SEATTLE: JIM SANDER'S WIDOW FORGIVES CRAIGSLIST KILLERS

Widow of murder victim forgives his killers
by LORI MATSUKAWA
KING 5 News / KING5.com
Posted on May 6, 2010

PUYALLUP, Wash. - Charlene Sanders is a woman of great faith who says she will carry on the mission of her late husband, Jim Sanders.

"That is my mission now," she says from Bethany Baptist Church where she worships. "To finish what my husband started with witnessing (for Christ). He wanted to see people come to Christ, even murderers."

Jim Sanders was shot and killed April 28 in front of Charlene and their two sons during a robbery in their home. Four people are in custody in what's being called the Craigslist robbery because the suspects pretended to be interested in buying a diamond ring Sanders advertised on Craigslist.

When Charlene saw the female suspect, Amanda Knight, during her arraignment Wednesday, she said it was "chilling."

"I remember thinking, 'Your phone call to my husband, the female voice, is what probably made him let his guard down,'" said Sanders.

She says she'll never forget the look on her husband's face.

READ AND WATCH VIDEO: JIM SANDER'S WIFE CHARLENE SANDERS...
http://www.king5.com/video/featured-videos/1-on-1-with-Charlene-Sanders-93033134.html

SEATTLE: CRAIGSLIST SUSPECT AMANDA KNIGHT SOBS IN COURT

Female suspect in Craigslist murder cries in court
by DREW MIKKELSEN
KING 5 News and KING5.com / Posted on May 5, 2010

TACOMA, Wash. - Twenty-one-year-old Amanda Knight cried as she made her first court appearance Wednesday, pleading not guilty to murder, assault and robbery charges in a deadly Craigslist home invasion robbery.

Bail was set at $2 million.

Knight is charged along with 22-year-old Kiyoshi A. Higashi, 20-year-old Joshua N. Reese and 23-year-old Clabon T. Berniard in the killing of Jim Sanders, who had offered a ring for sale on Craigslist.

Members of the Sanders family were in court for Knight's arraignment.

"I'm thinking, 'she's crying,' what do you think you put my family through," said Jim Sanders' wife, Charlene. "I mean, really, you guys made that choice to come to my house."

"There's consequences to every sin. You took my husband, you think I don’t cry?"

"I was supposed to be in the Dominican Republic on a beautiful vacation with some of my family and instead my vacation time turned into bereavement time," she said.

According to amended charging documents on Knight, Reese told Pierce County detectives that "he was involved in the events at the Sanders residence."

Knight also "confirmed that she was involved in the events at the Sanders residence."

Investigators also say they have linked Knight to a similar home invasion in Lake Stevens.

READ ABOUT AMANDA KNIGHT...
http://www.king5.com/news/local/Police-Edgewood-suspect-pawned-ring-taken-from-Lake-Stevens-home-92891024.html