|
Des Moines
Register
Family,
friends gather to mourn teen's death
Matthew Stegman's
body was found in Woodland Cemetery on Sept. 3
By JEFF ECKHOFF
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
September 16, 2006
 Rumpled,
black-clad young adults joined sobbing parents in pressed suits
and dresses Friday to fondly remember a slain young homeless man
and to ask a silent question: "Why?"
"It doesn't seem like it could have happened," the Rev. Rick
Biedermann told more than 150 people assembled in Ankeny's Holy
Trinity Lutheran Church to mourn Matthew Stegman, an 18-year-old
found dead two weeks ago in a Des Moines cemetery. "It seems
like a bad dream, and we wish that someone would come to wake us
up.
"Personally, I do not believe that this was God's will. ...
There is evil in this world, and sometimes it rears its ugly
head," Biedermann said.
Stegman's body was found early Sept. 3 by a couple walking
through Woodland Cemetery. Des Moines police have charged five
of Stegman's roommates and friends with first-degree murder for
being part of a plot to lure him to his death.
At least two of the accused - Sheri Fisher, 22, and Terry "Trenchcoat"
Williams, 22 - have pages on myspace.com that mention Satan, the
Wiccan religion and anti-Christian themes.
Reported friends of the group have described talk of sacrificing
Stegman as part of a "Lucifarious" ritual. But others connected
with the accused killers, part of a loose community of homeless
young people in Des Moines, say Stegman was targeted only due to
an incorrect belief that he had an inappropriate relationship
with a 13-year-old girl.
"They were just going to take him up there and scare him," said
Matt "Congo" Witt. "Really, they wasn't even supposed to hurt
him. They were just supposed to take him up there and slap him a
couple of times. That was it."
Witt acknowledged that most of the accused killers are involved
in Wiccan and other "alternative religions," but insisted that
Stegman's death had nothing to do with any Satanic ceremony. "We
don't even do animal sacrifices, let alone humans," he said.
Witt said it was he who introduced Stegman to Fisher and the
others, including Andrew Johnson, 22; Robert "Wolf" Myers, 24;
and Robert "Teardrop" Johnson, 27.
Stegman, one of six children born to Ankeny parents who have not
responded to requests for an interview, appears to have spent at
least 16 of the past 24 months living in a Johnston facility run
by Youth Homes of Mid-America.
Bob MacKenzie, development director for Youth Homes, refused to
discuss Stegman due to confidentiality concerns. MacKenzie said
teens generally are referred to his agency through chronic
behavioral or other problems and that 84 percent of the clients
have mental health issues.
"These are kids that have severe problems, but they're not
dangerous," MacKenzie said.
Stegman attended Johnston High School from the fall of 2004
through March 2006, school officials said, then moved briefly to
Creston.
By summer, Stegman was back in Des Moines and living in his car.
Roughly two months ago, after the car was towed, Stegman moved
into an apartment at 1519 Grand Ave. shared by the people now
accused of killing him.
According to Witt and others, Stegman had been working at a Des
Moines restaurant and recently began paying Fisher $150 per
month to let him sleep there.
The Rev. Biedermann, referencing the biblical parable of the
prodigal son, said Friday that Stegman also had recently
re-enrolled in school and "was coming back, I believe.
"And, as Matt was coming back, I believe the Heavenly Father was
waiting with open arms."
|
|
