On leaping from burning windows
David Page writes about his friend, the late Andrew Bourne (Photo: Page)
A preliminary grappling with aspects of the demise of Andy Bourne
Late in the morning of January 24, 2012, a month and a day before his 47th birthday, Dr. Andrew Bourne—Andy, as he was generally known among friends and family and throughout the community he’d served without fail since 2006—shifted his old forest service Suburban into four wheel drive and boated up the unplowed section of Hot Creek Road to the closure. The sky was brilliant blue. Across the caldera, as far as he could see in every direction, the landscape was dressed in bright, new-fallen snow. He parked beside the gate, reached for his backpack of medical supplies, and stepped out into boot-deep snow. He left the keys in the vehicle.
Under other circumstances Andy would’ve been cutting a steep skin track up the Crest on his AT skis, with his dog, Oreo, and maybe a friend or two scrambling along behind him, or else queued up at Chair 9, as in fact many of us were at that very moment, caught up in the gleeful frenzy of the season’s first bluebird powder day, biding time for the rope-drop and a second shot at the Dragon’s Tail. As it was, such options were not available to him. He had a GPS tracking device strapped to his ankle that precluded fitting his leg into an alpine ski boot. And in any case was not the least bit prepared to venture out in public, nor even to run the risk that he might, even in the woods up in the Lakes Basin, run into someone—anyone—who might recognize him. The shame was too great. Not over what he’d actually done (or not done, as it happens), not even what he’d officially been charged with (see below), but what he’d been accused of. In the interrogation room. In the press. In the online hate-comment threads. And in the preliminary statement made by Santa Barbara Deputy District Attorney Mary Barron, who, based on a variety of misconstructions and with only faint allusion to actual hard evidence, threatened that weightier charges were forthcoming and as such argued for setting bail at well over ten times the relevant scheduled amount. While he—the defendant—sat shackled in prison orange. Unable to speak for himself.
And there was also, more fundamentally, the simple, incontrovertible, deeply embarrassing fact of a life lost-control-of. Which state of affairs, in any man, no matter what his responsibility in it (or lack thereof), no matter how much love and support he may have from those around him, will generate an overwhelming urge to cast his eyes downward, if not just to crawl off into the woods and die—most especially in a man like Andy, whose sense of self had for a lifetime been predicated on an ability to fix problems of even the messiest, most life-threatening variety.
In fact, earlier that morning, despite his impulse to keep to the house, he’d been persuaded by his friend and colleague Mike Karch to risk a quick pre-dawn skate ski above Tamarack. It had proved a welcome, if fleeting, respite from the general feeling of walls inexorably closing in upon him—a feeling amply salted by the daily parade of glances upward from the school parking lot toward his kitchen window bearing what from his deepening isolation he could only see as pity or hatred (though we who were down there know it was much more complicated than that). The air was clear and crisp. He had again that feeling of flying over the surface of the snow. Once again he reassured his friend Mike that there was no need for concern; that he would make it through. And then suddenly, out of the gloom, there emerged another colleague from the hospital who, with only the best intentions, put one arm around Andy, still attached to a ski pole, and said something along the lines of “I want you to know no one really believes the things they’re saying about you.”
“Make no mistake about people who leap from burning windows,” wrote virtuoso novelist David Foster Wallace of those who find themselves compelled to take their own lives. “Their terror of falling from a great height is still just as great as it would be for you or me standing speculatively at the same window just checking out the view; i.e. the fear of falling remains a constant.” In other words, it’s not that they want to fall. It’s that the fear of being burned alive is suddenly a greater fear—if only slightly greater—than that of hitting the pavement below. “And yet nobody down on the sidewalk, looking up and yelling ‘Don’t!’ and ‘Hang on!’ can understand
the jump. Not really. You’d have to have personally been trapped and felt flames to really understand a terror way beyond falling.” Eventually, more than a decade later and also at the age of 46, Wallace himself would leap from the metaphorical burning window, hanging himself from a patio roof rafter behind his house in Southern California.
