Dad with "shared custody" may have shot and killed mom as part of "custody dispute" (Irvine, California)

Dad BRIAN BENEDICT may have murdered his ex-wife as part of a "custody dispute" (i.e. abuser dad didn't want to pay child support). It is not clear whether the 4-year-old child was nearby, or witnessed the shooting. However, at minimum, we have a child who has been stripped of his mom for the rest of his life. But Dad doesn't seem to care about that, just his wallet. Note that dad had "shared custody"--which is what all the fathers rights people say they want--but that didn't make him happy. Nope, it was all about the money, not about his child.

Sorry, I don't feel sorry for Dad. For a time, I was a non-custodial parent and unemployed (through a layoff), and paying over 100% of my income between child support and court-ordered health insurance coverage for my child through COBRA. It was all of my unemployment check and then some. And I didn't kill anybody. Didn't even come close. So I don't want to hear any fathers rights pity parties.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jmWn27kGoSdm9YxU8oHqI-DaKRWwD9ANB6UG0

UC Irvine shooting may have been custody dispute
(AP) – 4 hours ago

IRVINE, Calif. — Police are investigating whether a custody battle prompted a University of California, Irvine student to kill the mother of his 4-year-old son on campus.

Brian Benedict, a 35-year-old physics graduate student, was arrested at about 7 p.m. Sunday following the first on-campus killing in the history of the Orange County school.

He remained jailed on $1 million bail. City police Lt. John Hare said he did not know whether Benedict had an attorney.

Benedict and his ex-wife, Rebecca Benedict, 30, shared custody of their 4-year-old son, but he had been distraught following their breakup and had attempted suicide, court records show. He had been ordered to pay twice as much child support as he had expected and might have been forced to leave school, according to the records.

Rebecca Benedict went to the campus on Sunday evening to pick up the boy from his father's apartment in a graduate student housing complex when the couple got into an argument, Hare said.

She left the building and was in the parking lot when Benedict, who had followed her, fired several shots with a handgun and struck her at least once, Hare said.

She was pronounced dead at a hospital. Witnesses detained Benedict until police arrived, Hare said.

The boy was nearby, but it was unclear whether he saw the shooting, Hare said. He said the child was turned over to other family members.

The Benedicts were married on April 1, 2004, and separated on Sept. 30, 2006, court records show. Rebecca Benedict filed for divorce on Jan. 16.

The couple had agreed that Brian Benedict would pay $450 per month in child support, but a judge on Thursday ordered him to pay $920 per month, according to records cited by the Orange County Register.

Benedict, who quit a six-figure job as an aerospace cost analyst to attend graduate school, earned $26,889 as a student researcher, according to his 2008 federal tax form.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Nancy A. Pollard set the child support figure based on his earlier, higher income.

"The court finds that the care and maintenance of the child is more important than the care and maintenance of the father's schooling," according to a summary of the ruling.

Earlier this month, Brian Benedict had asked campus safety officials questions about child custody, UC Irvine Assistant Police Chief Jeff Hutchison said.

"It was a less than 10-minute conversation, and there was nothing unusual in his demeanor," Hutchison said.

(This version CORRECTS Hutchison's name and position.)