The Wizard of Oz knows injustice when he sees it, and he has no reluctance about revealing injustice and the perpetrators of injustice upon women and children.

Hi, Terri-lee...

Here is the response from the woman in the Us, when I wrote to tell her of your question. I'm afraid it's not exactly what any of us want to hear. Children can face abuse for years. If they have made disclosures and then been called liars and seen their mother go to prison for trying to defend them and get help for them, there is probably little chance they will have the courage to try again.

Greetings, Wiz…

Can’t say that I know a lot more about the Elsa Newman case than what you seem to have figured out or researched. Maybe some little details, since I talk to Elsa by phone every once in a while.

The latest I hear is that Elsa and Elsa’s attorney are going through thousands of pages of information that was withheld by the prosecution at trial. That’s right.  You got it. The same prosecutor, Katherine Winfree, who said of Elsa, “She is so nuts!” and referred to this mother as a “delusional witch,” seems also to have withheld a great quantity of exculpatory information in the form of materials copied from Elsa’s computer and also from Margery Landry’s computer. These papers  which someone withheld contain evidence that is clearly pro-Newman and her sons. Unfortunately, I have no idea whether this material will be able to be used. Being a tired and re-tired schoolteacher, I make no claim to be able to figure out the courts and attorneys of the American “justice” system.

As to the present state of the children, I would say, based on their last visit with their mother, that they have been and remain terrified of their father. They apparently say and do virtually anything and everything that the man wishes. Remembering back to a time when I was Herbie’s age, I know I tried desperately to read my father’s moods and avoid his wrath. I could not even begin to imagine, at that age, any means of escape from him. I was too afraid. And that was merely a matter of verbal and emotional abuse—not the horrors that Elsa’s children suffer daily, as surely as he molests them daily.

I do know one thing that you may not have heard: Elsa’s problems maintaining contact with her children is continuing. She has not heard from or spoken to Lars since their visit to her at the prison. When she calls, Herbie will tell her that someone picked Lars up and he has gone to visit friends. This is a ploy which Arlen Slobodow has used in the past, when he wanted to “punish” Elsa for doing something he didn’t like: he withheld the children from her by saying they were gone when she called, then forcing them to lie and say the same. It does seem unlikely, now, that Lars would be “away” or “at a friend’s house” for call after call after call. Elsa is beginning to be quite concerned about him.

Unfortunately for your inquirer who wants to know more about the present situation, there is little I can find out. Elsa is in prison. Her imprisonment is unjust. The former attorney who testified against her lied, as did the man’s secretary during the second trial. Both of these people insisted that Elsa had talked about a murder attempt in their presence. I think you and I have both noted in blogs that Elsa simply is not that stupid. The prosecution almost seemed to be carrying out some kind of vendetta against her. People are increasingly reading my blogs—and hopefully yours. I believe there are attorneys in Florida working on the case, as well as Elsa’s attorney in Maryland. The best thing that could happen right now might be if someone in Florida—a teacher perhaps, or a parent of a friend—would find evidence of abuse and report. If the boys were not so terrified, they might disclose abuse. However, in view of what happened as a result of their previous disclosures—they were interviewed for hours (literally) until they were forced to recant, just to get out of the interrogation room and get Detective Que Edwina Wallace to stop harassing them; they were called liars and handed over to the custody of their abuser—I find this unlikely. Abusers have many ways to dominate the children they abuse.

There have been reports and investigations in Florida. These, however—and I have copies of the reports that resulted—were superficial and conducted in the presence of an abusing father who is probably a sociopath and more than capable when it comes to presenting a charming face to the rest of the world. Sociopaths somehow have that knack. They can be more believable than a quiet and peaceful, loving mother who is more than a little stressed out by what she knows is happening to her children. And if this sociopath turns his wits to seeing that the mother is imprisoned? You can see what happened.

I learned only yesterday that among the first words that Arlen Slobodow said to the 9-1-1 operator when he called for help after the accidental shooting were, “Don’t let my wife take my kids.” Thus in one sentence, he hinted at guilt on the part of his then-estranged wife and made himself sound like a caring, concerned father.

Reality check: He knew that if the children went to Elsa for care, she was likely to have them examined for sexual abuse—and he knew what he had been doing to them.

So I would say that speaking to the children themselves at this time offers little hope.

I will surely let you know if anything further occurs.

Friends always, although we may never meet. And I am most grateful for what you are offering in the way of help and support.

Aine