Issac's special series

The weeklong series we have published this week beginning last Sunday, Fatal Fallout, has taken our readers on a deeply personal journey with local columnist Issac Bailey, his family and the family of James Bunch, who was killed 25 years ago by Issac's oldest brother, Moochie. In this morning's edition of The Sun News, we printed Issac's answers to questions many of you have asked regarding this series. At the end is one final question that didn't appear in print.

Q. Why did you write this series?
A. It was time. Almost 25 years of living in the shadow of shame was long enough. Also, I
ask a lot of those I interview. I tell them that being open and honest is best, even when there is
pain. I try to hold myself to the same standard. And this particular slice of the crime story is
seldom, if ever, told. I hope families facing what we faced learn from our mistakes.

Q. How did you decide how much information to reveal about yourself? Your family?
A. That was the hard part. My first thought was to give only enough information to pull a story
together. That was because of the lingering feelings of shame and embarrassment. Then I thought
that would be dishonest, so I shifted into a journalistic mode and treated my family the way I do
other families who allow me to probe deeply into their pain.

Q. How did you explain the project to your family?
A. I told my brothers and sisters first, telling them the 25th anniversary of the murder was
near, then I told my mother. I told them it was way past time and that we had an important story to tell. They agreed and cooperated, though I knew it wasn't easy for them. Honestly, though, even if they hadn't agreed, I would have written the story any way.Because I think it's that important.

Q. Describe the conversation among your family about the murder and its subsequent impact
on your lives.
A. Our family is split, and the conversation got heated at times, especially because we got to vent
about the criminal acts committed by my youngest brothers. The older siblings seem more resigned
about believing what happened, while the younger ones believe he was possibly railroaded by police. My mother is having the hardest time. She wants to know how someone she gave birth to could take a life and why he pleaded guilty unexpectedly.

Q. How did you locate the Bunch family, and how did you explain the project to them?
A. I did a few Internet searches, called people I knew in Bonneau and spent hours going
through two years' worth of newspaper articles that are preserved on microfilm in the Berkeley
County library. But my best contact came after stopping in a small cafe housed in a single-wide
trailer. The owners knew about the murder and gave me the number of Mr. Bunch's best friend,
who helped me contact the family. I told them I was doing a story on the effects of crime, and that my brother killed their brother. That was hard. I didn't know if they would spit in my face. Fortunately they didn't. They graciously spoke with me a bit, but I didn't push any further. In other situations, I likely would have.

Q. Why did you decide to write it as a narrative series?
A. I thought the full story would be impossible to tell in one long piece, or if not impossible to
tell, impossible to read. Narrative gives you more space to paint a picture with specific details.

Q. How do you view the project now that it's in print? Is there anything you would change?

A. I haven't read the stories in print and probably won't for at least a few weeks. It's still a bit too
raw. But what I'm hoping the stories got across was that the tentacles of crime are long and
affect everyone - the victim's family, as well as the perpetrator's - and that we would be unwise to continue ignoring that reality.

Q. And a final question: what is the reaction from your mother?
A. I am going to see her tonight and show her the series. I'll let you know.

Comments

[chocomlk]

Crime may affect the family that the criminal sprang from, but that doesn't lessen the criminal's responsibility to answer for their criminality. Are you going to go through your entire staff and start telling us about DUI's, shoplifting and hit and runs by members of your staffs families? I don't see the relationship between someone killing someone and how that becomes newsworthy in the sense that it affects someones family on a personal level. Of course it does. What would be more interesting is if the story would have gone into depth how much this act of criminality cost the public in terms of the costs of the trial and the costs of housing this prisoner for an extended period of time. We are all victims of crime and the effects on the families, while tragic, are just a small portion of the story.

[Pat]

It is sad that the reader "chocomlk" doesn't see the bigger picture. How sad the story is and the manner so many were touched by the situations for years. My heart goes out to Mr. Bailey. It took courage and guts to write so openly and painfully from the heart.

[Kassandra Bond]

What was the purpose? what was to be gained? why didn't u just write your memoirs and incorporate this saga in your best seller. Why did you think in all this world the story u wrote was any different than maybe lets say , oh about 10,000 other black families story. lets not forget the other ethnic groups.
That space could have informed local residents of real crime here and now in Myrtle beach, or the hardships of the local residents. How about people having to work three jobs. 1.to pay high unreasonable rents, 2. to pay basic bills and 3. to buy food and clothes (thank God for the salvation army on the last one). I believe u squandered some perfect media space with your story, next time please use it wisely.

[chocomlk]

Hey Pat, how sad you need to slam another poster. If you don't like what I posted fine. But get off your high horse and don't dare pretend that somehow you have the big picture because you liked the story. People like you should be seen and not heard. If you have an opinion fine. Slamming other posters on a personal note like that makes you look like you don't have an opinion of your own.