To the Editor,
On behalf of my good friends Geraldo Cadava '00 and Ross Fenderson '00, I would like to take this opportunity to set a few things straight. I believe that the article published in the March 4 edition of The Dartmouth was full of misinformation and lacked many key elements of the story. Whether this was the result of journalistic ignorance, misinformation given by the Hanover Police Department or the fact that only one side of the story was presented does not matter. The fact still remains that the article was false and borderline slanderous.
First and foremost, Gerry Cadava and Ross Fenderson are not "accused of stealing a Fender Sratocaster electric guitar and three portable stereos from the basement of [Sigma Phi Epsilon]." Instead, they are only accused of stealing one stereo. At least, that's what it says on the pink slip Cadava got from the police. Perhaps that slip is wrong and your article March 4th is telling the truth.
Furthermore, a search warrant was never issued so police could search Fenderson's room. In fact, police were only led there by a string of random coincidences, and in fact stumbled upon the radio in Ross' room by mistake.
Now for the real story: Fenderson and Cadava are not hardened criminals as the photographs on the cover of the March 4 issue may suggest. When Cadava awoke the morning after he had taken the items from Sig Ep, he was beside himself. He couldn't believe he had done such a thing, and wanted to rectify the matter as soon as possible. Frankly, the whole thought of what he had done the night before sickened him. It was merely an irrational drunken decision to play a prank which turned out to be a mistake. For this reason, Cadava and Fenderson decided to try to anonymously return the guitar to Matt Ellis as soon as possible. Being a guitarist himself, Cadava knew that stealing another person's guitar was a terrible crime, and wanted to make things better quickly. Soon thereafter, Ellis got his guitar back. The stereos were going to be returned anonymously in the near future as well, until the police intervened and what started as a prank became a ridiculously false article in your paper and a terrible reality for my friends.
There was no criminal intent whatsoever when my friends took the items from Sig Ep. The whole thing started, and should have ended, as a prank. I know that Geraldo Cadava and Ross Fenderson don't have the capacity to maliciously steal. Now, the College and the law are involved, and my two friends will have to pay for a mistake that could have easily been rectified without any unfavorable consequences for either party. And, thanks to your paper, an already horrible situation for two excellent people was made even worse.