You will likely remember what you first heard or read about the arrests of Andy Bourne and Joe Walker. It came the night of January 4—or perhaps, if you were lucky enough to have been granted one last night’s decent rest, the following morning. The news, such as it was, was apparently based on inside dope leaked to Santa Barbara’s Channel 3 by the local police department. It ran under the provocative title, Two Part Time SB Men Accused Of Raping 14-year-old Girl. It began like this: “KEY news has learned two men who split their time between Santa Barbara and Mammoth are under arrest for allegedly raping a 14-year-old Santa Barbara area girl repeatedly for more than a year.” From there it spread to various local and regional news outlets. And thence from ear to ear until everyone knew what there was to be known—the “allegedly” part notwithstanding—and could thus begin to judge or question accordingly. The title of the original KEYT bit would thereafter be “updated” to Two Men Accused of Sex Crimes in Connection With 14-year-old Girl. The lead, with no official retraction, would quietly become: “Santa Barbara Police have arrested two Mammoth area men for allegedly soliciting a 14-year-old girl who lives in the Santa Barbara area.” The only evidence of the original libel remains embedded in the URL: http://www.keyt.com/news/local/Two-Part-Time-SB-Men-Accused-Of-Raping-14-year-old-Girl-136699218.html.
In fact, though you can be assured he put a good deal of time and intellectual effort into explaining the concept of rape to his two boys, ages 14 and 11, Andy was never charged with such a thing. Nor was he so accused by the girl in question, the one the court calls Jane Doe. What he was charged with was eight counts of violating California penal code 288.3(a), which section was with some unresolved controversy over its constitutionality added to the code in 2006 by voter initiative, making it thereafter a felony offense to by any means “contact or communicate with a minor, or attempt to contact or communicate with a minor” with intent to commit any number of lewd acts. On this vague charge, and long before any actual communications had been presented, or intent demonstrated (if indeed it ever could have been, or if there ever was any—and now, it seems, there may not have been), a man was jailed, cuffed like an animal, stripped of his livelihood, threatened with financial ruin, reviled and humiliated. In short order the fear of falling began to seem the lesser of all terrors.
Everything he had experienced in his life—all the lives saved, the peaks climbed and skied down, the places visited, the smell of sage, the wisdom gained and sound advice given, the depth of knowledge, the talent and grace, the conversation, the good food and cold beer, the beautiful boys, the unstinting love of a good wife—all of this was ultimately eclipsed in his mind by the flames lapping at the windowsill. Perhaps he took one last look back toward the town of Mammoth, where he’d left his dog at home, his wife at work, and his two boys at school. Perhaps he could see the flames running across the valley, leaping the creek, climbing the rise toward the old Suburban. Or perhaps he could not bring his eyes up to the west. But the flames were there, licking at his boots, roaring over the silence of the morning, over the cackle of magpies and the trickling of meltwater on the rocks.
He crossed the road along the gate and made a track through the snow to the south. On the far side of a volcanic outcropping he set down his pack. He hung a dual IV drip from the branch of an ancient juniper and inserted a line into his own arm. He sat back against a boulder, looked out at the snow-caked scarp of his beloved Eastern Sierra—Morrison, McGee, Red Mountain, the Wheeler Crest. To his left, through a cleft in the rock, he could see the north and south summits of Glass Mountain, beyond which lay the cabin he had built once upon a time with his brother Jonathan. But the mountains could not save him. With characteristic precision he administered a perfect dosage of Ambien, succinylcholine, and potassium chloride, and within minutes he was gone.
No flames. No pavement.
There is nothing to say, we say to each other. And yet there is so much that needs to be said. The tragedies proliferate. It will take time before it truly sinks in that he is not coming back, that we cannot send him a message to tell him how sorry we are, that in time we all—or most of us anyway—could have come to understand the complexity of things. That in fact we had already started to understand. If only he could have hung on.
