The Misery Machine - The Case of Cheri Lindsey

Starting point is 00:00:00 Binghamton, New York is located near the Pennsylvania border in the state's southern tier. It's considered the cultural center of the triple cities of Binghamton, Endicott, and Johnson City. As of 2020, these three Broome County cities have a combined population of a quarter million people. In 1911, IBM was founded in Endicott just across the Susquehanna River. Binghamton was the home to industrialist John Rockefeller, former New York Yankees manager, Bill. Martin, and comedians David and Amy Sedaris. In addition, it was the home of the victim in today's story, Sherry and Lindsay. Sherry was born on June 6, 1971 to parents Dave Lindsay, a sergeant in charge of the Binghamton Special Investigations Unit and Jeannie Lindsay, a homemaker.

Starting point is 00:00:49 Sherry had three siblings and was described as an adorable, short-haired brunette child with big blue eyes. Sherry enjoyed playing softball, and she also enjoyed playing the clarinet in the school orchestra. She was particularly fond of board games, especially Monopoly in life, and her favorite movie was E.T. In her free time, Sherry volunteered in the neonatal unit of Wilson Memorial Hospital. She also volunteered with the junior auxiliary of the American Legion. She had dreams of becoming a veterinarian or a neonatal physician or nurse. When Sherry was 12, she was a seventh grader at East Middle School, boasting excellent grades and perfect attendance. She worked part-time on a paper route for the press Republican newspaper. Sherry was attempting to raise money to give her teacher a baby shower.

Starting point is 00:01:34 Her 36 house routes spanned the immediate area near her home on Mulberry Street. Customers described Sherry as being very punctual. One neighbor claimed, you could predict the exact second your paper would show up. Sherry held the job for a little more than a month. In addition to delivering newspapers, she was responsible for collecting the money the subscribers owed. She collected subscription money on Mondays, which required. her to go to customers' front doors and ask. Even though Binghamton was considered a very safe area, Sherry's mother accompanied her on those Monday afternoons.

Starting point is 00:02:07 However, on Monday, March 26, Jeannie elected to stay home to cook. After all, Sherry would only be gone a short while. She left home around 3.30 p.m. and planned to return home by 4.30 to talk with her boyfriend on the phone. In any event, she would arrive hours before dinner. But 4.30 came and went, and Sherry did not come back. Her boyfriend called, but Sherry was not home to answer the phone.

Starting point is 00:02:31 Jeannie paced the floor in anticipation of her daughter's arrival, trying to squash any feelings of distress. But she gave in and called Dave at the police station. Dave rallied fellow officers to be on the lookout for Sherry. Later that evening, he began making calls to friends and parents. Dave would later admit that he panicked in a mixture of fear and dread overcame him. However, he never let his family see his worry. Dave and his fellow officers combed the streets throughout the night in search of Sherry,

Starting point is 00:03:04 but she was nowhere to be found. The police stopped cars on Sturgis and DeFora streets, which was part of Sherry's paper out. There, they provided Sherry's description. She weighed about 70 pounds and had blue eyes and light brown hair. Sherry was last seen wearing white Nike sneakers, blue jeans, and a maroon coat. One of Sherry's friends waved to her that Monday afternoon as she drove by but didn't find it odd that Sherry was alone. The last reported sighting of Sherry was around 5 p.m. that day.

Starting point is 00:03:37 Investigators interviewed all of Sherry's customers, many of whom allowed them to search their homes. Still, there was no sign of the little girl. The police retraced Sherry's steps the best they could, but they could not locate the missing 12-year-old. The police implemented the loop system, a precursor to the Amber Alert, which allowed them to reach all the police departments in the area to search for Sherry Lindsay. This vast search included city police, off-duty officers, firefighters, state and county police, and police dogs. Troopers also surveyed the area in the skies via helicopter. But still, the police had no luck locating Sherry, but Jeannie provided them with something that was not quite a lead but more of a hunt. She remembered a man who lived just seven blocks away who seemed suspicious to her.

