Writings - Remeta's execution set for March 31

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December 10, 1997

TRAVERSE CITY — Sgt. Ken Dible was a patrol officer in 1985 when he was called to the scene of a bloody shootout in a Kansas field.

Dible handcuffed the man at the center of the shootout, Traverse City native Daniel Remeta, ending a five-day multi-state crime spree that left six people dead.

When told that Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles had signed Remeta's death warrant Tuesday, Dible's first reaction consisted of one word - "Good."

Dible, a 22-year veteran of the Colby, Kan., police department, said the killing spree tore the fabric of the 5,000-citizen town. The sergeant knew the two men who Remeta killed execution-style in Colby Feb. 13. Remeta also shot the father of a National Guard buddy that day.

"Remeta is not a nice person," Dible said. "He likes to kill people, and he told people that when he was here in jail. ... He bragged about it."

Now, Remeta has less than four months to live. Chiles set Remeta's execution for 7:01 a.m. March 31.

Besides Remeta, Chiles also signed a death warrant Tuesday for Judi Buenoano, 54. Dubbed the "Black Widow" by prosecutors, Buenoano was condemned in 1985 for fatally poisoning her husband, Air Force Sgt. James E. Goodyear, in 1971. She also was convicted of killing her 19-year-old paralyzed son by pushing him from a canoe and of attempted murder in a car bombing that injured her boyfriend.

The executions were scheduled for late March because of the legal and political debate over use of Florida's 74-year-old electric chair, which produced a foot-long flame during the March 25 execution of Pedro Medina. After months of court hearings and arguments, Florida's high court issued a 4-3 opinion in October ruling that death in the electric chair was not cruel or unusual.

Lisa Dunn of Traverse City, a former girlfriend of Remeta's and unwilling accomplice during the five- day crime spree, was reluctant to discuss her feelings about the upcoming execution.

"I feel very sad for everyone involved," she said.

She was reluctant to say more in part because of her own legal troubles, said her mother, Jean.

Remeta, Dunn and a friend, Mark Walter of Suttons Bay, left Traverse City on Jan. 27, 1985 with a handgun belonging to Dunn's father. By the time they were arrested in Colby on Feb. 13, 1985, six people were dead, including Walter.

Remeta, 39, has been on death row in a Florida prison since 1986. He was sentenced to death for fatally shooting Mehrle "Chet" Reeder, a convenience store clerk in Ocala Fla. He also has been convicted of three murders in Kansas, where he faces five life sentences after pleading guilty to the kidnapping and murder of two men and the murder of another.

Dunn served almost nine years in a Kansas prison for being Remeta's accomplice. She was set free after a new trial in which she argued that Remeta battered her and she feared he would kill her if she tried to leave. Sent to Arkansas to face murder charges there, she was sentenced to 20 years but released after being credited for time served.

Dunn's release hinged on her remaining out of trouble. In January, she was accused of embezzling thousands of dollars from a Traverse City psychologist who had hired her as an office manager. If convicted of felony embezzlement charges, she could be returned to Arkansas to serve all or part of the remaining 11 years.

Jean Dunn believes no good will come from putting Remeta to death. She argued that punishing murderers by killing them is a fallacy.

"It's like teaching a little kid not to hit by hitting him," she said. "Maybe for the victim's families it'll be different, but for us it's just sad."

At least one victim's family has already come to terms with Remeta's actions.

David Marvin of Arkansas said he no longer follows the news about Remeta, the man who shot and killed his wife more than 12 years ago. Linda Marvin, 41, was working at a small "mom and pop" convenience store in Mulberry, Ark., when Remeta walked in, shot her seven times and took $556 from the cash register.

Rather than lash out at Remeta, the Marvin family gave him a leather-bound Bible with his name engraved on the front.

Today Marvin has gotten on with his life, relying on his faith as a born-again Christian.

"It's not that I don't think about it sometimes," he said, noting that he read recent stories in Arkansas papers about Lisa Dunn's latest brush with the law.

But Marvin, who remarried several years ago, said he refuses to dwell on the past or hold a grudge against Remeta.

"I've turned that over to the Lord a long time ago," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.