Slain attorney's wardrobe donated to provide defendants proper attire

Shelley, who was fatally shot in June, always tried to help the less fortunate whenever he had a chance.

His widow recently honored his memory by donating his wardrobe to the Yuma Public Defender's Office so destitute defendants can increase their chances of having a fair trial.

"Since there are indigent defendants, we have always had to provide clothing for our clients in case they don't have any," said Jose de la Vara, head of the Yuma County Legal Defender's Office. "When a person appears before a jury, you want the verdict based on the evidence, not on whether they look down and out."

Prior to the donation, public and legal defenders had to borrow clothes from Goodwill for their clients who lacked appropriate attire.

"Now, with this extremely generous gesture, we don't have to do that anymore," de la Vara said.

Three weeks ago, de la Vara was notified by Judge John Nelson that Nancy Shelley wanted to donate the clothing.

"So I called her and she said that this was something that Jerry would have loved to have done and he would have liked that his clothes were being used this way," de la Vara said.

De la Vara and Mike Breeze, head of the Yuma County Public Defender's Office, met with Nancy Shelley to pick up the wardrobe and were surprised to find such an extensive collection of clothing.

"I was just blown away by how much clothing there was," de la Vara said. "Essentially, they took the clothes right out of the closet and gave it to us. Most of the clothes still had the tags on them, so they were in excellent condition. We are really fortunate to have this available to us."

Jerrold Shelley, 62, was shot and killed inside his downtown Yuma law office on June 2. Authorities said Carey Hal Dyess, 73, killed a total of five people and wounded another person before taking his life.

Shelley represented Dyess' ex-wife, Theresa Lorraine Sigurdson, in the couple's 2007 divorce. Sigurdson, 61, also was fatally shot in her ex-husband's rampage.

Yuma County sheriff's officials said the victims were all either acquaintances or friends of Sigurdson who supported her during the course of the divorce.