Family of Snohomish murder victim thanks community for support

Editor’s Note: John Kuljis, Jr., 31, of Everett, is accused of murdering Barbara Decker inside her Snohomish home on Feb. 19, while he was there with his uncle to perform work on her bathroom. Her daughter, Janine Shaffer, 62, was seriously injured.

My friends,

On behalf of all of my family, I wish to thank our friends, coworkers and our wonderful community for the amazing support we have received since Feb. 19, 2017, the worst day of our lives. Thank you also to our public servants, going above and beyond their duties, searching, investigating, arresting, charging, the medical professional who saved my sister’s life, and to those have extended their helping hands, and their thoughts and prayers. Many wonderful people have stepped forward, each in their own way, and really have rescued us from what might have been an overwhelming tragedy. A tragedy which struck my family, the like of which we have never known before. My elderly mother, Barbara Decker, was murdered while she was washing dishes in her home, and seconds afterwards, the same murderer who killed her, tried to kill her daughter, Janine Shaffer, a grandmother herself. But Janine is strong. She fought back, and won her life. The murderer was arrested, and is in jail, facing charges.

I’m sure that the killer wasn’t always like this, and that he may have done many good things in his life, and probably had people who loved him. Any positive act, however will forever be tainted by what he has done. Anyone who knows him, now must, when they think of him, imagine what he has done to my family, and try to understand it. I try to understand what he did and why. I cannot. But both my mother and father faced adversity when they were young. They became strong, and they raised strong children. 

We are still here. This evil effort to destroy us has failed. We are supported by many who care for and love us, and our children will go on and will be stronger for it. But we will remember. Always.

Mark Glover