We, the comrades of Unit 1012, will
always remember Lindsey Marie Bonistall every year on her birthday on March 20
and also on the date where she departed the earth on May 1. Please also support
the family by donating and endorsing the foundation.
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Lindsey
Bonistall
(March
20, 1985 to May 1, 2005)
[PHOTO
SOURCE: http://kikoshouse.blogspot.com.au/2006_04_01_archive.html]
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PRECIOUS
MEMORIES:
Lindsey’s father, Mark, said she
wanted to chart her own course.
”She liked the idea of
having her own place and the idea of working and paying her utility bills,” he said. “She told me she was financially independent and I
chuckled. I told her, ‘All you’re doing is paying your utility bill. ‘”
Lindsey’s sister, Kristen Bonistall,
22, said Lindsey had the ability to add humor to any situation.
“She would be the one
that would be making it better for us all right now,” she said through her tears. “She would be the one who would make us laugh and make us
be happy again— she was joy.”
Sophomore Jon Little, Lindsey’s former
boyfriend from freshman year, said he and his friends agreed Lindsey would want
them to be happy regardless of the tragic situation.
“If she were here, she’d
be making jokes and laughing about it and saying, ‘Guys don’t worry about it,'” he said. “She just had that altitude where she was always happy.”
Laughing, her sister recalled Lindsey’s habit of making funny faces in pictures.
Laughing, her sister recalled Lindsey’s habit of making funny faces in pictures.
“She always felt if she
wouldn’t be looking her 100 percent best in the picture, she might as well be
licking someone’s face,”
she said.
All who knew her said humor
encapsulated Lindsey’s life.
Comedy Central was constantly on the
TV in their apartment. It was common knowledge that Lindsey’s favorite movies
were “Old School,” “Office Space,” “Super Troopers” and “13 Going on 30”
because she would recite lines verbatim to the amusement of friends.
Sophomore Christine Bush, Lindsey’s
roommate, sophomore Nicole Gengaro and Lindsey, who met after living in
Dickinson B residence hall their freshman year. They were inseparable.
“We were just obsessed with each other
from the moment we met,” Christine said.
Sophomore Maura Brosnan, a close
friend who grew up with Lindsey, recalled her outgoing personality.
“She always had the most
inappropriate joke at just the appropriate moment,” she said.
Junior Paul Wachter, who dated Lindsey
during Fall Semester and worked with her at Cafe Gelato, said her laugh
accompanied her charismatic personality.
“She had a very unique
laugh,” he
said. “She kind of tilted her head back. It was
very honest.”
Lindsey’s sense of humor showed
through her writing, Christine said, especially in the book she was planning to
write about her large; close-knit lrish Catholic family.
“She was going to write
about specific stories from family functions and kind of make fun of her family
in a good way,”
she said.
Lindsey had already started writing
the first chapter and had read parts to Christine.
Kathleen Bonistall, Lindsey’s mother,
said during her years at Good Counsel Academy High School, Lindsey occupied her
time as senior class president, captain of the soccer and track teams, member
of two cheerleading squads, Universal Cheerleading Association instructor, a
competitive diver and volunteer, among other activities.
“Anything she decided she wanted to
do, she did and she put her whole heart and soul in it and did it well,” she
said. Lindsey made the cheerleading squad and the dive team her freshman year
at the university, but decided against pursuing these activities.
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Lindsey
Bonistall
(March
20, 1985 to May 1, 2005)
|
Jon said Lindsey gained a new perspective between high school and college.
“She got a new approach on life,” he
said.
Instead of busying herself with too
many activities, Nicole said, Lindsey figured out her niche.
Despite having a guaranteed transfer
to Cornell University for her sophomore year, Lindsey decided to stay in Newark
because she grew accustomed to her friends and lifestyle.
Originally a biology major with
aspirations to become a doctor, Lindsey realized her interest in writing and
turned to English/journalism.
“She just flip-flopped her major and
was full-steam ahead with journalism,” her father said. “It really lit up her
lamp when she got published [in The Review].”
Mckay Jenkins, journalism professor,
said he enjoyed teaching Lindsey because of her curiosity.
“She struck me as somebody who was not
afraid to say she didn’t know something,” he said. “There wa no pretension
about her. She wasn’t pretending to be a super-reporter, she just wanted to
leam what she could learn ”
Her mother recalled Lindsey’s many
accomplishments and noted her last as covering the Philadelphia Flower Show,
which was published on the front page of The Review’s Mosaic section.
“She was so proud of that,” she said.
Friends noted Lindsey’s close
relationship with her father. Megan said Lindsey spoke of her father all of the
time, which she found rare for a college student. “They were like best
friends,” she said. “She loved her family, she had so many pictures or them on
her wall.”
The last time her father saw Lindsey
was April 11, when Lindsey made him stop on his way back to New York to show
him her published clips that she was saving.
“Unfortunately, all of that was lost
in the fire,” he said. Lindsey’s father said the only belongings of hers he
could salvage from her apartment were a few articles of smoke-damaged clothing.
“I was hoping to find something that
might have been concealed from the damage that would have some connection to
her,” he said.
