News article in Monday's News and Observer
Boy has a lifelong sentence

By RUTH SHEEHAN, Staff Writer

Howard Hunichen walked out of prison a week ago Saturday.
For those of you who didn't live here in 2000, Hunichen was the street preacher who so brutally disciplined 7-month-old Zachary Fortner that the boy suffered permanent brain damage.

Hunichen was convicted of felony child abuse for shaking, stomping and hitting the infant, supposedly to force him to crawl and walk. He told the boy's parents that Zachary was "a crybaby."

The baby suffered two skull fractures, four broken ribs, a broken right wrist and arm, two broken legs, a fractured pelvis, bruises on his abdomen and buttocks and brain-stem injuries from the shaking.


The case was sickening to all of us -- but to no one more than Becky Holt, the assistant district attorney who prosecuted it.

Holt has a daughter close in age to Zachary. She was keenly aware of the future Hunichen had stolen from the boy.

As the trial progressed, Holt watched with pain as her daughter blossomed into a chattering toddler -- and Zachary did not.

At the time of Hunichen's conviction, Holt told me, the most optimistic prognosis for Zachary was that one day he wouldn't recoil at human touch.

That one day he would be able to smile.

"We went for, and got, the maximum sentence [under law at the time]," Holt said. "But there isn't enough time for someone who did what [Hunichen] did to this child."

I tried to track down Hunichen last week without success.

His mother told me she wouldn't help. "Sorry, I'm not giving out anything," she said. "Bye-bye."

I wanted to ask Hunichen whether he'd come to regret what he'd done to Zachary. During the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim in the case.

The parents, who had been living in Hunichen's home -- and in his thrall -- at the time of the injuries, pleaded guilty to felony child abuse for allowing this to happen. They served no time. Instead, they moved back to Tennessee with their two older daughters; the wife was pregnant with another child during the trial.

Zachary was left behind. He remains a ward of the state and will be institutionalized for life.

The boy's lucky break came in the form of Hilltop Home, a Raleigh center for brain-damaged children. By all accounts, it is a wonderful place.

Holt visited him there about a year ago to see how he was doing.

I asked whether this was typical, for her to follow a victim so long after a trial.

No, she said. But in 15 years as a prosecutor, this is one case that has stuck with her.

"It was just one that hit real personally," Holt said. "It pretty much stands alone."

Thanks to the folks at Hilltop, and surgeries on his skull, Zachary seems to be doing better. When he hears the voices of the people who deal with him most closely, he smiles.

Holt explained that it's hard for his brain to make sense of what he's seeing.

So Howard Hunichen has served his time and is walking the streets, while 6-year-old Zachary Fortner remains locked inside a broken mind and body.

From that prison, I'm afraid, there is no release.

Ruth Sheehan can be reached at 829-4828 or ruth.sheehan@newsobserver.com.

I guess that it has been about three weeks since I have been able to sit down and compose an entry in this blog. I have been fairly occupied with things like working the book business, doing my taxes, working overtime, and attempting to get in some relaxation.

I have been able to complete some projects at work, which gives me just a little bit of satisfaction. The satisfaction I get with work as of late, however, isn't a big amount. None the less, I press on, since the job pays a much better wage than before.

I attended my second Johnston County Local Emergency Managment Planning Committee meeting today. It didn't last a long time, but is my civic duty.

Today, I had to buy a new washing machine. We finally called a repair man for our old machine. It was leaking water and we have been putting up with that for a while. We were told that it may take more money to fix it than it would be worth and we were advised that we were better off buying a new one. Fortunately, we had enough money in the checking account to get a basic model at Lowe's. It isn't anything fancy and has a smaller capacity than our last one. Our old machine was purchased used some eight or nine years ago. So, I can't complain. I have the third load running through the new washer now.

It seems that our internet issues have been solved, finally. We were having cable modem problems for weeks. Finally, it looks like the cable company (my employer) found the issue and fixed it. That is a good thing. I rely on that internet connection for work.

Things have been fairly quiet around here. A pastor I know died a few days ago. I haven't heard anything regarding funeral arrangements. I am waiting to hear from a friend of mine about that. Another friend of ours is in the hospital again with a foot infection. It almost caused amputation about a month ago. I visited him in the hospital on Sunday.

That is about all there is. Not much else going on.

40 Reasons to Support Gun Control
This list is soooooo good...and true. I love the sarcasm.

Also, I love this picture.

U.S. geography game
This little geography game is worth playing. I was off by a few miles of exact state placement in "fly over country" at the outset, but did OK. I got 94% and averaged 21 miles off when I made a mistake. It would be good for teaching children about U.S. geography. It sure beats the old "Uncle Gus Show" I watched as a child.

