By
Rebecca Missel
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Return expected to go smoothly, Kha says
A University of Arizona employee accused of murdering his wife returned to work on campus yesterday.
Ralph David McCormick, a senior office specialist in the Facilities Management department, arrived at the Facilities Management Building, 1331 E. Fifth St., at about 7 a.m. yesterday.
"He's happy to have the opportunity to go back and work," said Michael Piccaretta, McCormick's attorney. "He hopes his job performance will continue to be good, and he'll be a good employee and a good person."
In August, McCormick's wife was found beaten to death with a baseball bat and burned unrecognizable.
McCormick's case is now in the courts, and a pretrial conference is scheduled for early January. If the case does go to trial, it will probably begin in late spring, Piccaretta said.
"He's returning like any other employee on leave," said Sharon Kha, UA spokeswoman. "As long as he continues doing his job he'll remain a current employee."
There are 700 employees working in the Facilities Management department. McCormick's job primarily involves paperwork, and his co-workers had different reactions to his return, Kha said.
"It's a mixed bag," she said. "There are two groups of people - those who work closely with him who have offered to write letters attesting to his character, and there's some who have concerns."
Dan Hickman, a painter for Facilities Management, said he was worried about McCormick's return.
"He shouldn't be back," he said. "The least he could do is take a leave of absence."
While he did not say if it would affect his performance, Hickman said the work environment could be altered.
"It's a dangerous atmosphere," he added. "I'll feel awkward, I won't speak to him, and everyone I know feels the same way."
Kha said she expected everything to go smoothly yesterday, and the only change in the department is that McCormick's desk has been moved to a less public area.
"The criminal justice system deals with something outside his job," she said. "We're not in a position to tell him he can't do his job."
Piccaretta was not able to comment on the details of the case, but said people should learn all the facts before judging McCormick.
"I think that this case has many facets," he said. "It's premature to form any opinion."
