In the case of James Allen Ponder, of Hamilton, Ohio, the only thing we’re really left with is questions, with no answers to be found. “Closure,” something families desperately seek when someone they love is taken violently from them, is an elusive thing in the best of circumstances. When the killer and the victim are both close family members, and there are no answers to the big fat “why,” everyone is left feeling tormented and adrift. James Ponder was 71 years old. He enjoyed many of the things in life that other men his age did. The only thing that seems to stand out, is the way his life ended. This is his story.