AMHERST – The decision to include in the 2010 Souhegan High School Yearbook photographs of two of the five men charged in connection with the brutal murder of Mont Vernon resident Kimberly Cates was made by school administrators after the issue was discussed by the yearbook committee, the school administration, the Community Recovery Group, and the parents of William Marks and Quinn Glover.
Superintendent of Schools Mary Athey Jennings defended the decision. "Because both students were and continue to be Souhegan High School students, their names and photos were included," Jennings said. "Both boys are receiving educational services while incarcerated."
Glover and Marks, both 18 and from Amherst, were seniors at Souhegan before being arrested and charged in connection with the murder of Kimberly Cates and the vicious attack on her 11-year-old daughter in their home last fall.
Glover pleaded guilty to robbery and burglary charges on March 1 and will spend 20 to 40 years in prison. Glover has agreed to testify against three other men accused in the case: Marks, Steven Spader and Christopher Gribble. Marks has been charged with first-degree murder, first-degree assault, conspiracy to commit murder, and conspiracy to commit burglary. He has pleaded innocent to all charges.
Staff and administrators at the school struggled with the decision, according to Pody Hansbrough, a volunteer from Mont Vernon who serves on the Community Recovery Group that was pulled together to help people in Amherst and Mont Vernon cope with the murder.
"The staff really struggled with it. They weren't sure it was right to include the pictures, but they also didn't want to simply erase these kids from existence," Hansbrough said.
The parents of both Marks and Glover were called and asked whether they wanted to submit photos, said Hansbrough, and both welcomed the opportunity.
"It was a very emotional decision on all sides, and it was emotional just hearing about it," Hansbrough said.
Principal Jim Bosman said he has received few complaints about the inclusion of the photos.
"I have received one phone call from a parent, and not one single student has come to me and said they have a problem with this," Bosman said.
The administration and the yearbook staff carefully considered the yearbook policy regarding photographs and found no justifiable reason to exclude Marks' and Glover's photos from the book, he said.
"You can't just exclude photographs on a whim," he said. "We've never excluded someone from the yearbook, and we had no cause to do so this time."
But several students and parents said they were surprised to see images of Marks and Glover among the senior pictures when yearbooks were handed out Friday.
One parent, who refused to be named, said the decision was a "slap in the face" to the Cates family and to the residents of Mont Vernon.
"Every time they open their yearbooks, they're going to be reminded of that tragedy," she said.
A Souhegan senior named Igor, who refused to give his last name, said, "I was shocked. They were eliminated from our society, so I was not expecting to see them in there."
School board member Jeanne Ludt said she was curious to know whether anything could be done at this point to alter the decision.
"The school board obviously knew nothing about this," said Ludt.
Mont Vernon resident Wesley Sonner and some others said they were hoping the inclusion of the two young men was a mistake.
But other students said the two men were part of the senior class and deserved their place in the yearbook.
"They have a right to be in there," said a senior named Don. "They were seniors; they were part of the school."
Don said he grew up with the two young men and wants the opportunity to be able to look at the photos and recall the good memories with Marks and Glover.
"They had a lot of friends in this school," he said.
Casey Nivens, an underclassman at Souhegan, agreed.
"They're technically seniors, they're part of the school, so they belong in the yearbook," she said.
But her mother, Sherri, thought the decision made no sense.
"They're not graduating with their class, so why include them?" she said.
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