This is coming in America
This could happen. It is self explanatory. Just watch and listen.

Operation of a pistol
For those who have wanted to learn how an automatic pistol operates, I saw a cool animation on a web site. Check it out. Remove some of the parts to see how other parts work together. Neat.

New toy
Mood:  a-ok
For months, I have been looking for a good deal on a target pistol in .22 caliber. I have looked at the Ruger MKII, priced several models, and made a choice as to what I wanted. The Ruger is highly recommended by target shooters. To quote a "bullseye" gunsmith and competitor, "...the Ruger MK-512. The stainless pistols don't give you anything for the money and the 6 7/8" barreled pistol are too heavy with a scope. The balance with either iron sights or a scope is better with the 5 1/2" pistol. More master shooters have started with a Ruger than any other pistol." I found this to be good advice.

I have also looked at the Browning Buckmark, to a lesser degree. The Buckmark has its fans, as well. It is a quality pistol. I have seen some good deals on new ones, and good deals on used ones. Many people have won competitions with Buckmarks, too.

I like the Buckmark better as far as how it feels and the balance of the pistol in my hand. The Ruger, although highly popular, didn't feel as good in my hand but is known as a high quality piece. I had found a great price on the Ruger I wanted and was planning on getting it eventually.

Today, I found a fantastic deal on a "used" Buckmark with a 5.5 inch barrel. It looks to have never been shot. There is NO wear on the pistol at all. It looks like someone bought it but never used it. The original receipt is still in the box, and shows an original purchase date in October of 2003. There looks like a military ID number written in where the address would go on the receipt. So, it may have been purchased by someone at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base who had to relocate or just needed money. Either way, I got an incredibly clean pistol at a great price.

To the gun range I go on Friday or Saturday!

Not much to report
Things have been fairly quiet around here the past few days, for a change.

My friend, Dave Tuttle, is being sent home from the hospital tomorrow. Rather than lay in a hospital bed every day waiting for a slow healing of his foot, he is being discharged. A nurse will be coming by every day to change bandages, clean the wound, and administer medications. Good choice, since waiting in the hospital would be expensive and pointless.

Teresa's grandfather had triple bypass heart surgery today. We haven't heard how it went yet.

In other news, as already reported by another party, this man is getting out of prison in three weeks. Such a shame, considering the life sentence his victim is serving. I wish justice could be true, sometimes.

I came up with a really cool title for this entry, something to do with Tic Tacs, but I thought better of it.

I put the communications on my blog for a reason. We have had problems with family members and gossip. Usually, things are not retold very accurately. For that reason, I use this forum to make communications concerning potentially volitile situations available for reference. That way, there is NO question about what has been said.

The sour individual who attacked Teresa then got upset at me for answering his insolence has emailed me again, whining about my blog. Apparently, facts still get in the way of some people's agenda. Here is the latest:

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You have failed to put your nasty comments on your blog, so I will start my own campaign and blog you buddy.
Yawn

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Of course, anyone who has taken the time to actually read my blog the past few days knows that is not true. However, this person doesn't like facts too well. Here is my response. Hopefully, my last. This is getting REAL old.

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You have already established the fact that facts don't matter to you. None the less, here are a few for you:

1. You wrote "You have failed to put your nasty comments on your blog"
2. You seem to be stupid, selectively illiterate, or a liar. ALL the correspondence is there, including my writings. It is only fair, and I am known for being a fair man. You just didn't read it.
3. I have yet to make "nasty" comments.
4. Oooh, your own blog...cut me to the unbearable quick.
5. I put my stuff on my blog so that there will be NO questions and the rumor mill that runs rather efficiently yet inaccurately at times has nothing that can not be verified or disproven.
6. You have shown yourself to be a bitter, ill-tempered, acerbic misanthrope and I am tired of casting pearls yet getting gored. You will be placed on my "block sender" list, so I will no longer receive emails from you. Quite frankly, I am simply tired of your venom and incorrigibility. To borrow a quote from someone I know, "Hunichen mute on".

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Let me explain that last sentence. I know someone who reads my blog who wanted to "goad" the "man" into an exchange in order to attempt to have sufficient opportunity to reach him. That may be well intentioned, but futile. My advice to him was to drop it. He would have better success beating his head against a brick wall and would be better served to stop casting his pearls before swine. I was forwarded the message he wrote back to the creep, which included the mute part.

Morte d'Icy
Our cat, Icy, died a few minutes ago, at about 11:58 AM. I am putting up a picture, as promised. We will be burying her in a few minutes. She will be missed.