Starting point is 00:04:28 She recalled that he looked at her strangely. Jeannie told the police, if you are going to find her, she's going to be at Wales House. With no viable leads or suspects discovered during the first 30 hours of the investigation, the police followed up on Jeannie's gut feeling. James was a quiet man who lived a quiet life and maintained a low profile. He simply blended into the background. James didn't stand out in any way whatsoever. he was under the radar. James delivered newspapers for the press Republican for two years,

Starting point is 00:04:57 yet no one claimed to truly know him. The conversations he had with the subscribers were short, often ended with terse one-word responses. Much like Sherry had confided to her friends, James simply had come across to her as weird. Sarah Gillen, a reporter for the evening press, interviewed residents on James Wales Street. When she knocked on his door, he answered and invited the reporter in and answered questions concerning Cherry's disappearance. The Binghamton Police visited James Wales at his home on Sturgis Street on March 27th. James had a short rap sheet consisting of misdemeanors such as criminal trespass and suspicion of drunk driving.

Starting point is 00:05:35 According to police chief James Butler, Wales wasn't on our radar. His name didn't jump out. But the more that they learned about James Wales, the more he looked like a suspect to them. They discovered that while he lived in Norwich, New York, the Shenango County, Department of Social Services investigated him for the essay of a young boy. James moved. His case was transferred to Broome County Social Services. However, no follow-up was done and no charges were ever filed against him. James seemed nervous and jittery during his police interview at his house, prompting investigators to bring him to the station for further questioning. He denied seeing Sherry

Starting point is 00:06:12 that day, but he was clearly uncomfortable. According to Detective Captain Joseph D. Lynch, Finally, it got to the point where I said, let's bring this guy in. Meanwhile, James's wife Sue permitted the police to search their home. During their initial search, they found Sherry's newspaper bag. Just four hours later, they found Sherry's lifeless body wrapped in a blanket hidden in their basement. During interrogation, James denied having anything to do with Sherry's disappearance. He called her a nice, quiet girl he trained for the newspaper out. but Binghamton police had suspicions and kept chipping away at James's story.

Starting point is 00:06:52 When presented with the evidence that her body had been recovered, Detective John Butler recalls that James didn't say anything for a time and more or less stared, but he opened up over the course of the next hour and a half. James showed no remorse as he outlined explicitly what he had done to Sherry. He matter-of-factly described the events but seemed more concerned with getting home to cook dinner because the children were returning home from school. James Wales confessed. She was yelling, and I put my hand over her mouth in an attempt to keep her quiet.

Starting point is 00:07:26 This didn't work, so I started to choke her with my hands. She was still struggling, so I struck her in the head with a table leg. I believe I hit her a couple of times with a table leg. I also had tied her hands behind her with a clothesline rope. At that point, rather I should say, prior to tying her hands, I put a T-shirt into her mouth. I choked her with the rope until she stopped struggling. I then pulled off her blue jeans and panties.

Starting point is 00:07:52 I then had intercourse with her. After this, James claimed that he, and I quote, hung her from the sewer pipe with the clothesline. I then went upstairs where I stayed for a few minutes. I came back down into the cellar and untied her. I saw she was dead. I then put her in the fruit cellar and threw her clothes in as well. After I had done this, I took the bills out of her money back.

Starting point is 00:08:16 and placed it with the change inside of the white dresser drawer in the basement. I then took the bills upstairs to my second floor bedroom. I put them under the mattress. James continued, after I was done moving her, I took off my red Dr. Pepper T-shirt, work jeans, and work boots. I also had a light blue pullover shirt on.

Starting point is 00:08:35 Prior to hanging Sherry from the sewer pipe, I thought she was dead. I hung her from the pipe because I wanted to make sure. Now, if this quote sounds weird, almost hard to believe, almost sounds like an AI wrote it a little bit. Like, let me be clear. This is exactly what he said, word for word.