In the meantime we must turn back to ourselves, to our children, and to the survivors—to Gilann and Rand and Finley, to Joe Walker and Lorenza, to Sean and Carrie, to the extended families, to Jane Doe. It’s up to us now that it not go with them, or with any of us, as it did with Andy. It’s up to us now to turn this story the other way round, to put the weight in the proper places.
I hope the DA in SB is happy with her result. Murder
I, like so many people in our small and close town, am sad… am confused… am frustrated.
Five years ago I met Dr. Bourne at about 230 am. It was in the emergency room at Mammoth Hospital. I went in that night around 9 pm feeling like I had the flu, but knew something else was going on. In short order I was diagnosed with appendicitis. A frequent flier to the e.r. thanks to several skiing injuries I knew I was in good care and let the team there do their work and take care of me. At 230 am Dr. Bourne came in with his surgical team including his brother who would administer anesthesia.
Dr. Bourne was reassuring, kind, confident, funny in a way that made me relax and feel reassured that I’d wake up in recovery just fine. There were complications and they were handled without issue. And sure enough I woke up just fine in recovery where Dr. Bourne was waiting for me to see how I felt and to assure me all was well. Due to the complications I stayed at the hospital for three days. Each day Dr. Bourne came to visit. To check on my progress. To insure my healing trajectory was an upward one and should a turn happen that he’d be there to right the course. After going home I had a couple follow ups. All was well. And I was always greeted with that same warmth, kindness, broad smile and some funny, simple, kind words.
Before Christmas this year I was supposed to have an endoscopy due to acid reflux issues. When it was assigned to Dr. Bourne I instantly felt assured that all would turn out well and with characteristic great attention and care. I had to reschedule because of schedule conflicts.
On January 1st, my partner and I ran into Dr. Bourne at Looney Bean. In the throws of a busy holiday and in good cheer, we said hello and wished ‘happy new years’.
I don’t know what the broader truth is. Fact of the matter is that its actually none of my business and doesn’t involve me. Its for those involved to work through with the proper authorities and find some peace in whatever end chapter is penned.
What I do know is that I’ve been saddened by all of this from the start. A man I know… knew… in my very small way, to be a kind, educated, solid, committed, life saving man… his life was thrown into ruin, only to end far to soon and far too tragically. Though we as a community failed him in turning that Suburban around on Tuesday, I pray that he felt the love and respect we as a community held for him in those last moments before he closed his eyes. I wish for him that there had been a different final chapter to his life. It makes me very sad.
The Dr. Bourne I will always remember, hold in my heart, is that man with the broad smile, calming professionalism and exacting expertise I first met that early morning on my way to emergency surgery several years ago.
My prayers are with his wife, his sons and their families.
Thank you David. Your eloquence in the face of this tragedy is appreciated.
I am embarrassed to be from Santa Barbara these days.
Poor and irresponsible reporting and careless accusations have been a consistent theme for this DA office and local TV. Remember MJ? Something needs to be done. They must feel the shame, should face charges, and those responsible will ultimately have to face God. They could have, and rightfully should have, quenched those flames. Profound sadness fills this city too. I hope this leads to tangible actions upon them.
Miss you Andy. So so sorry bro. So sorry.
Very nicely written, David Page. As much as I like to think I understand why…I am still slammed with WHY?
Yes, you truly are a good writer yet you try to lull us into a state of dreamy sentimentality so that we will forget your own role in what you are now accusing the DA’s office of doing in Santa Barbara. You printed what you are now saying were half truths trying to, ala, Pilate, wash your hands of spreading them. Now once again you are doing the same. You don’t know all the facts. So you resort to spreading what you do best, acrimony in our community.
ENOUGH!
Why can’t you just give the news and stop with the accusations. Now is not the time for that. Yet it is time for our town to say “NO” to this type of poison. It is destructive. STOP!
