We Remember Eric

Eric Andrew Kane would be 55 this year if he had not been brutally murdered at 16, as he slept on August 13, 1986.  Eric is greatly missed by his parents, his brother and sister and all who knew and loved him.  He was a truly amazing young man – very bright, funny, sensitive and caring of others, who wanted to make the world a better place.  There is no doubt that the world would be better if he was still here.

For years, Eric spent summers at Camp Takajo in Maine.  The camp had a tradition of taking the oldest boys, on their last year at camp, on a three-week tour of the National Parks.  In the summer of 1986, Eric was on that trip with 3 other boys and a counselor.  They were at a motel in Flagstaff Arizona, on their way to the Grand Canyon.  Eric was in one room with Jacob Wideman, while the other 2 boys and the counselor were next door.  In the middle of the night, while Eric was asleep, Wideman took a knife he had bought in Yellowstone Park and viciously stabbed Eric twice in the chest.  He then ran from the room, stole the car the group had been traveling in, along with $3,000 in travelers checks he found in the car, and traveled around the country.  He turned himself in 8 days later, when he ran out of money.

According to the medical examiner’s report, Eric was in shock and bled to death over a three-hour period.  If Wideman had simply seen the horror of what he had done and called for help from the counselor and/or the police, Eric would be alive today.  Instead, this psychopathic murderer thought of nothing but running away.  When he was interviewed by the police in Flagstaff after his arrest, he said that he and Eric had not been arguing and he had nothing against Eric.  He said, “I had a bad year, and I had to kill someone”.