'Nice, safe' area is still in shock
WEST VALLEY CITY —
The yards are nursery quality. Lawns are trimmed. Sidewalks are swept. Flowerbeds are in bloom. Basketball hoops abound.
And more often than not, you'll find "Neighborhood Watch" and "Protected By" signs near the front door, indicating alarms will sound and a security company will be alerted if there are any unwanted intruders.
By all outward criteria, the neighborhood where a young mother was beaten to death last week, allegedly by her 18-year-old next-door neighbor, qualifies as a nice, safe neighborhood, a quiet, comfortable place to call home.
"No one can believe it happened," said a man who lives five houses due west of the cul de sac where the slaying took place a week ago Thursday night. "All I can tell you is everyone is in shock."
Police have alleged that Martin Vuksinick, a teenager who might have graduated from nearby Cyprus High School this year if not for a drug problem that caused him to drop out of school in January, entered the house of Kimberly Hain, 33, through an unlocked door. They believe larceny was his objective, but when he encountered Kimberly, plans changed. They believe that high on cocaine, he beat her with his fists and a baseball bat.
The unthinkable had happened. Someone everyone thought they knew and could trust, someone who could move freely in their midst, is accused of becoming someone they didn't know, someone capable of actions they could not comprehend.
The danger, it turned out, wasn't outside the neighborhood, it was inside the neighborhood.
The neighbor down the street, requesting his name not be used out of respect for the trauma everyone is going through, could only shake his head.
He and his family knew Martin Vuksinick, he said, knew him as well as you can get to know a neighborhood kid.
"He was a good friend of my son before my son moved to California last winter," said the neighbor. "He was a normal, average kid, a kid I would trust to come in my house."
The man remembered the last time he saw Vuksinick.
"It was about a week ago. He was passing by and stopped to say hi and ask about my son."
He continued, "My wife, after we found out who they said did it, she cried all night. She really liked that boy. I'm really sad for the families. It shouldn't have happened. There was no reason for it to happen."
Recent comments
What I find hard to believe is people don't lock their houses, their...
Thomas | May 31, 2009 at 10:28 p.m.
It's embarassing that many still believe that people get drugged up...
Truth | May 31, 2009 at 12:18 p.m.
- Two American pilots die in Iraq 12:47 a.m.
- Murder suspect is vetran, avid skier 12:47 a.m.
- MLB: Zambrano's mom kidnapped 12:32 a.m.
- Lambert surprisingly tops news 12:25 a.m.
- Philadelphia transit strike ends 12:25 a.m.
- TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd 12:24 a.m.
- 12 high schools ready for 'The Turf' 12:17 a.m.
- RSL unfazed by conference final 12:17 a.m.
- Korver and Miles to be evaluated 12:17 a.m.
- Today on TV 12:13 a.m.
- Gay advocates trek to LDS office
216 - House passes health care bill
201 - Lobo suspended
173 - Cougars crush hapless Cowboys
151 - Utah Jazz fall apart against Kings
129 - RSL rallies to advance
103 - Thousands protest health bill
102 - Provo company innovating engines
101 - Utes pound winless Lobos
89 - BYU cuts Women's Research Institute
88
Why do so many people live so close to refineries in Utah and elsewhere?
NASA's Stardust probe continues to bring new knowledge about the nature...
STOP blaming the Democrats, BLAME THE REPUBLICANS FOR 8 YEARS DOING NOTHING...
The best way to break the law is to become someone who enforces the law.
It's a real shame so many folks have never gotten out and gotten to know the...
It's all talk... you do not have any evidence for your claims. You assume...
Maybe if you could bat .408 in the major leagues, you too would be paid a...
I prefer the “Wizard of Earthsea” quartet by Ursula Le Guin, an...
The bottom line question that no one can possibly answer is; what will be the...
It looks to me like special treatment.
Jazz will have a tough week, with what should be a easy win against the...
I am very excited for this game. As much as I want the Utes to win, it won't...

