Deanna Lieber's father refuses to say the name of his daughter's killer. But he's relieved he knows who it is now. Ever since 2009, he had wondered who pulled the trigger that took his daughter's life.
"It is something I've been thinking about since that night," Bud Wackerle told 41 Action News.
Lieber, her mother-in-law and Lieber's daughter Tessa were on their way home from a show at Starlight Theater in 2009. A bullet hit Lieber in the neck. She died. Detectives hunted for the person who killed her.
On Monday, 35-year-old Calah Johnson pleaded guilty to firing the shot that killed Lieber. He says he was aiming for someone else.
"I guess I don’t hate the guy that did it, I hate what he did, I hate that he would do that. I hope I can forgive him someday, I will try," Wackerle said.
Wackerle said he doesn’t want to talk to Johnson. He said Johnson has never reached out and apologized to the family or sent any message.
At 45 years old, Lieber had already accomplished a lot. She graduated from Mizzou as a mechanical engineer. Then she graduated from KU Law and served as the chief counsel for the Kansas Department of Education. Her true passion was being a mom to her son Dustin, who is now 26, and her daughter Tessa, who is now 21.
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