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Jury members declared Roger Bjorklund guilty of murdering Candice Harms Wednesday. David Badders/DN
Judge schedules
sentencing.date
for January 24
By Alan Phelps
Senior Reporter
Jurors found Roger Dale Bjorklund
guilty Wednesday of the first-degree
murder of Candice Harms.
Bjorklund showed no emotion as the
clerk of the Lancaster County District Court
read the verdict shortly after the jury re
turned at 10:22 a.m.
Bjorklund, wearing leg shackles, a green
shirt and denim jeans, swivelled in his chair
and glanced around the courtroom as the 12
jurors individually verified the verdict by
saying “guilty” or “yes.”
Family and friends of Harms, including
her parents and her boyfriend Todd Scars,
sat directly behind Bjorklund4 in the front
row of the gallery. Many of them had waited
through 13 hours of jury deliberation since
closing arguments ended Monday.
Bjorklund’s wife, Shannon, clutched a
coat and cried as a friend comforted her.
Lancaster County District Judge Donald
Endacott pronounced Bjorklund guilty and
set a sentencing hearing for Jan. 24. Endacott
said he alone would determine Bjorklund’s
sentence rather than the three-judge panel
normally requested for possible death penal
ty cases.
Chief Deputy Public Defender Scott
Hclvie objected to Endacott’s sentencing
decision and was overruled. Bjorklund was
handcuffed and led away by sheriffs depu
ties.
As spectators filed out of the courtroom,
Stan and Pat Harms, Candice Harms’ par
ents, hugged friends, family members and
prosecuting attorneys. The Harmses said
they were thankful Bjorklund was convict
ed.
“Although it doesn’t bring our lovely
Candice back to us,” Stan Harms said, “at
least we know justice prevailed.”
Shannon Bjorklund was led out of the
courtroom by Sheriff Tom Cassidy. She
refused to comment on the verdict.
Helvic did not immediately comment to
reporters other than saying he was not sur
- €4
Although it doesn’t bring
our lovely Candice back
to us, at least we know
justice prevailed.
— Stan Harms
Candice Harms’ father
prised by the verdict.
Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey
said he was “much relieved” jurors found
Bjorklund guilty two days after beginning
deliberations.
“Frankly, 1 was getting a little worried,”
he said. Lacey, who met with jurors before
talking to reporters, said the jury spent the
time going through evidence in the case
piece by piece.
Lacey said jurors examined the question
of whether Bjorklund made his first state
ment to police Dec. 6 because he thought he
might be let out of solitary confinement.
“Ultimately, they concluded the confes
sions were voluntary,” Lacey said.
See VERDICT on 3
Verdict brings smile, memories still linger
By Jeff Zeleny
Senior Editor ___
odd Scars smiled sincerely Wednesday
for the first time in more than a year.
“I’ve been walking around with a fake
smile for 14 months,” he said. ‘‘This afternoon
is the first time I’ve smiled. I can’t stop smil
ing.”
Sears’ girlfriend, Candice Harms, was ab
ducted, raped and slain Sept. 22, 1992. Jurors
Wednesday found Roger Bjorklund guilty of
murdering Harms.
For 13 days, 12 jurors from Cheyenne Coun
ty viewed evidence and heard testimony from
witnesses. Scars, 24, took the stand during the
first day of the trial.
“It was really rough the day Stan, Pat and I
had to testify,” he said. “If none of this would
have happened I could have been planning a
wedding, but instead 1 planned testimony.’’
After the first day. Sears and the Harms
family were sequestered witnesses and not
allowed in the courtroom. Sears said he thought
about the trial constantly and kept up-to-date by
talking to his parents, who attended the pro
ceedings almost every day.
“It consumed every minute of the day,” he
said. “We were banned from the courtroom.
Even though I was at work, I was thinking about
it the whole time. I tried to get any bit of
information 1 could.”
The waiting was the most d i fficul t part of the
trial, he said. As the jury deliberated for 13
hours Monday afternoon, all day Tuesday, and
Wednesday morning, the Harms family and
friends waited near the courtroom.
“We didn’t know what to say to each other,”
he said. “Thankfully, there were a lot of us
there. As soon as one of us started thinking that
way, another one jumped in and said, 'be
patient.’
“It was very trying just sitting there,” Sears
said. “We didn’t know if they were dismissing
the confession or just taking a long time to listen
to them.”
After the verdict was reached Wednesday,
the 12 jurors talked to the Harms family about
the difficult decision they had to make.
See SEARS on 2
Harms rather
says Bjorklund
should receive
death penalty
By Steve Smith
Senior Reporter
Moments after Roger Bjorklund was
convicted of killing Candice Harms, a
relieved but somber Stan Harms said
the men who murdered his daughter should be
executed.
