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The sheriff, who arrived late and after the media, didn't like being one of the last to know. "I'm very disenchanted as to the lack of advanced notice that this was happening this morning," O'Connor said Jan. 11 from outside the courtroom. "We made efforts earlier this week to establish trust." Days before, law enforcement and Tyler ended a three-month dispute regarding an affidavit request the DA made of officers and deputies.
All parties involved called the mediation a success - but was it? O'Connor said his office was unaware that a plea deal with Grimsinger was in the works, and that both he and his investigators had important questions of the 25-year-old. "It's all about professional courtesy," O'Connor said.
Tyler said he kept the hearing quiet out of courtesy to District Judge Skipper Koetter and the Blackwell family - who both asked that the hearing not become a media circus. "I comported my actions to their wishes," Tyler said. "I don't see anything wrong with that. I didn't tell the sheriff because the judge and family's wish was to keep it as low profile as possible. I didn't share what was going on with most of the people in my office."
Janet Blackwell views O'Connor's anger the day Grimsinger pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murdering her sister, Sally Blackwell, 53, as "inappropriate." "This was not O'Connor's day. This was the family's day," Janet Blackwell said. "For him to make an attempt to draw that type of attention to himself is so insulting. I don't mean to be unkind. If he had a problem with how the events were scheduled, he had no business stomping around and that's what he was doing." O'Connor "stomped" into the courtroom, left and returned shortly thereafter, Blackwell said, suggesting the noise detracted from the sensitivity of the hearing.
On Tuesday, O'Connor offered sympathy to the family, and said he hopes the plea agreement offers closure for the Blackwells, the Grimsingers and the community.
"There was no intention to draw attention toward me, as it was the awareness to the public," O'Connor said. Because the plea deal was agreed to quickly and without his office's knowledge of it, O'Connor said, it surprised the sheriff - given his investigators worked for so long on the case.
"There was no intention whatsoever to detract from the importance of what went on Friday," he said. "I think it's my responsibility to express concern regarding that process. I'm not going to be judgmental as to the way it came about. It's closure for all stakeholders."
At the same time, however, O'Connor wants to know about high-profile plea agreements and said he feels the Grimsinger guilt admissions vindicated his office. Rumors about the case swirled for almost two years.
During the investigation, the Blackwell family said the sheriff's office was tight-lipped. Other rumors pointed to former high-level sheriff's office personnel - not O'Connor - as suspects in the murder. Those rumors were quashed when Grimsinger said on Jan. 11 that he acted alone. Both O'Connor and Tyler said last week's short-lived anger has nothing to do with a much-publicized rift, and that this latest disagreement doesn't overshadow last week's mediation.
O'Connor noted that after discussing his frustration briefly with the media, he shared it after the plea agreement quietly with Tyler inside the courtroom.
O'Connor said, "I expressed my thoughts and feelings toward that. We are going to go forward." Tyler reiterated that he kept the hearing quiet simply because the family and judge wanted it that way - and because he wanted the Blackwells to have an environment conducive to offering victim impact statements. Police Chief Bruce Ure said he's optimistic the justice system - and the more than 350 backlogged cases his office has now transferred to Tyler - will move forward.
Blackwell, who lives in the Houston area, however, is still angry. "I'm not trying to get any attention for myself," she said. "I would never do or say anything that would tarnish Sally. But this T. Michael O'Connor business ... I know he's very prominent in Victoria, and somewhat intimidating. But we're not in Victoria, and we're not intimidated." Gabe Semenza is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6519 or gsemenza@vicad.com.