My father received a call from a Journal Inquirer reporter yesterday looking to track me down about the post that covered the accident and the murder across the street. The reporter was a nice fellow just looking for my take on Calvert Wray as one of his neighbors.  My head still hurts trying to reconcile the murder with the man I knew, though I suppose that is the cliche, “But he was such a nice man!”.

For James Elwood Jr., a neighbor of the couple’s on Park Avenue, nothing about the slim, mild-mannered Wray troubled him. To the contrary, Elwood thought Wray was quite a gentlemen.

Elwood met Wray at a neighborhood barbecue last summer. Wray introduced himself using his middle name, Sean, and said he’d just moved in to the 145 Park Ave. home with Maxine.

He was at the barbecue with Maxine’s older son, Anthony, and chatted comfortably with guests, Elwood recalls. He was impressed, and welcomed him to the neighborhood.

“He was just this unassuming gentleman, very polite,” Elwood says.

After Wray and Roberts were married, Elwood saw Wray again in early December. It was then that Wray told him how much he was looking forward to a New England Christmas, Elwood says. The two also traded tips on holiday decorating. To Elwood, all seemed well at the Wrays’ home across the street. It was quiet. No loud music. No parties. He thought they were good neighbors.

And nearing the close of the article:

Elwood still can’t fathom the anger it must have taken to carry out the attack on Cooke.

“The amount of rage someone must have had to carry this out - it’s shocking,” he says. “And to think, my last conversation with him was about the reindeer for his Christmas display - it’s very surreal.”

You can read the whole article over at the JI’s website. It is a tasteful piece that gives the mother a chance to publicly reflect on what is quite possibly the most painful thing a parent can go through.