BY DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY APRIL 25, 2022) — THE PLANET knew going in that the story of 10-month-old Kristoff Zanopoulas while in the foster control (we won’t say “care”) of Cassanda Barlow-Tucker and Matt Tucker would hit an ethical nerve, a judicial cranial, and a political funny bone.

The 3,000-word column in The Weekend Edition especially stirred outrage and gratitude, callousness and compassion, ire and gratitude, with almost universal — what shall we call it? — shock, awe, frustration.? Whatever the word is, you can find it under “e” for emotional. We owe this heavily-trafficked-to-the-point-of-gridlock traffic to the way we dealt with the fact and evidence the Commonwealth presented to the grand jury. In fact, THE PLANET had so much traffic, that at one point Saturday, the site wouldn’t load. Our IT guru fixed the problem.

It’s telling, don’t you think, that not one person condoned the actions of the Tuckers. This includes PCTV, where he last worked and likely still does. They’ve taken down the bios of its board of directors. They’ve taken down the staff listing, which, if up and active, would have included Tucker. Our guess is that they don’t want to do that. Indictment for manslaughter and reckless endangerment of an infant — a case that was not permitted to go to trial with guilt or non-guilt decided and therefore unresolved — isn’t the kind of thing companies typically want to advertise.

Come to think of it, THE PLANET can’t recall ever seeing celebrity endorsements from the likes of Richard Speck, Charles Whitman, John Wayne Gacy, or the Boston Strangler. Of course, we realize we will be chastised by John Q. Public for bring up non-sequiturs. In this specific instance, we would have to agree.

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Reactions to our coverage has been passionate and heartfelt, visceral and voluminous. This gratifies us. Because of technicalities and legalisms of precedent, justice has been temporarily denied for a seriously ill, choking, helpless infant left to die alone in his crib. THE PLANET says temporarily. Why we say this we shall have to keep to ourselves for the time being. Morally, however, rest assured the karmic payback has just begun for the guilty in this case. They know who they are. They are reminded every time they’re in the bathroom, preparing for bed, and having to look at their bestial, uncultured craws in the mirror.

Fortunately, in the unalterable metaphysics of the universe, Karmic law in such an unimpeachable court gets meted out by supra-legal ethicists. The road to redemption of the truly guilty in this case won’t be easy for the poor bastards who bear guilt. We’re just glad it’s not us or the district attorney. We’re not saying who it is. We are here on earth, still earthbound in this veil of tears, hence, we shall leave that to the criminal justice system. Again, the system has not yet had the chance to clears the Tuckers or to hang them.

Speaking of Andrea Harrington, we privately have stated that, at least in this case, we felt as if she were acting as OUR attorney. That is the highest fulfillment of office a district attorney or prosecutor can bring to the table that sits beyond the rail and one of the most resounding endorsements any prosecutor can receive. We applaud Harrington, and THE PLANET knows that we will take our lumps for it. Bring it on, we say.

Unlike those who bear an irrational, ideological hate of not the office but Harrington herself, the person, THE PLANET is not only capable of judging cases on their individual merits but morally and professionally duty bound to “call ’em as we see ’em.” We hav street cred for our previous, sometimes blistering coverage of the D.A.’s office. Past won’t ever influence present at this address, not to the extent that is humanly possible.

Readers’ commentary of our coverage has tended to primarily laud THE PLANET for our investigative work, diligence, reportage, and analysis. The other side also was well represented. We were accused of having sold out. To whom we know not. We also heard “They got to you.” Who “they” are escapes us. The Mssrs. Anonymous who believe and charge us with that won’t say “who” bought us or for how much? There’s a simple reason: that it’s fake news.

Actually, one person “got to us.” His name is Kristoff Zenopolous, the dead infant, spotless in total innocence. THE PLANET, the harpies said, wrote out of a personal vendetta against the Tuckers. Not true; we have nothing but love in our heart for them and all of humankind. They also criticized THE PLANET for “attacking” Judge John Agostini. Laughable. First, we were dealing with the judge’s ruling, not the judge’s person. Second, we have repeatedly emphasized our respect for the judge in his professional capacities. He’s a first-rate jurist and the county court is fortunate to have him.