He also recovered pieces of Lindsey’s
jewelry, along with some of her class notebooks found in her car.
“We’d trade in everything to have
Lindsey,” he said, “but just having little pieces of her is important to us.”
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Lindsey
Bonistall
(March
20, 1985 to May 1, 2005)
[PHOTO
SOURCE: http://murderpedia.org/male.C/c/cooke-james-photos.htm]
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Friends noticed as Lindsey’s naturally
blonde hair darkened as the year progressed. Despite some protests from her
parents, Lindsey dyed her long curly blonde hair and sweeping bangs to a deep
brown that contrasted with her bright blue eyes.
Christine said Lindsey’s dark hair had
to do with her finally coming into her own.
“She was more into doing things she
wanted to do in college,” she said. “That’s why she was doing journalism. She
figured out the kind out person she wanted to be.”
Lindsey delved into her interest in
music as well this past year. Jon recalled her learning to play guitar and
showing off new songs she could play when she visIted.
“Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd was
one song she had mastered and she was learning “Blackbird” by the Beatles. The
Mars Volta, Red Hot Chili Peppers and lncubus were among her favorite bands.
Lindsey’s funky style was indicative
of her eclectic personality.
An olive green Polka dot jacket, sequined
shoes, numerous bracelets and dangly earrings were accessories Lindsey would
often be seen in.
“She was gorgeous,” Megan said. “She
could wear sweatpants and a white T-shirt with a trucker hat and still look
adorable.”
Nicole said Lindsey was constantly
around her friends and was especially fascinated with her and Christine’s art
projects.
“One time Lindsey did a backflip about
100 times so that I could get the picture right,” Nicole said of one of her
photography assignments.
Close friends of Lindsey’s traveled to
White Plains to pay respects at her wake and funeral.
Thousand gathered at three sessions of
the wake and the funeral to honor Lindsey’s life.
The Bonistalls have received countless
flowers, letters and support from people who were touched by Lindsey. At the
wake, a slideshow made by one of her cousins featured an array of pictures and
home, videos taken of Lindsey. Songs by some of her favorite bands, such as
Keane, Pink Floyd, John Lennon and Enya played in the background.
Nicole said the prayer, which was
given to everyone in attendance, expressed her feelings perfectly: “Grieve
not…nor speak of me with tears…but laugh and talk of me as though l were beside
you. l loved you so…’’Twas heaven here with you.”
Christine said the funeral gave the
situation a sense of reality, and was the first step in the difficult path to
closure.
“Sometimes it still feels like she’s
coming back,” she said, “like she’s just on vacation.”
The anger that comes with the grief is
still inevitably persistent, but Megan said it is something that will hopefully
subside.
“I hope that with time I can stop
thinking about how or why it happened,” she said.
Christine said being with friends and
remembering Lindsey has helped.
“But you can’t think about what
happened, or how it happened,” she said. “You can’t think about that because
Linds was about living.”
Closure may come with time but will be
difficult.
“I’d like to see whoever did this to
Lindsey be brought to justice. l don’t know if the wounds will ever close
unless that’s done.”
“We hope at some point to be abIe to
accept everything the way it is.”
President David P. Roselle stated in
an open letter to the community the university has established a $50,000 fund
in Lindsey’s memory toward scholarship for journalism students.
Her father said he is honored by the
university’ scholarship and hopes to work on other projects, such as a
foundation to help victims of violent crimes.
“It’’s a great honor and a valuable
tribute to Lindsey in her memory,” he said. “We’re going to make sure her
legacy continues.”
Nicole said to her family and friends
that Lindsey’s memory will not be lost because her personality was
unforgettable.
“lf you didn’t know her then you
didn’t know what you were missing,” she said. “She was definitely not someone
you could forget.”
Her mother said Lindsey’s energy was
motivational. “ln her short little lifetime she accomplished so much,” she
said. “She was my strength, my inspiration. I called her my Lindsey Lou.”
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Mary Cairns, a family
friend of Lindsey Bonistall, a University of Delaware student murdered in 2005,
on Thursday, January 28, 2016 at the Statehouse in Dover speaks about
legislation being considered by Delaware House members to end the death
penalty. Lawmakers rejected the legislation following emotional testimony.(Photo:
JASON MINTO/THE NEWS JOURNAL)
[PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2016/01/28/del-supreme-court-examine-death-penalty-law/79458486/]
Mary Cairns, a friend of the Bonistall
family, testified against the repeal bill. She read a letter from the
family, who could not be there, about what it was like to lose their
daughter, Lindsey Bonistall, a
University of Delaware sophomore who was raped and murdered in May 2005
by James E. Cooke Jr., who is now on death row.
Cairns, while holding a picture of
Bonistall, said Cooke deserves to be on death row not only for murdering
Bonistall, but for constantly berating judges, jurors and the victim during his
trials.
"He victimized Lindsey again and
again," she said. "Her killer deserves the death penalty. Please
don't fail us now.”
Cooke is one of the 14 inmates on death row
in Delaware. The state is one of 32 with capital punishment.
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