Normally wedding announcements wouldn’t be something MI covers.  Its just not our kind of story; but the marriage of Shelly J. to the deceased convicted killer Edwardo Kagen couldn’t be ignored.  You read that sentence correctly, we said deceased convicted killer. Edwardo Kagen, known to Middlefield residence as the Mattabeseck Butcher, was convicted 31 years ago of brutally murdering 4 people, and one cat. His sentence, death by lethal injection, was carried out 10 years ago after he exhausted all of his appeals.

Usually, the execution would be the end of the story; but for Shelly J., it was just the beginning.  Shelly, a staunch opponent of capital punishment, and a believer in prisoner rights got involved in Kagen’s case after he was convicted and sentenced. Shelly was a champion of Kagen for many years during the appeals process.  After her requests to the Governor Rowland for leniency went unanswered, Shelly became depressed.  It was only the help of her friend and spiritual guild, Tia Two-Wings, that brought Shelly out of her despair.  Ms. Two-Wings is a psychic medium. 

Through her powers Shelly was able to commune with the Mattabeseck Butcher after his execution.  At first, Shelly apologized for failing Kagen when he needed her the most. Realizing that Kagen was now suffering eternal damnation, she felt obligated to help him further. Over many sessions hosted through Two-Wings, Shelly began to fall in love as she felt that Kagen had become repentant and was changing for the better. Shelly told MI “Edward really is a good man who’s learned his lesson. He’s changed for the better. It’s the new Edward that I’ve fallen in love with. Naturally when he proposed marriage I was surprised, but the more I searched my feelings, the more I realized I had to say yes.’ 

The hard part, Shelly confesses, was finding a priest willing to perform the ceremony.  Given Kagen’s poor reputation, unclear laws about marriage to the dead, not to mention everyone’s belief that he is in Hell, no reputable priest was willing to perform the ceremony.  Father O’Malley, of Middlefield’s St. Colman Church, said “Marriage is a sacred union between a living man and woman.  I’ve never had to put a qualifier in that statement before.  It saddens me to do it now.  Further, the Church doesn’t approve of communion with the dead.  It is just a bad idea that often leads to demonic possession.”

Fortunately for Shelly and the Butcher, there were friendly Wiccans on hand to offer their help. During a full moon ceremony the Wiccan coven joined Shelly and the spirit of Edwardo together. Several members of the coven had expressed some reservations about this marriage, but confessed to being romantics at heart. “We think Shelly’s excitement is so romantic. We’ve never seen anything this special on the Bachelorette. How could we not support her and Edwardo?”

After many years of courtship the special day came this past May 16th during that month’s full moon . MI wishes Shelly all the best, and a happy future.