Starting point is 00:08:53 He relayed this information, matter-of-factly, without a shred of guilt for this horrific, horrific act he committed. 35-year-old James Wales acted as her trainer for the newspaper delivery job. Sherry disclosed to her mother that James made her uncomfortable. She described him as creepy to genie and weird to her friends. James was leaving the press Republican and was directed to teach her the delivery job. He lived on six and a half Sturgis Street, which was along Sherry's route. It will become important later in our story that James' upbringing and family life was

Starting point is 00:09:28 filled with violence. At 18, he joined the U.S. Army and served six years before receiving an honorable discharge in 1972. He returned to Enda Cod and married his third wife, Sue Ellen Wales. He fathered two children and lived a pretty typical life. James worked as a maintenance mechanic at IBM for 17 years. He lost his job in 1983 because he struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. James' life went into utter collapse. In addition to his addiction issues, he developed paranoid and delusional thoughts.

Starting point is 00:10:02 James was a ticking time bomb. Now you might be asking yourself, how exactly did Sherry come into James' clutching? She grabbed on the street during her route, or did James pull her inside? while she was at the door. Well, evidence shows that she was not dragged inside the house. She actually seemed to have entered the house willingly. Likely she was comforted when James's 11-year-old stepson, Brian Westlake, greeted her at the door. This boy was just a year younger than her and was someone she recognized from East Middle School. The boy called for James to come to the door to see Sherry before he ran back up the stairs to his room, not having any clue about what was

Starting point is 00:10:40 going to happen. As we mentioned before, James was teaching Sherry his. his route. At least believe that these things combined were what could have led to Sherry letting her guard down. The evidence piled up against James Wales. The money he took from her bag was found beneath his mattress just as he had told police. They also found blood stains on the floor and wall in the corner of the basement and on the sewer pipe from which she was hung. Her partially clothed body was discovered beneath a blue blanket, along with her jeans in a newspaper bag. A shirt covered her face. Her newspaper collection book was found stuffed inside a drawer. It became apparent that James had targeted Sherry. Before Sherry started working

Starting point is 00:11:20 on the route, he didn't have a subscription to the newspaper. He opted to subscribe after Sherry began her deliveries along that route. While training her, James became fixated on her. Sadly, he got his chance to get her alone. James Wales would soon find himself before a Broome County grand jury. On April 6, 1984, the grand jury indicted him on three counts of second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree essay, one count of second-degree essay, and one count of first-degree assault. James was whisked away to the Broom County Jail to await trial. James could not afford an attorney, hence he was represented by Thomas J. Fox, a public defender. His attorney was unable to secure bail for his client. public defender fox also argued during a pretrial hearing that his client would not be able to get a fair trial in broom county and requested a change of venue because of the case's notoriety at his arraignment james entered a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect essentially the insanity plea to brum county judge robert cuton just that year then governor mario combeo signed the bill into law that shifted the burden of proof in the insanity plea to the defense from the prosecution

Starting point is 00:12:39 The defense would now have to prove to the jury that James was unable to tell right from wrong, whereas just months before, prosecutors would have to prove a defendant's saying. Judge Kutant ordered the hearings closed to prevent the media from further sensationalizing the trial. The defense was already having difficulty seating a jury that felt it could be impartial. During the first hour of jury selection, 16 jurors admitted that they could not be unbiased. The trial date was set for July 30, 1984, although it would take until October 18th of the same year for the six-man, six-woman jury to be seated. At long last, the essay and murder trial of James Wales would begin. District Attorney Patrick Matthews laid out the state's case for the prosecution.

