More than 4 years passed between June 23, 2008, the date that 93-year-old Russell Reed of rural Sterling was brutally beaten to death, and Tuesday’s conviction of his murderer, 33-year-old Nicholas T. Sheley of Sterling.

Though justice has been done for Reed’s family, the process took too long.

To emphasize the passage of time, consider that when the crime was committed, a certain U.S. senator from Illinois had yet to be formally nominated by the Democratic Party for president. On the day of the guilty verdict, that same former senator won re-election to his second term as president.