I find myself weeping oftentimes during these sad days. I never knew Andrew as a passing acquaintance, close acquaintance, let alone as a friend. I knew of him and had seen him at the health club, at a pre-procedure checkup and before he put me under sedation before the actual procedure. I knew that Andrew, his brother Jonathan and Dr. Karch were hard core athletes, friends and fellow physicians. I remember riding my bike up Old Mammoth one summer day and encountering Andrew on his run back down same road with running shorts and running shoes and no shirt on. That man was a seriously muscled physical specimen. Every time I would run across Andy I wished I could know him as at least some kind of friend or close acquaintance. That never happened and now can Never happen. His bedside manner, his calmness and sureness, and all around bearing, I’m sure drew others to him as well. I remember going to one of Stellar Brew’s open mics and being my usual fearful nervous self, I kept not going up to play a couple of my tunes. As I was sitting there all worried and considering not playing at all, Andrew Bourne came in and got some soup or something, and sat at a table listening to some musicians. I started thinking that maybe I could play my pieces while he was there and if he was impressed and touched by my music, maybe he might have given me a compliment and it would be a way to get acquainted a little with him; talk a little. As it went, I procrastinated and some young lady started playing electric piano and stumbling around and not really connecting with or touching any of those who were there. I think Andy was kind of turned off a little, lost interest and when his little meal was done, he left. Because of my serious lack of confidence, I missed my chance to possibly have reached Andy’s heart and garnered some respect for me and interest in saying something nice to me- which could have led to more possibilities in getting to know each other a little. Obviously the saying that “He who hesitates is lost” definitely lead to that missed opportunity. I have always considered doctors and surgeons to be very high on the small list (in my opinion) of near Gods. They try and many times succeed in fixing our bodies maladies, contusions, sometimes close to fatal conditions and sometimes healing a bit of our Spirits as well. Especially if they have that personality, bearing and aura of calmness and caring and reassurance that the really special ones naturally exude. I miss you Andy as do so many others in this little town tucked in the beautiful Eastern Sierra. And I DO hope that those responsible for their kind of vicious “Off with their heads!”, “nail this slimeball for everything they in their misguided self righteous minds are “absolutely so sure of, simply presume and trumpet out into the great reading and television audience to make them look so great and righteous, lose a lot of sleep and actually feel ashamed and at least somewhat guilty in their haste to judge and kind of convict this wonderful man that our community has forever lost. Again the question of Innocent until proven guilty and correct due process of law is just that, in this case at least, only so many weightless words when again in this case the result for someone I so sadly miss ends up fatally. Finally Andrew , I hope you can hear some of the music my heart and spirit are playing for you. Yes, I believe being burned slowly to death surely was the worse of the two choices you faced and since you jumped, I’m very glad you were in that beautiful location when you did. At my well-advanced age, I feel that I can “see” the overall goodness or not so goodness in people and I always saw a very good, sweet caring fellow human being. I know I will never forget you and this terrible loss I feel.
Love,
John Anderson
P.S. I’m not sure I need to say this :quote, but am doing so anyway “Let the person who is without sin cast the first stone”!
remarkable, intense piece. thank you.
why on earth is there a $$ fund for Andy? the victim and her family what about them?she & family wont be compensated, but i am asked to consider a donation to one of the wealthiest families in Mammoth?
It’s wonderful to hear about the magnificent qualities of a Dr. From his close friends but at the same time I think that T Hovsepian has the reality of it…you can talk about the great accomplishments but fail to acknowledge there is a possibility this human might have had some other characteristics nobody was aware of…take for example Mother Theresa…most everybody thought she was absolutely fantastic and so caring on the outside but the truth was she was an agnostic lady that portrayed a saint…any literate person that might have read Christopher Hitchens book “Mother Teresa the missionary position” would know she was a quack…qualities of people that have poor virtues such as faith, hope, karma, and any other spiritual rubbish are are sometimes lacking real ones like honesty, integrity, and selflessness…what can be asserted without proof can be dismissed without proof…it just blows me away that such an intelligent innocent man would take his own life which is completely selfish leaving your legacy tarnished and your family abandon …I’m definitely not trying to judge but that fact of the matter is he gave up and that shows nothing but guilt…look me in the eye, please don’t bow down to sigh…sorry to offend anyone but we are in heaven and hell
Really, wealthiest family in Mammoth. Think your talking from stereotype. Guilty to proven innocent SB love. Folks like you and this attitude that lead to his demise.
