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Officials hear concerns after man murders wife at REACH shelter
By Justin Goble
After the murder of Bonnie Woodring at a local battered women’s shelter Sept. 18, people throughout the county have voiced concerns about safety.
Bonnie Woodring was shot and killed by her estranged husband, John “Woody” Woodring, while staying at the REACH shelter in Sylva.
Court documents show Bonnie Woodring too refuge at the shelter to escape the abusive relationship she had with her husband.
To address fears that have arisen because of the murder, District Attorney Mike Bonfoey met with officials from battered women’s shelters Monday (Sept. 25).
Bonfoey said officials came up with items that would address concerns at the shelters. These include better security, including secure doors, locks and security cameras; the establishment of a safe and secure waiting room at each courthouse for victims and witnesses of domestic violence, sexual assaults and child molestations; changing the law to include as an additional aggravating factor for the imposition of the death penalty the situation in which the killer murders a person that has the protection of a domestic violence protection order or the person has sought refuge in a shelter or the person is a shelter worker/volunteer; change the law by making the crime of trespass upon the grounds of a shelter a felony; increase police patrols of domestic violence shelters to raise their visibility.
“These are five things that are very reasonable,” Bonfoey said. “I know our communities have the determination to achieve them. Everyone wants to be safe in our communities and when someone is forced to go to a domestic violence shelter they should feel safe and be safe from harm.”
Last week, REACH Director Jean Bockstahler, still reeling from the incident, said something like this had never happened before.
“Supposedly we are a very secure facility,” she said. “We have alarms and panic buttons and things like that.”
Sylva Police Chief Jeff Jamison said security at the shelter was the best it could be with the money available.
“I think this will make them re-examine their security measures,” he said. “Things could be improved, but that takes money from the state and federal levels.
“If anything good comes out of this, hopefully it all draw attention to the matter and security at battered women’s shelters across the country will be improved,” Jamison said.
The tenure of suspect John Woodring as a graduate assistant at Western Carolina University has also caused concern at the school. Provost Kyle Carter said changes in the application system require anyone who admits to a criminal record to have a background check, which is reviewed before a student is admitted.
“The system changed last year,” Carter said. “Woodring applied in 2004, just before it was implemented by the University of North Carolina system.
“Once we receive a background check, the application is reviewed by an internal committee,” he said. “The type and recency of the crime is taken into consideration, and we can deny admission on those grounds. We take the safety of our students as the most important consideration when accepting applicants.”
Responding to the shock that has marked much of the community’s response, Ashe said his office is doing everything it can to make sure residents are as safe as they can be.
“I think this has caused alarm throughout the entire community,” Ashe said. “Especially since this happened at a battered women’s shelter. There’s no way we can be safe 100 percent of the time.
“Every possible effort to ensure the safety of our community is being done,” Ashe said. “We’re double- and triple-checking places to make sure the safety mechanisms are there. There are places we’ve went over five or six times just to make sure we haven’t overlooked something or there’s something we need to focus on. The safety of the people in this county is our number one priority.”
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