"Fair Winds and Following Seas"  Daniel Goes to Space via Celestis' memorial services
 

There is a certain unreality in facing the fact that my brother is dead.  There isn't so much a residue of guilt, as I have heard others talk about, but just a token of mortality and a certainty that such premature and violent death was undeserved.  The warm fuzzy write-up is at the Celestis site.  This is my page, and I do not feel warm and fuzzy about murder, and I rarely thought warm and fuzzy thoughts about Daniel.  This is about remembrance and thought about the significance of a life, not just a eulogy.

For truth to be told, my brother Daniel lived for the moment from the time he was about 4 years old until his death.  His way of doing things did not match how I thought a brother should act, and he certainly had no compunctions of making use of the things that I accumulated for his own projects.  On the other hand, Daniel often put in effort to do something especially nice or thoughtful for family members.  This was a habit that he took into the world beyond our family, as many of those who knew and worked with Daniel took care to tell us.

Daniel in middle school

Daniel in the UK

Daniel and JoAnn Robin, his niece

Daniel at a family dinner

Daniel and a training group

Daniel on leave

Daniel, Diane, Wesley, and Sam, Christmas 1995

Willard, Margaret, and Daniel, Christmas 1995

My brother, Daniel Neil Elsberry, disappeared on Monday, November 18, 1996 from his apartment in Norfolk, Virginia. His apartment had been stripped of electronic equipment, including video, audio, and computer gear. His car was found parked in a bank parking lot, empty. He had missed work without notification (not in character), and also a medical appointment.

Daniel's body was found by deer hunters in a field in North Carolina. He had been shot once in the face with a shotgun.

Daniel was 30 years old, thin, 6'5" tall, and did computer configuration and consultation for PCs.

A suspect was arrested and charged with Daniel's abduction and murder, a Gene Phillip Morris, who was held without bail pending his trial.  Various items that Daniel had owned were collected from pawn shops, where Morris had pawned them.

There are many discrepancies between what we were told and what the evidence seemed say.  We know, for instance, that Daniel's downstairs neighbor utilized Daniel's computer equipment and Internet account for personal email, yet maintained that no equipment from Daniel's apartment had disappeared prior to 961118, while the last login on Daniel's account was 961112.  Daniel checked his email regularly.

Morris entered into a plea bargain, receiving 2.5 years prison time for manslaughter. The prosecutors advised us that taking Morris to trial for 1st-degree murder, as we would have preferred, was risky. Morris's ex-girlfriend had told authorities that Morris had bragged about killing someone, and another informant had given them details related to him by Morris, such as the fate of the shotgun used to kill Daniel (Morris ground it into filings). Without the murder weapon and further circumstantial evidence of Morris's involvement, and the fact that Morris was able to retain effective counsel, meant that a jury might be persuaded that there was reasonable doubt of his guilt at the level of 1st-degree murder. Therefore, we reluctantly agreed with the prosecutors in the case to pursue the plea bargain, which meant that Morris would definitely have a felony conviction on his record, and that there would be no chance that he would completely evade punishment. It's been many more years now. Morris was also HIV positive; his health status made it more likely that a definite term in prison would be a significant chunk of his remaining life. I have not heard since then of what Morris may be up to, or whether he has since succumbed to AIDS. Anyone with knowledge on that score is encouraged to email me.

Email me with information, suggestions, or advice on coping.