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Sacramento, CA - Despite a spellbinding murder and cover-up,
almost nobody seemed to care that Herman Stiles stood accused
of shooting, dismembering and burying his pregnant wife Emily
in broad daylight in the parking lot of The Country Buffet
Restaurant.
The throng of reporters in front of the courtroom were there
for a different case -- that of a wealthy playboy real estate
developer accused of kicking his neighbor's dog. Stiles, short
and overweight, drew almost no attention.
Longtime courtroom observers say they can't remember when
a homicide case attracted less interest. "I saw the brutal
crime scene photos of his wife and she was really fat,"
explained veteran Sacramento Bee reporter Linda Greenville
as Stiles was led into court. "She also looked kind of
mean and stupid. Did you hear about the guy who kicked his
dog?"
For seven weeks leading up to his arrest, Herman Stiles was
identified by police as a "person of interest."
Neighbors of the suburban Sacramento community braced for
the type of media crush that accompanied similar cases, including
accused murderer Scott Peterson in nearby Modesto. However,
it never materialized.
"I was worried it would be a media circus, but no one
showed up," said neighbor Jerry Parks, who described
Herman Stiles as "sweaty" and Emily Stiles as "lacking
effervescence" and "even more sweaty."
Bill Bradford, news director at WKFG TV in Sacramento, said
his station planned on profiling the Stiles case as a way
to pad its daily coverage of the Peterson case. However, plans
were dropped when the station couldn't track down any flattering
photographs of the couple or tearful testimonials about how
much Emily will be missed.
"Apparently most of their neighbors hated her guts,"
Bradford added. "She was a real pig."
Helen Schaffer, who lived next door to Emily Stiles, said
the community was briefly saddened by the killing, but since
it happened during the finals of "American Idol,"
they completely forgot about it.
Added Schaffer, "Did you hear about that guy who kicked
his dog?"
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