Elliott update

Everyone's favorite former Drake student body president has been back in the news lately. Apparently, his murder trial is less than a month away, so the Des Moines Register has been digging up what little dirt they can find on Mr. Elliott.

This story, which ran April 28, is really well-done. It's a long piece, and it's clear that the reporters had basically nothing to work with because all the court records are sealed. But they managed to track down enough family members, former classmates and co-workers to weave together an interesting tale.

As you can probably tell from my continued blog postings about it, I can't get over this story. It's so bizarre – maybe because it's the first time I've ever known a murder defendant personally? Or maybe because there was nothing about this guy that screamed sex offender, baby killer or all-around scumbag when I was working with him on a small-group project freshman year? Am I that bad at reading people, or was he that good at hiding his dark side? 

The Register story attempts to answer some of those questions, because apparently, I'm not the only one asking them.