Starting point is 00:13:27 The case was about as open and shut as it gets. District Attorney Matthews outlined the physical evidence, including Sherry Lindsay's blood on the table legs, the rope used to strangle and hang her, and autopsy results that proved Sherry had been essayed. He showed the jury the confession detailing the evidence found in James' home. He further detailed James' lack of remorse for the crime. Public defender Fox called Dr. R. David Kissinger, a psychiatrist as an expert witness. Dr. Kissinger testified that he believed James Whales suffered from intermittent explosive disorder, or IED. IED is a relatively common behavioral disorder characterized by outbursts,

Starting point is 00:14:05 of anger and violence that affects around 200,000 people in the United States alone. With IED, the doctor explained, James would have had a failure to resist an impulse, drive, and temptation to perform some act that is harmful to himself or others. Dr. Kissinger continued, the act may or may not be premeditated. After his session with James, he theorized that James believed that he was attacking his biological mother during the assault on Sherry Lindsay, and that James, during his IED, state would be operating from his subconscious, where he could not consider the consequences of his actions.

Starting point is 00:14:42 Public defender Fox brought both of James' ex-wives to the stand to testify for the defense. They both admitted to being essayed and devied by James and spoke of his violent temper. In truth, this was likely a very grave mistake on behalf of the defense. District Attorney Matthews dissected these statements highlighting that James had essayed before and he would do it again. He also stated that it was inconceivable that James would equate a 12-year-old girl with his mother. Furthermore, he argued that if James believed there were no consequences for what he had done, then he would not have hidden her body.

Starting point is 00:15:22 Ana autopsy revealed blunt force trauma in manual strangulation, as well as evidence that her wrists had been bound. Her cause of death was ruled asphyxiation and she had been essayed before her death. It was estimated that it could have taken her 30 minutes to succumb to her hanging. We can only imagine how terrifying the last half hour of her life must have been. Thomas Walsh, the forensic scientist who examined the scene, solidified the prosecution's claim that the killing happened in the far corner of the basement. Sherry's hair and blood were found only in the basement.

Starting point is 00:15:59 It is believed that James Wales threw Sherry down the basement staircase before strangling her with the laundry line and essaying her. After this heinous act and hanging her in the basement just to make sure she was dead. To top it off, James' own 11-year-old stepson Brian Westlake would testify against him. Brian recalled hearing screams. He confided in a classmate that he believed that James had hurt Sherry. The trial ended on October 30th, 1984 after an 11-day trial. The jury never saw the crime scene photos of Sherry with the ligature marks on her neck and her torn shirt exposing her chest as Judge Kuton agree with the defense that the pictures would be too inflammatory. These images, he ruled, could outweigh any other verdict the jury could reach.

Starting point is 00:16:48 The jurors broke for deliberation. They returned to the courtroom with a verdict in just three hours and 15 minutes. James Wales was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree essay. Public Defender Fox's Hail Mary attempt at using the insanity defense had failed miserably. It was probably the only play he had to represent someone as obviously guilty as his client. On November 14, 1984, James Wales returned to court for sentencing. He was sentenced to 33 and a third years to life in prison for his crimes against Sherry Lindsay, the maximum allowed by the state of New York at the time.

Starting point is 00:17:26 James was given a chance to comment. He said, Your Honor, I don't know what more I can say than I'm sorry this ever happened. Those words rang hollow at best. A statement before sentencing, Judge Kuton said that James had plunged a knife deep into the heart of this community. He encouraged state parole officers to keep James forever behind prison walls. The prosecution was able to have the essay in the murder deemed a separate acts. Thus, James would serve his terms back to back. James Wales would first become eligible for parole in 2017.

Starting point is 00:18:02 During the trial, the white two-story home at six and a half Sturge's Street that James shared with Sue Wales and their children was in foreclosure. On November 2nd, it was auctioned off on the Broome County Courthouse Steps for $34,000. What locals described as the Sherry Lindsay Ghost House was purchased and foreclosed on two more times over the next 30 years before being a banned. for over a decade. Stories of strange occurrences in the house were commonplace. One former resident claimed to feel something brush against her. A mother claimed her children's blocks were kicked into a corner. A couple moved out of the house because they believed it to be haunted.

