SOUTH BEND — Rob Lawton hesitantly approached Arden Balmer Sr. as he walked into the nearly empty courthouse rotunda. He extended his hand.
Rob wanted to make sure the elder Balmer had not taken offense at a statement Rob made during the sentencing of Balmer’s son, Arden Balmer Jr.
Balmer Sr. said he hadn’t. The two men stared at one another.
“We wanted to talk to you guys,” Balmer Sr. said of Lawton’s family. “We just haven’t known what to say...”
It was the first time family members had spoken since the death of Rob’s brother, David Lawton. His best friend Arden Balmer Jr was convicted of the murder.
Each family had sat through endless court hearings together and Balmer’s weeklong trial.
The men’s faces were now weary, eyes swollen from crying.
“I don’t blame the family,” Rob Lawton told the elder Balmer.
Balmer Sr. nodded. He asked Rob about getting together soon. He wanted to give Dave’s personal belongings back to his family. David had lived with the Balmers shortly before his death.
The two men shook hands again before parting.
The symbol of compassion came at the end of an emotional hearing in which Arden Balmer Jr. was sentenced to 64 years in prison for the death of Lawton.
Lawton was shot to death Aug. 19 at Balmer’s Lakeville home after Balmer reportedly discovered a relationship between Lawton and his ex-girlfriend.
A jury in April found Balmer guilty, but mentally ill, of murder and guilty, but mentally ill, of criminal confinement.
Family members for both sides tearfully spoke during the almost two-hour hearing.
Lawton’s mother, Terri Lawton, said she could not put into words the pain her son’s death has caused her family.
“Our family will never be whole again,” she said. “... He cannot be replaced; the pain just can’t go away.”
The mother spoke about the difficulty of the holidays and most recently, Mother’s Day.
“I don’t know if you could ever pay a high enough price for that,” she said, speaking directly to Balmer. “I’m just glad I’m not your judge.”
“It’s up to Judge Frese,” she continued. “And ultimately, it’s up to a higher authority.”
Balmer’s brother and sister both called their sibling a good man afflicted by mental illness.
“My brother is not a saint by any means, but he’s not a cold blooded, pre-meditated killer,” the sister said. “My brother’s not a monster. He’s a human being that just got dropped in the cracks of the system.”
Balmer’s brother Larry Balmer, who recently returned from serving in Afghanistan, talked about Balmer being a loving man who was caught in a bad situation.
“If I could switch places with him, I would,” he said.
Defense attorney James Korpal asked for leniency for his client from St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Jerome Frese, stressing that Balmer was mentally ill at the time of the killing.
Korpal spoke about voices he said Balmer had been hearing and the difference in Balmer now that the man has been on medication at the St. Joseph County Jail.
Deputy prosecutor Joel Gabrielse argued that not just mental illness, but how much or if mental illness contributed to the crime had to be considered.
Gabrielse said Balmer carefully planned Lawton’s murder, then lured Lawton and his ex-girlfriend to his home. He also spoke of the terror Balmer’s ex-girlfriend endured as she was held captive.
During the hearing Balmer expressed remorse for his actions, telling the Lawton family how deeply sorry he was for his friend’s death.
In the end, Frese sentenced Balmer to 52 years for murder and 12 years for criminal confinement.
After the hearing, Terri Lawton said she believed the sentence was fair considering the circumstances.
“It’s not going to bring David back,” she said, adding that she hopes the end of the court proceedings will bring the family some closure.
Arden Balmer Sr. said he was not making light of the crime, but he believed the sentence was far too severe for his son, who is mentally ill.
“The sentence does not make any sense in light of recent sentences passed,” he said.
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