Compensate the ‘victim’ and her family? No… I am not interested in rewarding poor parenting and the recklessness of their doings.
Will probably never know all the true facts but Darwin hit it head on. We are living in heaven and hell, it’s what you want to make of it. We control our own destiny and in the abundance of water the fool is thirsty. Thoughts of heart felt love for both sides of this tragic atrocity exhibition. Please keep your heads up, peace
This whole situation makes me SICK! I met Andy and his brother Jon and Mike Karch when I was a travel nurse.at Mammoth Lakes Hospital. At the time jobs were scarce and I was not real happy about going to Mammoth Lakes in January, but it was the only job I could find.
What I discovered upon arrival was a town where everybody knew everybody, and when the tourists came, they were welcomed into the arms of a community so secure that they were treated like family. It wasn’t 2 weeks before everyone who worked at the grocery store knew me by name. It was the same with the hospital staff.
Andy and his brother are truly two of the most fantastic people I have ever met on my travels throughout the country. If I wanted to know the best most beautiful places to hike- I asked Jon- if I wanted a good debate on current events- I went to Andy. Both HIGHLY educated men who spoke more than one language, organized medical missions to Mexico, and genuinely cared for their community and all people in general.
No one will EVER make me believe that Andy did any of the things he was so horrifically accused of. No one will EVER be able to mend this family and community who lost someone so dear. My heart is truly breaking for Jon, that sweet man who has lost his brother, and to Gilann, Rand, and Finley, who have lost their soulmate and father.
Andy Bourne was the most wonderful physician and friend that this nurse was ever privileged to meet. I am lucky to have had such a remarkable man grace my life.
You will truly be missed Dr. Andrew Bourne. Godspeed.
From the bottom of my heart,
Robin
Thank you for the very sensitive and insightful piece you wrote. We can only
hope Andrew is now at peace and that his family, friends and colleagues can deal
with their grief and ultimately come to a place of acceptance.
Thank God he had the tools at hand to leave this cruel world gracefully. Would
that I could have as much courage should my time ever come to choose to move on.
RIP.
TC-K
I understand the sadness, but I’m still angry.
This is not something that had to happen. This was not an act of despair. This was a completely selfish act. I just can’t fathom what we all didn’t know about him if he’s willing to put his family and friends through this grief.
Darwin,
You ought to be embarrassed for your post here. It is an illustration of someone sadly missing the point. You, my friend, aren’t even being honest with yourself.
There are lots of “characteristics” that we humans have that nobody is aware of. I don’t think anyone with a brain in his or her head believes that there is no sad, dark side to Darwin. In fact, I might be tempted to say that perhaps coming to terms with your own sadness or insecurity is what compelled you to write your post. Unfortunately, you lack the perspective and eloquence commonly found in people who have thought about such matters a great deal.
Poor insights and petty judgements notwithstanding, most people I know, at one time or another, are lacking in the “real ones” you speak of: honesty, integrity, selflessness. Incidentally, you illustrate this point perfectly-integrity is not judging a situation that you don’t yet understand.
And that is the real point here. Whatever Andy and Joe were struggling with in their own lives, respectively, is something that no one here is privy to. To fault them for their struggles only shows a lack of clarity and honesty in the Mammoth community. Instead of judgement and trying to distance yourselves from the events, why not help your community try and understand them? If it really “blows you away” that this could happen, then you’re exactly the person to help redirect the community discussion into something useful.