Starting point is 00:18:45 On July 30th, 2020, the ghost house was demolished. Jeannie would swing a sledgehammer on the front door, striking the first blows of the cursed house's destruction. A few minutes later, she would toss Sherry's newspaper bag that she had clung on all these years through the front door. She said it was finally time to let it go with the house. 40 minutes later, the once home of murderer James Wales was reduced to rubble. Sherry's father was less than satisfied, saying, The story of Sherry's murder won't be complete until her killer dies behind bars.

Starting point is 00:19:23 The house's demolition brings an important chapter to a close, but the book isn't all written yet. Sherry may have been gone, but she certainly wasn't forgotten. Just a few days after her death, the Binghamton City Council unanimously passed a resolution to rename Stowe Park to the Sherry Lindsay Memorial Park on April 2, 1984. Per the city council, Sherry's death has served as a tragic reminder of the senseless and all too commonplace occurrence of random violent crime in our society. Today, the Sherry-Lindsay Memorial Park at one Truesdale Street boasts a little league field, a swimming pool, two basketball courts, a playground, a dog part, and even a skate park. A mural of Sherry is painted on the side of the

Starting point is 00:20:14 park building. James's first parole hearing was on April 12, 2017. Public outcry, including petitions to the parole board in Gulf Binghamton. The city had suffered enough and the residents did not want to see him set free. The hearing, James tried to say the right things to the parole board, explaining not only was she victimized, I also victimized her family and my own family, and in the past I always had a problem with stress. I did not handle stress well. I become a very private person and hold it in until I explode into a violent rage, which is what happened to this girl. stated that his goal was to be low risk to the community. A parole board panel member countered, our goal for you, Mr. Wales, would be a no risk. James's parole was denied. While the

Starting point is 00:21:01 parole board praised his rehabilitation efforts, they ruled that his discretionary release at this time would not be compatible with the welfare of society at large and would tend to depreciate the seriousness of the instant offenses and undermine the respect for the law. There's an organized effort to oppose the parole of one of Binghamton's most notorious killers. Dave and Gene Lindsay are encouraging people to speak out against freeing the man who murdered their 12-year-old daughter Sherry Ann back in 1984. James Wales was already a convicted sex offender when he raped and killed Sherry while she was out collecting money on her paper route.

Starting point is 00:21:43 Wales, who was sentenced to 33 and a third years to life in prison, has a parole board hearing coming up next month. This will be his second hearing he was denied two years ago. Dave says it bothers him that his family has to go through this every two years. We think about it all the time. He's coming up for parole. What do we got to do? Could we get the support from the people?

Starting point is 00:22:07 But like I said, it's the people that are really keeping them in jail just by their signatures and comments. They don't want them on the street. Like I said, who wants that guy living next to you? I mean, who wants that guy out here? That's soul. Wales is 70 years old and is imprisoned at the Elmira Correctional Facility. One supporter of the Lindsay's Gina Fiala started an online petition against parole for Wales that garnered over 9,000 signatures. Lindsay has already sent the petition containing 409 pages of signatures and another 120 pages of comments.

Starting point is 00:22:47 into the parole board. Now, if you would like to submit a comment to the Department of Corrections, you can find a link and the inmate identification number on our website, Binghamton homepage.com. James Wales was denied parole again in hearings in 2019, 2021, and 23. However, a second 2020 hearing was scheduled.

Starting point is 00:23:11 James might have been released for a non-terminal illness. Community and law enforcement firmly believed in keeping James locked away, and they were quite vocal about it. A Binghamton family is asking for the public's help to keep a child racist and killer behind bars. News Channel 34 is Roy Santa Cruz shows us why community leaders are rallying behind the effort. In 1984, James Wales was convicted for the rape and murder of 12-year-old Sherry Lindsay and sentenced to 33 years to life in prison. After becoming eligible for parole in 2017, Wales has been denied parole four separate times, including earlier this year in April. Even though he was denied, Wales now has another shot at freedom. The New York State Parole Board is considering him for a medical parole.

