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well-wishers respectfully marched in and out of his hospital room, he claimed that “Scriptures of comfort came to mind” and described it as if “God gave me a shot of Novocain” to deal with the pain of the complete and total upheaval he was now about to embark on.
    Miraculously, on the same night his beloved wife, Tricia, and his equally beloved youngest son, Kevin, were murdered, Kent Whitaker decided to invoke a “conscious act of will.” He forgave the shooter.
    Not wanting to be burdened with the additional emotional turmoil wrought by anger, Kent made an emphatic decision to forgo anger and hatred. Instead, he decided to turn his faith over to God. According to Kent, he stated, “I wanted whoever was responsible to come to Christ and repent for this awful act.”
    Kent’s decision to forgive startled even himself. Earlier, he felt the normal feelings of an individual who had a loved one ripped away from him—depression, anger, the desire to kill his wife and son’s killer. He stated, however, that once he decided to forgive the killer for the murders, “This forgiveness astounded me.” He believed the act saved his life and changed everything for the better.

6
     
    Thursday, December 11, 2003, 7:00 P.M .
Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital
Sugar Land, Texas
     
    The night after the murders, Detective Marshall Slot and his partner, B. W. “Billy” Baugh, paid a visit to Kent and Bart Whitaker at the hospital in their shared room, which had been upgraded from a double to a hospitality suite to hold their numerous visitors. Slot and Baugh were able to speak with both men about the previous night’s fateful encounter. Detective Slot introduced himself to the two men and informed them that he would be lead detective on their case.
    Detective Slot wanted to learn more about the Whitakers so he could possibly unearth a single clue as to why someone would rob them and attempt to kill their entire family. Kent and Bart recalled the events from the night before in as much detail as they possibly could.
    They also spoke about their various backgrounds in education and employment. Kent informed Detective Slot that he had been employed as an accountant for his wife’s father’s construction company for a number of years.
    Bart spoke about his education and his impending graduation ceremony from Sam Houston State University, in Huntsville, Texas, which was to take place the following night. Bart added that he was interested in working in law enforcement and would be taking part in an internship with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after graduation. He wanted to become a detective, just like Slot.
    The detectives left the two grieving men to their own devices. Detective Slot expressed his condolences for the losses of Kevin and Tricia. He let them know he would be available for them at any time, if they thought of anything else that happened the night before, or if they could think of any reason why someone would want to cause them harm.
    The Whitakers thanked Slot and Baugh and returned to healing and commiserating.
     
     
    The following day, Detective Slot began to make a series of phone calls trying to track down as much information about the Whitakers and any of their acquaintances as possible. The detective mostly came up with dead ends, either with no information or simply that the Whitakers were well-liked and appeared to have no enemies.
    Most of Slot’s efforts seemed to bear no fruit. That is, until he received a phone call from the bursar’s office of Sam Houston State University.
    Detective Slot was stunned by the phone call he received. He knew he only had one option—he needed to speak to the oldest brother, Bart, at the hospital. The detective drove back up to Memorial Hermann and made his way toward the twenty-three-year-old’s room. He walked into the room and saw Bart sitting up, watching television. Kent Whitaker was not in the room.
    “Hello, Bart,” Slot greeted the young