Humans are fragile-let us not forget this. Don’t get too comfortable with the notion you really “know” someone. You don’t. And don’t act like you aren’t capable of the same. The perfect storm of factors in your life could very easily lead you to something much worse than what Andy or Joe are accused of. To pretend otherwise is wishful thinking.
Compassion for others is a fine place to start. When family, friends, or community members are struggling in their lives, here’s hoping that you are able to provide some means of support. But first, you have to be aware.
One of the unintended consequences of Judgement is that it tends to provide a good window into the struggles of the one making the judgement. Darwin, you and the other righteous community members there in the caldera would be wise to close your mouths and start listening.
I’m a friend of Andrew’s or was in high school. He is sorely missed and I will grieve for him and pray for his family. I believe nothing of these charges, they weren’t what he was made of, the complete contradiction of the man I knew.
suicide is the cruel, selfish act of a coward….plain and simple.
If anyone knows what it is like to be accused of something you did not do by the police then they know how horrible it is. I do not know if Dr. Bourne was guilty or not but I do know what it is like to be accused of something I did not do.
The police will do anything to get you to settle out of court. They will threaten you with the worst possible outcome. They will tell you things just to get you to take a plea. It is all about fear and intimidation.
Who knows what the police told Dr. Bourne? They probably told him that they had proof and maybe they did or didn’t. All I know is that anyone in his position, whether guilty or not, might contemplate suicide. Unfortunately he was a doctor and had the means to go through with it.
I am so sorry for everyone involved. And yes for Jane Doe also. She will have to live with this for her whole life. And the police will also have to live with this.
A tragedy in the classical sense. As the posts have documented, Dr Bourne was kind, generous, and skillful – truly a hero. He also had flaws that caused a tragedy for two families. In remembering him, he is still a hero, and we should thank him for the good that he did; we should not whitewash his tragic flaws but perhaps need not dwell on them.
I can think of only one logical reason that he took is own life: he could not live with what he had done. If he were innocent, he would have been exonerated (while our judicial system sometimes convicts the innocent, it works well for those who have led a good life and can afford good counsel). If he were found guilty, he would have gotten a sentence close to the minimum, about two years, and he would have had decades left to do more good.
Thank you David. Tears may come easily these days, but your words especially moved me. Your beautiful analogy helps to make sense of the senselessness.
Well written but sadly, I have no sympathy for the “Good Doctor”. Charges aside, what he did to his wife and children was criminal. It was selfish and of his own volition, he took the “easy way out”. As you wrote, “No flames, no pavement”. Rest assured, he threw his entire family, mother, father, brother, sister, wife, children through the window, flinging their emotions onto the pavement. His children will never recover.
The man was a coward. He was not a good man.
This is a beautiful article, thank you for writing it. The violence with which he has seen his life destroyed in such a short time has been unbearable.
I don’t believe any of the accusations. The media is amazingly violent.
I pray for Andy and his family.
Innocent individuals, especially those of Andrew Bourne’s supposed strong character and tenacity, DO NOT commit suicide. They buckle up, get their armor on and will duly fight to the end to clear their name, honor and dignity. End of story.
I knew Andy through my sister Rosanna in 1985 at La Sierra University. He was a great man then and I know that he remained a great man until the end. Our prayers to Andy’s family and true friends. God bless you all.
Why can’t all of you stop judging? Who gives you that right? Why can’t you just accept that some people love and support Andy no matter what he did.
It is humanly possible to hold many emotions at once (love and forgiveness for Andy, intense sympathy for the girl (and all victims in general), belief that it is unacceptable, anger, confusion, grief, sadness, etc).
Just let others grieve in the way that is right for them. You don’t have to come!!
