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Gloria Rivera has posted pictures of her brother Reinaldo J. Rivera on a Web site to honor him.
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A Web site that portrays "Reinaldo Rivera, the human being" is drawing outrage from at least one relative of his alleged victims.
Gloria Rivera created two Internet Web sites to honor her brother, including one that has youthful photographs of him laughing and posing in Navy uniforms. On the same page is a copy of a 1991 letter of commendation signed by then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell. The letter praises Mr. Rivera for great work in Mr. Powell's office and wishes him "continued success in your future endeavors."
Ms. Rivera topped the Internet page with a personal note: "We tend to forget that every man is greater than his worst deed. We really need to understand what went wrong, why this terrible thing happened."
But the page has angered Chanda Wilson, the sister-in-law of slaying victim Tiffaney Wilson, who communicated with Ms. Rivera for more than a year after Tiffaney's slaying. She said she stopped talking to Ms. Rivera when Ms. Rivera began defending her brother's actions.
Ms. Wilson said she disagrees with Ms. Rivera's idea that society should try to understand a murder suspect.
"There is nothing to understand. The sick bastard should not be able to get his vacation in jail while my niece, my brother and our family, as well as other victims' families, are grieving without their family member," Ms. Wilson said.
Ms. Wilson, who lives in Louisiana, also has created a Web site, and it honors the four women Mr. Rivera is accused of killing. Ms. Wilson's brother, Joshua, was married to Tiffaney.
"It's real hard sometimes without Tiffaney," she writes on her page. "(It's) real hard to think about her and all she went through before her life was taken. Luckily, with the help of many wonderful friends, I am doing good, and so is my brother Josh and our family."
Ms. Rivera, who lives in Puerto Rico, declined interview requests by The Augusta Chronicle. She answered an e-mail by having a friend call the newspaper on her behalf to decline to comment.
A capital murder trial for Mr. Rivera is set for March 10 in Richmond County Superior Court. He was arrested in October 2000 after he allegedly raped and stabbed a teenage girl who barely survived, police said.
Mr. Rivera, who survived a suicide attempt before his arrest, has told investigators that he raped and killed four women: Tiffaney, Melissa Dingess, Tabatha L. Bosdell and Army Sgt. Marni M. Glista, according to authorities.
ON THE WEB
Chanda Wilson's Web site about her slain sister-in-law is at www.geocities.com/katy_42818/ttt.html.
Gloria Rivera's Web site about her brother is at www.angelfire.com/fl3/starke/reinaldorivera2.html.
Reach Greg Rickabaugh at (706) 828-3851 or greg.rickabaugh@augustachronicle.com.
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