Please help me bring my brother and his kids home to Australia, where they can be safe and stable for the first time in their life.
Our family is thankful to the 60-Minutes team for squeezing so many facts into such a short time.
The Short Version (Long Version at Bottom of Page):
#FathersFight
After surviving an attempted murder by his ex-wife and enduring an 8-year legal battle for custody of his kids, my brother, Michael Roberts, finally got primary care in July 2011; a few minutes before their mother, Tracey Richter, was arrested for first degree murder.
My brother and both kids are Australian citizens. Their mum Tracey Richter was convicted by an Iowa jury on 7th November 2011 and sentenced to life in prison without any possibility of parole. Incredibly, Judge Nancy Whittenburg recently ruled that they cannot leave the USA, and that Michael has to repeatedly transport the kids thousands of miles accross the country to visit Tracey in jail.
Michael hasn't been able to see his new wife and daughter since January 2012.
In her ruling, Judge Nancy Whittenburg found that Tracey is:
"By all accounts, Tracey was an excellent primary care parent to her own children"
"An excellent mother"? She executed a man while the kids were just about 15 feet away and poisoned their little minds against their dad for years. The Judge seems to have ignored this, and this, and the testimony of about ten other witnesses.
Judge Whittenburg ruled that Michael created a hardship by moving the kids away from Iowa after the arrest and should therefore bear the burden and cost of delivering them to prison....
But...
- Michael hasn't lived in Iowa since 2004
-
Michael didn't pull the trigger (11 times)
- Michael was falsely accused by the killer numerous times and even jailed over-night. Law enforcement, frustrated with the judges, urged Michael leave the area for his health and the children's "until she gets caught".
- Tracey is a three time convicted felon:
Please Help...
Our family needs US$9,200.00 so Michael attorney (and the kids' attorney) can:
- Appeal Judge Whittenburg's ruling
- Obtain a stay of execution from the Supreme Court against the kids' forced visits to prison (they do not want to, and are in fact terrified at the prospect).
- Obtain permission to return to Australia
- Obtain restraining orders against two horrible men who are working with the killer's family to accuse Michael of all sorts of horrible crimes in an Internet smear campaign.
Any funds raised beyond the legal costs would really help them land on their feet and start their "new normal life" after all these years of chaos and heartache.
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And now for the Long Version...
And now for the Long Version...
My brother, nephew, and niece are imprisoned in USA, as a ridiculous court ruling won't let them come home to start rebuilding their lives.
Please help appeal the ruling of Judge Nancy Whittenburg’s recent order prohibiting my brother and his children from leaving the USA. Michael, on behalf of his children, is filing a Stay of Execution against a court order forcing him to deliver his children, to a prison thousands of miles away. Judge Whittenburg is forcing the kids to make multiple visits to their estranged mother who is serving a life sentence without any possibility of parole for 1st degree murder. Any funds raised in excess of the legal fees will be used to help the Roberts family with debt relief and start a new life in Australia, putting 15 tumultuous years behind them.
On December 13, 2001, Tracey Richter murdered a young man in cold blood when she shot him nine times, including three times in the back of the head. She was hailed a hero initially claiming self-defense. She fired a total of 11 bullets from two guns while the children that she and Michael shared were only 15 feet away.
In March 2004, Tracey attempted to murder Michael by drugging him and placing a plastic bag over his head while he was semiconscious. He survived, and immediately filed for divorce. It has been all downhill from there, Tracey was never charged for this attempted murder.
In 2005, after more than 100 hours of research, a licensed child welfare counselor issued a stern warning to authorities and recommended that Michael be granted sole legal custody of the children. At the divorce trial numerous character witnesses affirmed this expert’s findings. Incredulously, year after year and trial after trial, this was never ordered.
In July 2011 Tracey Richter was arrested for the 2001 murder. The senior Judge for the district then issued an order, which finally removed the Judge from this child custody case. Judge Nancy Whittenburg was then specifically assigned to the case.
On November 7th 2011, almost 10 years after Tracey killed Dustin Wehde, a jury of twelve came to a unanimous decision, and found her guilty of murder in the first degree. She was sentenced to life imprisonment for the term of her natural life, without the possibility of parole.
With the appointment of a new judge and a life sentence for his ex-wife, it seemed that Michael's battles were over, but this could not be further from the truth. On September 5, 2012, one year and two months after Michael returned to America to collect his children a few moments before their mother's arrest, Judge Whittenburg ordered that Michael cannot take the children, who are dual citizens, home to Australia to be with their family including their only cousins. To make it even worse, the judge has ordered Michael to travel thousands of miles with the children at his expense to allow them to visit Tracey in prison on three separate occasions.
After Tracey's murder conviction in 2011, Michael asked Judge Whittenburg to write off outstanding child support amounting to almost $40,000.00 against future child support Tracey would have otherwise had to pay had she not been in jail. Judge Whittenburg denied the request and ordered that Tracey should pay Michael only $20 per month until the children are grown, and Michael still had to pay the prisoner the outstanding $40,000.
Michael now faces another contempt of court hearing and jail penalty if previous rulings are any indication of what is to come. If we can fund the appeal and stay of execution, this prospect will be mitigated.
Full details on this heartbreaking, twisted story can be found anywhere on the web (see above links). This page is to raise enough funds to try to overturn this unjust ruling. My 14 year old nephew and 12 year old niece are the forgotten innocent victims of this tragic story. They deserve to be given a chance to rebuild a life that this time has balance, consistency and most importantly, to be reunited with their family and their only cousins and we who all live here in Australia.
Aunty Leisa