It seems to me too many are still rushing to judgement. Well then, here’s my own. Guilty or not, the stigma of being an accused sex offender never leaves you. Our laws and our media forbid it. We live in an electronic age, where news outlets can churn out whatever lurid headline they think will grab the most readers, even if their own article goes on to contradict that headline. And then it’s left to float out there forever, or perhaps until the publisher is shamed into pulling it, though not enough to retract the lies they instigated in the first place. Who wouldn’t feel despair in the face of these distortions and flat out lies haunting you forever? Who wouldn’t want to spare their family from that unjust humiliation, perhaps even question, is my family better off without me? That’s a big leap to make. But so is death = guilt. And having known the man myself, it’s the only understanding I can come to, and I don’t find it in any way selfish. Just so incredibly sad. May we all be lucky enough to never find ourselves in such a dark, desperate place.
It doesn’t require a rush to judgement, or any kind of judgement at all as to Andy Bourne’s guilt or innocence, to know that it is simply wrong for Rusty Gregory and MMSA to host a memorial service for an accused sexual predator, one who chose to end his own life rather than face the charges against him.
That being said, those proclaiming Andy’s innocence would have us believe that Santa Barbara police woke up one day and decided to drive up to Mammoth and arrest Joe and Andy, and that a judge reviewing the evidence, the emails, decided there was enough there to bind them over for trial and set bail at $750,000 for no reason, and that Andy killed himself, leaving his family broken and shattered even though he knew he was innocent. Please.
I wonder how much thought Rusty has given to this MMSA sponsored memorial and the kind of negative publicity it will generate for the mountain if it hits the LA Times? It seems foolish to drag MMSA into a controversy during one of the worst snow years in history, and again, all in the interest of honoring an accused sexual predator who chose not to stick around to face his problems.
In response to “ShockedLocal”, you ARE judging. Your words, “it is simply wrong for MMSA” is a judgment.
I also find your words, “sexual predator” offensive. What’s going on in your life that this intensity needs to come out here?
Thank you, David. I read your article a few days ago and I cannot get it out of my mind. To actually picture what Dr. Bourne may have been going through so vividly made it that much more personal. I was a patient of Dr. Bourne’s two years ago, and it was clear to me from the start that he was blessed with many gifts- the brilliant mind and surgical talent everyone is aware of, and he also had a way about him that just made you feel comfortable. He had a persona that just stuck with you and moved you, someone you knew you could trust without a second thought. He was genuinely concerned about those he cared for and interacted with, and that is not something you can fake or turn off.
While I did not know him well personally, I find this story bewildering from start to finish. It absolutely breaks my heart. I still don’t believe that he could be responsible for the things he was accused of (even as the mother of a daughter), and sense that this whole thing was gravely blown out of proportion. I will continue to defend Dr. Bourne to those who know no better.
I am so sorry for the pain you and your family have gone through during this whole ordeal, Dr. Bourne. May God be with you all. I will always remember you in the highest regard.
BTW, who originally struck the match which started this fire that caused/drove “The Good Doctor” to leap from this supposed burning window/building?
Oh that’s right, the SBPD, SB DA, the local SB Media etc.
They were all so bored and had absolutely nothing better to do down in the SB area than to go find “The Good Doctor” and frame him with all these malicious and false accusations.
Got it!
InTheKnow apparently you have a reading comprehenion problem. I wrote “It doesn’t require a rush to judgement, or any kind of judgement at all ***as to Andy Bourne’s guilt or innocence,*** to know that it is simply wrong for Rusty Gregory and MMSA to host a memorial service for an accused sexual predator, one who chose to end his own life rather than face the charges against him.” Note the starred part…
We all make judgements every day. It’s what we do. It is my assertion that Dr. Bourne’s guilt or innocence is irrelevant in determining whether it is right or wrong for MMSA and Rusty Gregory to host the memorial for Dr. Bourne, and yes, it is my judgement that it is wrong. You may not like the term “sexual predator,” however that is the correct term for a 40-something who develops or attempts to develop a romantic relationship with a 14-16 year-old girl. This is why the Chris Hansen show on MSNBC is called “To Catch a Predator.” On every episode a number of older men, sexual predators, are busted on camera for doing exactly what Dr. Bourne is accused of doing. Thus it is accurate to say bourne was an “accused sexual predator who chose to take his own life rather than face the charges against him.” Those are the cold hard facts which, at this point, are undeniable, no matter how much you and others would like to whitewash the whole thing.
