Dallas County Attorney Chuck Sinnard marked the end of the long course of prosecutions in the death of Sabrina Ray of Perry and kidnapping of her younger sisters by thanking his colleagues in the criminal justice system, beginning with his partners in local law enforcement, the Perry Police Department, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Dallas County Sheriff’s office.
“For the 20 months these cases progressed, all five individuals who were charged were incacerated in the Dallas County Jail,” Sinnard said in remarks at the start of Tuesday’s meeting of the Dallas County Board of Supervisors. “That required the sheriff to transport these individuals to court hearings and depositions and various functions. They did so flawlessly.”
Sinnard also thanked his fellow litigators in the Dallas County Attorney’s office, both those directly assigned to the complex of cases and those who freed them up by taking on the extra case work.
“I also wanted to recognize some of the staff in my office: First Assistant Jeannine Ritchie, Assistant Dallas County Attorney Stacy Ritchie and Legal Assistant Audra Ledbetter,” he said. “They were specifically assigned all five cases and put in a tremendous amount of work and effort on those cases.”
The harrowing nature of the crimes shocked Perry and the world, Sinnard said, but justice was served in the end.
“I think Judge Rickers summed it up very well when he said in hearing that anybody who dealt in any way with these cases would never forget them,” he said. “It was a difficult experience, but I think there was some justice achieved, and hopefully the community of Perry and Dallas County and the state of Iowa as a whole can heal and move forward.”
