Town Rallies Behind Murderer Who Claims He Was Abused

May 20, 2010— -- Is it ever OK to take the law into your own hands? That question has divided a California community since the murder of a respected town businessman last February.

Aaron Vargas, a 32-year-old father about to be married, shot and killed Darrell McNeill -- a former neighbor and the father of his childhood best friend -- while McNeill's wife watched.

The news shocked the small coastal town of Fort Bragg, but residents were even more stunned to learn of the alleged dark secrets kept for decades between the two men: McNeill had been sexually abused Vargas since age 11.

As Vargas' story of abuse spread, the family said a dozen men in their thirties and forties came forward saying that they too had been abused by Darrell McNeill. Some even said they had gone to warn the Fort Bragg Police Department, but no action was taken.

"This story just kept getting worse and worse. The more we learned, it was just like when we thought things couldn't get any worse, we would find something else out," said Mindy Galliani, Vargas' younger sister.

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Galliani was so outraged that she began a grass roots campaign to tell her brother's story and how he acted to stop the cycle of alleged abuse before it ensnared anyone else. From protests and petitions, to media appearances and fundraising at Saveaaron.com, a once-skeptical community rallied for Vargas, who had been arrested and indicted for first-degree murder.

"The community just stood right up. There were just people coming out of the woodwork. They were saying, 'Let this kid out of jail,'" said Tom Hudson, Vargas' defense attorney.

In jail, Vargas also left behind his fiance Selena Barnett, who feels she's locked in a prison of her own, raising their 18-month-old daughter Josie alone. The night McNeill was shot the couple was two weeks away from their wedding.

"I'm scared to death that he won't come home. And ... if I psych myself up for coming home, then I'm not doing what I need to do for my kid, which is make sure that we have a life," Barnett said.

By keeping Vargas behind bars, Galliani believes law enforcement is perpetuating the cycle of abuse by depriving Josie of a father.

"I know it's their job to prosecute people. But I don't think that includes checking your humanity at the door when you go to do your job. I don't think that includes not having any compassion. I don't think we need to quit being humans in order to do a job," Galliani said. "He doesn't deserve it."