Patient 2009, what is so “bewildering” about a 40-something man having been arrested and accused of being a sexual predator for developing a romantic relationship with an underage girl? It happens all the time, and the evidence, reviewed by a judge, was determined by that judge to be strong enough to mandate and extraordinarily high bail of $750,000 and multple additional conditions. And then this accused sexual predator decided to kil himself rather than face the charges. Seems pretty cut and dried to me. The only bewildering part is that Rusty and MMSA are sponsoring a memorial for this accused predator who took the cowards way out.
I’ve got a soon to be teenage daughter who spends a lot of time here in Mammoth and I hate to think that our community looks the other way when a predator happens to be a well-liked and otherwise respected individual, but that is what is happening here in Mammoth lakes and it’s pretty sickening.
Shocked Local (really?)
Just so you understand a basic law principle on the matter (as if they mattered to you…), bail calculation is based not on the strength of the evidence of the allegations, which is what the jugde uses to reach the decision to indict, but on the risk that the accused may flee. Be as it may, your sharp words clearly indicate to me that in your sanctimony you have bypassed the whole process as irrelevant and have reached a verdict and issued a sentence.
More disturbingly, in your self righteous anonimous, cowardly rant against your grieving fellow locals, you display utter lack of the basic empathy that is the deepest connection amongst human beings. I pity those who think you are their friend, and even more those stuck with you as parent or spouse. You remind me of those heckling the funerals of the troops to protest war, with the added ignominy that you are hiding your face as you do. And I bet you even go to church every Sunday… Next time you belt out “Our Father” try and listen:
“forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us”
May Andrew Bourne rest in peace, and may his family and friends be allowed to grieve in peace. May time heal all their wounds.
Kudos @ShockedLocal, JDGF, Mammothskier etc.. Logical
This is definitely the most disgusting story of this season. Mary P. that wrote an article today bests illustrates the facts…and I have a right as a human being to pass any literate judgement…where was the funeral @ MMSA for Tom Greenstein whom was awarded person of the year in the Mammoth Times?…maybe Santa Barbara should have their own “celebration of the death” featuring ritual burning of the Mammoth Lakes news articles of the great Dr. Andrew Jeckyl Hyde Bourne with pictures of people surfing on the beach and beautiful philanthropies. Family and friends of this rich public figure should have held any memorial in private if they had any dignity, instead what a wicked wealthy scum service. Do people still really revel in spiritual nonsense and genital mutilation? Nothing short of absolute pure cruelty to the brainwashed teen. Tolerance is very key but clarity and transparency far outweigh this horrific non fiction documentary. Can we read the emails sent to the girl please? It’s obviously encrypted forever in a human nerve cell growing on a microchip of his computer. Truth hurts but we can’t be scared to talk about it or else how will we ever evolve as a moral civilization?
Have we forgotten Catholic priest sex scandal cases? It’s still rocking the foundation of the Vatican as we speak. These were men who, like Dr. Bourne, pillar of the community, highly repected, and loved by people who knew them–saints. I’m not saying that Dr. Bourne was guilty. But to claim that what he was this great man or one that could never do those things that he was accused of is also a slap in the face for the allege victim and her family. I wonder what would Mr. Page say or feel about Dr. Bourne if this girl were his daughter. If he were so innocent and were such a great man everyone professed him to be, he should have braved the trial and get his name cleared. If not for his sake, for his wife and children. Yes, it would have been difficult for him and his family. But to endure it and proclaimed innocent by the court of law, would have truly be the virtue of a great man. Now his innocence will never come to light. His family will never have closure. Dr. Bourne’s case reminded me of Dostoyesky, Crime and Punishment, where the protagonist’s punishment resulted from his guilty conscience and inner turmoil than from that of the law.