After 13 1/2 hours of deliberation, 12jurors
found Bjorklund guilty Wednesday of the first
degree murder of University of Nebraska-Lin
coln freshman Candice Harms.
When reporters asked if Bjorklund should
receive the death penalty, Pat Harms quickly
replied, “Yes.”
Stan Harms said his family had considered
seriously the question of Bjorklund’s possible
execution.
“We’ve been praying about this a lot the past
year, and it’s definitely a serious question,” he
said. “But I’ve prayed and prayed to Cod, and
I do feel that, yes, there is a place for the death
penalty in our society.
“I feel that both (Bjorklund and Scott Barney)
should get the death penalty.”
Scott Barney is the other man charged in
Harms’ death. He has pleaded guilty to first
degree murder.
Lancaster Lounty ldistrict Juuge txmata
Endacott set Bjorklund’s sentencing for Jan.
24. Prosecutors have requested that Endacott
sentence Bjorklund to death. The victim’s par
ents, flanked by friends and relatives, tearfully
addressed the media for the first time since
Bjorklund’s trial began in late October.
The death penalty should be sought because
neither man involved in the death appeared to
be sorry, Stan Harms said.
“There’s no redeeming value in (Bjorklund
and Barney),” he said. “There’s no remorse in
them ... and that’s the sad thing. Even when the
guilty verdict was in, he still didn’t have any
remorse.”
Stan Harms said he couldn’t feel sorry for
Bjorklund or Barney.
“I don’t know how anybody can have sym
pathy for them,” he said. “They’re frightening
people, and they’re deadly people. We just
don’t need them on our streets.”
But even if the judge sentences Bjorklund to
death, Stan Harms said, he probably wouldn’t
be executed.
He referred to the case of Harold Lamont
“Wili” Otey, who was convicted of murdering
Jane McManus of Omaha in 1978. Through
appeals, Otey has eluded execution for 15
years.
“We’ll probably be going through the next
15 to20 years like the McManus (amily,and we
don’t look forward to that,” he said. “Nobody
should have to go through that — we’ve gone
through enough. Once was enough.
“The state of Nebraska hasn ’ t seen an cxecu
tion since Charlie Starkweather, though, and I
think it’s time that we started getting ridofafew
of these people.”
Stan Harms said the three-week trial had
been extremely difficult for his family.
“It’s like hanging from a cliff, a thousand
See HARMS on 2
NAFTA passage will be positive force, professors say
By Paula Lavigne
Staff Reporter
Two University of Ncbraska-Lincoln pro
fessors said Wednesday the NAFTA vic
tory would give the United States a
stronger international position and President
Clinton a stronger image.
After a heated battle in the House of Repre
sentatives Wednesday night, the North Amer
ican Free Trade Agreement passed with a 234
200 vote. Republicans outnumbered Demo
crats in support of the trade agreement.
Dr. Wes Peterson, UNL agriculture eco
nomics professor, said he was delighted with
NAFTA’s success. He said the trade agreement
would have a smaller effect domestically than
predicted.
“The effects the treaty will have on the
economy arc very small,” he said. “There will
be an enormous impact on positive foreign
relations.
“We turned our back on protectionism in
stead of turning our back on the world,” he said.
NAFTA’s victory for Cl inton will be a down
fall for independent challenger Ross Perot,
Peterson said.
UNL economics professor, Dr. Craig
MacPhee, said he was one of the majority of
economists who favored NAFTA.
MacPhee also said the direct effects of
NAFTA would be small compared to the indi
rect effects.
“AH this stuff about (lost) jobs and wages is
baloney,” he said.
• * “This has been a defining moment for Amer
ica,” MacPhec said. “With the passage of
NAFTA. America has turned outward towards
liberalizing free trade and investments.”
MaePhee said NAFTA also would provide
Clinton with an advantage in negotiating fur
ther trade agreements.
“We have demonstrated we arc willing to
open our market to countries willing to open
their markets to us,” MaePhee said. ‘This will
send a message to Japan and the European
Community.”
MaePhee said NAFTA gave Clinton extra
backing in his meeting with Asian economists
in Seattle this weekend. He said it also would
lend a hand in the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade negotiations in Geneva.
Although NAFTA was a victory for Clinton,
it was not passed as a victory for the Democratic
party.
Political science professor, Dr. Bill Avery,
said the weak Democratic support could be
blamed on organized labor, and the remaining
environmental groups protesting the agreement.
He said a vote for NAFTA by some Demo
cratic representatives would be the “kiss of
death” because many of their constituencies
were labor based.
Avery said, overall, the vote for NAFTA
was important to the president and the United
States.
“This will make us part of the largest trading
block in the world,” he said.
“We shouldn’t be afraid of free trade,”
\\ery said. “It’s the basis of our country.”