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THE PLANET found (and finds) the testimony introduced to the grand jury clearly pointing to the Tuckers’ culpability. So did the grand jury, lest you forget. Three items particularly stand out for us as egregious parental failings that demand justice:

• The Husband. No monitoring. Matt Tucker enters the room where Baby Kristoff is fighting for his life, “gasping” [for air] and coughing-with-plegmmy-pus  nonstop. Tucker nonetheless eaves the room sometime between 6:35 and 7:17. He exits WITHOUT CHECKING ON THE BABY. Who does that?? Let it sink in: He walks away from an infant with the undeveloped immune system of all 10-months old, one who’s been sick for two months and who is now in a near-terminal phase.
• The Wife. Cassandra Barlow-Tucker’s blog. Judge Agostini cited the inclusion of these 70 pages by the Commonwealth in its presentation to the grand jury as prejudicial and the prosecution’s biggest mistake. We understand the logic. There is, however, one blog item that won’t go away, one that should have been heard by the grand jury. THE PLANET refers to the woman’s entry on another of their foster kids — one of 20 she and hubby have had in four+ years, suggesting the possibility that they were in it for the money. The subject of the wife’s venom was a four-year-old boy, three years below what the Catholic Church considers the “age of reason.” She writes: “GET THIS LITTLE ASSHOLE OUT OF OUR HOUSE” [our italics and capitals]. Think about that. Moms might think such things in moments when kids make them crazy, but what kind of mom WRITES and then PUBLISHES it? THE PLANET wonders. So do you, probably. So do the overwhelmingly vast majority of good, decent people. If Barlow-Tucker was comfortable publishing that kind of hateful sentence, what kind of language did she use with the helpless little boy when alone with him? How did she treat him physically? We shudder at the thought. Child abuse, in effect and in a de-facto manner endorsed by DCF? We don’t know. We only ask.

• Husband and Wife. At 7:29, the bedroom camera activates again. From Judge Agostini’s report: “Kristoff is heard gasping and coughing, and is seen rolling partially onto his right side and grabbing one of the spindles of the crib.” In short, he’s wracked with agony. In the 12 minutes from 7:17 to 7:29, the baby’s torture intensifies dramatically. No one is there, still, to check on him. In fact, neither of this Ward-and-June-Cleaver couple thinks to check in on the boy until 8:37 the next morning. Unchecked for 12-13 hours. Too late. He’s dead. You might be okay living with that without a trial, but THE PLANET isn’t.

Much has been made of Barlow-Tucker’s alleged maternal instincts kicking in by her CPR attempt after finding the baby dead in the crib. It’s possible, but we’re not buying it. The video shows her doing CPR, alright. That’s not in dispute. Ah, but WHY did she do  it? The more plausible answer isn’t her “Donna Reed” instincts being activated. More likely, she does CPR either strictly for show or with the camera running or from panic, something along the lines of “Oh shit. He died. Our racket is up now. We’re finished. No more DCF checks.” Obviously, we can’t know. It’s speculation. So why do we raise this possibility?

• The child has obviously been dead for a number of hours, likely somewhere near 12 hours.
• Rigor mortis has set in.
• No one attempts CPR on a corpse that exhibits lividity, a blueish-purple coloring of the skin after rigor mortis, as the medical examiner testified.

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There has been a murderous wrong committed.

The Commonwealth agreed. A grand jury agreed. Public opinion seems to agree.

In the name of all that is right and good, the Commonwealth must re-introduce this case back into the criminal justice system. We have reason to believe it will happen.

We believe sufficient evidence is there to produce an indictment, one that will hold up and from there proceed to trial.

Let the Tuckers receive that fair trial. We The People will accept a jury’s verdict, up or down, and consider the affair honorably settled.

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If your actions do not live up to your words, you have said nothing. — DeShane Stokes.

LOVE TO ALL.

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