s words of comfort competed with the racing engine , the squealing brakes and the honking horn of a cherry-red Dodge Ram Charger pickup racing back and forth in front of the church , a large Confederate flag billowing from the truck box . Jared ’ s father was now part of the funeral service .
There were no pallbearers at Corey ’ s funeral . No one volunteered . The family was too traumatized to ask . The funeral director from Bismarck and his staff wheeled the casket in . They wheeled the casket out . There was no graveside service that morning . The burial was postponed for another day . We , the few who came that morning , left the church and drove into town for lunch at Grandma ’ s .
Scalloped potatoes , baked ham , coffee , lemonade , four different kinds of Jell-O . Carrie did not join us . Deputy Two Hearts stopped to convey his condolences to the family . He did not stay for lunch .
Jared and Corey are both buried in the cemetery at Bethany Lutheran Church . Corey ’ s Grandma still attends the weekly church service . Jared ’ s family , however , has not yet found the path to forgiveness . The Schmitzs left the church shortly thereafter . They never spoke to Pastor Schonauer again .
Ruben Two Hearts retired from the McLean County Sheriff ’ s office . He rodeoed part-time , mostly team roping . The Marlboro Lights finally got to him . He passed away several years ago .
I obtained a copy of the official closed file from the McLean County Sheriff ’ s Department . Ruben ’ s report was in the file . There was nothing in the report about That Morning in Wilton . There was no copy of Corey ’ s letter . Ruben never copied the letter .
Carrie is now married and the mother of four . She lives and works out of state . She works in law enforcement . She read the letter . She still has it .
At Bethany Lutheran Church , Pastor Schonauer , who served his congregation for more than 30 years , has retired . He still vividly recalls the two funerals . The front door at Bethany Lutheran is never locked . It remains open to all who wish to come in out of the cold .
Tom Dickson is a trial lawyer from Bismarck , N . D . For more than 40 years , he has tried cases all over the state of North Dakota . This story is about a case that did not go to trial .
Parts I and II of this article originally appeared in full in the Humanities North Dakota magazine and have been reprinted with permission .
Except for the empty church , it was a typical Lutheran service . Two hymns , a reading of the obituary , a brief eulogy , and a closing announcement that lunch would not be served in the church basement . The Lutheran ladies had prepared no lunch for Corey ’ s funeral .
As depressing as it was , it actually got worse . When it rains , it pours . Someone decided to not allow the family to grieve alone . Jared Schmitz ’ s father crashed the funeral . Throughout the brief service ,
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