Moving On To A `Better Place' -- Verdict Revives Spirits Of Slain Woman's Parents

Dotty and Carl Fehring are ready to move on from their daughter's murder - ready, they say, to make the world a better place.

The proof is in their Christmas cards. They are about to be mailed now that a jury has convicted Eric Hayden, a 32-year-old millworker, of killing their daughter, Dawn.

In King County Superior Court yesterday, the jury reached the guilty verdict on charges of first-degree murder after about two hours of deliberations.

Fehring, a 27-year-old Bible student and former missionary, was found dead last Mother's Day in her Kirkland condominium.

Her parents, who live in Olympia, are now mailing about 200 Christmas cards, handmade by Dawn Fehring just before her death. Inside the card is a photo of Dawn, which she sent to her mother in a Mother's Day card last year, and a letter the family wrote, recounting her last weeks.

The letter closes, "Christ has prevailed in his love."

That line, says Carl Fehring, refers to the thousands of dollars the family received after Dawn's death. The money will be used to fund scholarships and missionary work, allowing Dawn to do God's work for eternity.

"We didn't feel that her death was necessarily God's finger pointing to her, but that it opens all sorts of possibilities," Carl Fehring said.

After the verdict, the Fehrings thanked the prosecutor and waited in the hallway for the jury. Dotty Fehring thanked them and showed them Dawn's photo and a card.

The family takes comfort in that card, a Christmas message Dawn sent to her parents in 1994.

She wrote, "I love you and am never far away from you in spirit." She asked her family to remember that Christmas is about Christ, who had neither a "trouble-free life, nor a peaceful death - but, oh, what a glorious return we have to look forward to!"

Above the message she drew some musical notes and wrote, "I'll be home for Christmas." Below her signature she wrote, "If only in my dreams."

Prosecutors never established a clear motive for Fehring's slaying, other than that Hayden had the opportunity. Although he did not know her, his condominium was directly above hers.

Defense attorneys said Hayden was drunk the night Fehring was strangled, and had merely stumbled through the open door to her unit, and into her bedroom.

Hayden will likely be sentenced within the next four to six weeks. The standard sentence for first-degree murder is 20 to 26 years.