Starting point is 00:24:04 The Lindsay family was notified late last week that Wales will be interviewed by the board due to a non-terminal medical condition. Broom County Sheriff Fred Akshaw says that doesn't matter. You'll have to pardon my lack of sympathy. You'll have to pardon my callousness, but I say who cares? Mr. Wales is exactly where he belongs in prison. Sherry Lindsay was murdered here in 1984. The space has since become a forget-me-not memorial garden to remember not only Sherry and her family, but her father, Dave, who recently passed away, who was also a member of the Binghamton Police Department. He should not be afforded the luxury. He stole from my sister and our family. Before our father's passing, we as a family assured him that we would continue his, continue his and our mother's fight to keep him behind bars. Members of the county legislature, Binghamton Mayor Jared Cramm and others gathered to urge the community to contact the board and recommend a fifth denial of parole for Wales. Broome County Sheriff Fred Akscar called out the parole board at a news conference.

Starting point is 00:25:13 for releasing, in his words, child killers, rousness, and cop killers. He said it was important for the community to come together and strongly message the parole board that James Wales should not be released. He said, it's my deep desire that he dies there in prison. He never sees the light of day. The Binghamton Mayor echoed the sentiment, saying the tragedy of Sherry Lindsay has defined the city for many of its residents. He urged the parole board to not set James Wales free.

Starting point is 00:25:41 For a second time that year, the parole board did not budge. James Wales would remain inside prison. James Wales resides in the Elmira correctional facility in Alden, New York. His next parole hearing is in 2025. While it appears unlikely he will ever be released, his crime of essay would require him to register as an offender if that were to ever happen. Sherry Ann Lindsay was laid to rest in the Shenango Valley Cemetery in Binghamton. In her obituary, the Lindsay family added a heartfelt poem, which read, The pain of losing you has never gone away, and in a few short years, we'll be with you some day. Remembering that little crooked smile is something that will be with us all the while.

Starting point is 00:26:26 We remember your accomplishments in your short little years, and they still bring back a lot of tears. So, Sherry, our hearts are still broken on this sad, sad day. But remember that God will reunite us in his life. his own way. On November 2nd, 2022, the Forget Me Not Memorial Garden in Binghamton was dedicated to children to honor child victims of violence. It is a tranquil environment meant to create a place for families and friends to reflect on the lives taken far too soon. The garden features a walkway and benches surrounded by various calming plants. A set of genie's handprints lie on the walking path

Starting point is 00:27:05 with the words mom written on the stone. The garden grows at six. Six and a half Sturge's Street, the very site where Sherry was murdered. Sherry's parents, Dave and Jeannie Lindsay, have fought to keep Sherry's memory alive through the years. Their grief has left them somewhat stuck in time. Sherry's room is exactly as it was. Her cleats, softball glove, stuffed animals, and other belongings remain in the undisturbed bedroom. And every two years since 2017, when James Wales comes up for parole, they relive their nightmare and fear James will be released into the public.

Starting point is 00:27:43 However, Dave and Jeannie have devoted their lives to serving the Binghamton community. The family established the Sherry-Lenzie Memorial Fund, which raised money to improve the park. The fund also established a college scholarship fund for graduating Binghamton High School students. They also organized donations to Toys for Tots in the Humane Society. In 1991, Dave Lindsay was elected to the Broome County Legislature. He served from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. He was a tireless advocate for victims, especially children. Dave passed away on February 28th of 2023 after a short battle with liver cancer.

Starting point is 00:28:23 He was 81 years old. His obituary donations to the Sherry Lindsay Scholarship Fund were requested in lieu of flowers. For her part, Jeannie continues to keep awareness alive for her daughter and make contributions to the community.

The Misery Machine - The Case of Cheri Lindsey

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