FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS, ladies and gentlemen. Joe and Angela Maretto have joined us—and let me say, this cannot have been easy for them—their son, Larry, a young man any one of us might have been proud to know—we are speaking here of the all-American success story, good-looking, popular, up-and-coming young restaurateur—am I right, Joe, that your son was at one time an altar boy? as I was myself—and played golf with his father-in-law, who, incidentally, couldn’t make it, but Carol, his wife, is joining us, and may I say, Mrs. Stone, we recognize that not every individual in your position would have the courage to sit here on this podium, facing the very people who accuse her daughter of cold-blooded murder—the daughter to whom I refer being—if you will look at your monitors at this point, audience—Suzanne Maretto, fledgling television newsperson and would-be anchor—and within sight of attaining the great American dream, if you will—a young woman with everything going for her, good churchgoing family—your husband runs a car dealership if I am not mistaken, Carol?—honors student and as you can see, the very sort of individual any one of us might be happy to see our son bring home as his fiancée— which is exactly what Larry Maretto did, on a day that, as his mother Angela puts it—and may I say, my heartfelt condolences to you, Mrs. Maretto, it cannot be easy reliving your family’s nightmare on national television—that she wishes with all her heart had never happened, and one which might have been averted if Lydia Mertz—Lydia, thank you for being with us, I recognize you must have had to leave school to come here today, and I believe this is your mother—Valerie tells me she never misses our program—as I understand it, rights to your story are currently under consideration by a major television studio for an upcoming movie of the week—and let me say, in the event that your participation on this program becomes a part of the movie, I’d like to see Kevin Costner playing myself—but all levity aside, let me remind you, two young men are currently serving prison sentences—a young woman is dead of apparent suicide, her husband brutally murdered—life can never be the same for you, Mrs. Maretto, am I correct?—and we gather you all together today out of that uniquely human impulse to know not simply what happened, but why? Carol Stone, your daughter is also dead—and this must be unbearably painful to you, as well as you, Faye—and I say that, having just last week taped a program—many of you may have seen this one—concerning the trauma of being a surviving sibling—as is Janice Maretto—currently on leave from her tour with the Ice Capades—sister of the deceased young husband of Suzanne, also tragically deceased, by her own hand—what could be more senseless than suicide—leading us to ask the question, Why?
Did Suzanne Maretto die of a broken heart, or was it guilt over conspiring with her sixteen-year-old lover that propelled her to take her life, just as she was on the brink of realizing the very goal—namely a promising future in television—which she had pursued with so much commitment and dedication. Finally we have Mr. and Mrs. Hines—Mr. Hines, you were willing to set aside your responsibilities as a clam digger to be with us today, and Mrs. Hines, I know this isn’t easy—I want to thank you also for coming here today to share with us the heartbreak of parents whose son, Russell, is presently incarcerated for thirty years to life for the murder of Larry Maretto. And I ask you, isn’t it ironic, ladies and gentlemen, that of all the individuals we find on this podium today, the one whose absence is most felt is the one who perhaps would have felt most at home here, the individual to whom I refer being, of course, Suzanne Maretto herself, who—her mother tells me—always regarded myself as one of her role models and may I say I am always honored and humbled to think of young people today holding me in the same kind of esteem in which I held my heroes, as a youth. On a personal note may I say that all of us in this industry hold an awesome power to guide the lives of young people, and we can only pray we inspire them in positive directions. We’ll be right back after these messages. Don’t go away.