Focus on Ethics Video: Dealing with the Murder of a Loved One

In this video, Karen Schmoyer recalls how the police informed her of the murder of her daughter Charlotte in 1993. Remarkably absent from this recounting of the day Ms. Schmoyer was told of this tragedy is any sense of outrage and demands for retribution.

Video source: FBI on YouTube

1. How does Ms. Schmoyer’s reaction compare to the Focus on Ethics scenario presented in this chapter?

2. Could it be that the passage of time between the murder of her daughter and the making of this video has enabled Ms. Schmoyer to talk so reasonably and dispassionately about it?

3. If the criminal justice system had been less supportive of Ms. Schmoyer, do you think that she would have reacted similarly to the dilemma depicted in the Focus on Ethics scenario?