Friends, Family Remember Sherri Dally

Surrounded by weeds off a remote one-lane road, a simple wooden cross marks the spot where two years ago today Sherri Dally’s beaten and stabbed body was rolled into a steep ravine.

Although it will bring little comfort, Dally’s friend, Debbie English, plans to visit the site today. And then, like every other day, she will wait for the pain to ease and her grief to go away.

“It was a senseless death,” English said. “I think as time goes on, it will be less painful. But it will always be there.”

Unlike last year, Dally’s friends and relatives do not intend to hold a candlelight vigil in her remembrance on this day. But she will be in their thoughts just the same.

“She was forever loved and never forgotten,” said Dally’s mother, Karlyne Guess, who on Monday lit a candle for her daughter that will burn all week in her Santa Maria home.

Some relatives hope the anniversary will pass with little fanfare to shield Dally’s two boys--Devon, 10, and Max, 8--from the haunting memories of the day their mother never came home.

Said niece Hannah Murray: “It’s a lot easier if they don’t remember.”

And as they struggle to get past May 6, friends and relatives wait anxiously for prosecutors to announce whether they will retry the penalty phase of convicted killer Michael Dally’s trial.

The 37-year-old former grocery clerk was convicted a month ago of planning his wife’s slaying with his longtime mistress, Diana Haun.

Both were found guilty of first-degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy during separate trials. Haun was sentenced to life in prison without parole, but Dally’s jury deadlocked April 24 on whether to sentence him to death or life in prison.

A court hearing is set for Monday, when prosecutors must tell Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell Jr. whether they want to pursue a second penalty phase before a new jury.

If they do not, Dally automatically would be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Prosecutors declined Tuesday to discuss whether they have reached a decision and said they will not make an announcement before Monday.

Michael Dally’s relatives are hopeful prosecutors will settle for a life sentence and not push forward with the case.

“I hope they just give him life and not put us through this again,” said Murray, who testified during both trials. She wants prosecutors to “allow us to start healing and stop opening the wound.”

It was exactly two years ago that Sherri Dally, a 35-year-old day-care provider, disappeared from a Target parking lot in Ventura.

According to witnesses, she was approached by a blond woman driving a teal-colored car who handcuffed Dally and placed her into the back seat. Dally was never seen or heard from again.

After three weeks, a volunteer search party found Dally’s skeletal remains scattered in the bottom of a gully about 11 miles north of Ventura off Canada Larga Road. She had been beaten and stabbed, and the medical examiner said she may have been beheaded.

Memories of those initial weeks continue to weigh heavy on friends and family during this time of year.

“It totally exhausts your emotions,” said Guess, explaining that a triad of dates--her daughter’s abduction, Mother’s Day and her own birthday next week--makes this period even more difficult.

“Today is OK, yesterday was bad. Tomorrow, I’m not sure,” Guess said Tuesday. “If I can get through the week, I feel I’ll survive.”

News reports of Sherri Dally’s disappearance and the high-profile trials that followed have exacerbated her family’s grief and anger, Guess said. Her frustration lies in the fact that Sherri is often described as the victim of a brutal crime and not as the vibrant individual she once was.

“She was a person for 35 years before she was thrown down that ravine,” Guess said. “She was a real warm, loving, kind, happy, spunky, caring child and woman. And I would like those things to be remembered.”

Two weeks ago Sherri’s parents, brother and two closest friends took the witness stand during the penalty phase of Michael Dally’s trial to do just that.

They told jurors about Sherri Dally’s characteristics and explained how her death has forever altered their lives, leaving emotional scars that may never heal.

“She was a very good friend,” said English, addressing jurors in a soft voice. “She was someone I could confide in. She was someone who was dependable for me.”

English saw Sherri Dally nearly every day. Their children played together, and they both ran day-care businesses out of modest Ventura homes. But those days are long gone.

Now, English said she is haunted by thoughts of her best friend’s slaying. Her children--ages 5, 7 and 9--struggle with issues of abandonment. English and her husband have sold their three-bedroom house because they said they can’t stand to look down the street at the Dallys’ former home, which has also been sold. Dally’s sons now live farther up the block, with their paternal grandparents.

“For my children, they don’t want their mom to leave,” English said during her recent testimony. “They’re afraid she won’t come back.”

Karlyne Guess told the jury she thinks often about how her daughter died--and how she wishes she could have been there to protect her.

“The fear that she must have felt in the back seat of that car,” Guess said, dabbing tears from her eyes. “I wish I could have taken that knife out of Diana Haun’s hand.”

For Guess and her husband, Ken, the agony of losing their only daughter is impossible to forget.

There is no closure.

There is no such thing as moving on.

“It is always there,” Guess said Tuesday. “You wake up to it every morning, you go to bed with it every night. How can you close out a portion of your life?”