Dad facing capital murder charges in shooting death of pregnant wife; 3 children were in the home (Spring, Texas)

Dad MICHAEL ALAN MCDOUGALL has been charged with capital murder in the shooting death of his pregnant wife. The couple's three other young children--who were 2, 4, and 8--were in the home at the time of the killing, and are now motherless and in the care of CPS.

Notice that all the sympathy towards the end involves the poor daddy and all the awful stress he felt in moving from Denver to Texas. Does anybody ever give a sh** about the stress the mother and children had in living with a volatile and violent idiot like this? Apparently not, because I can't tell you how many times I have seen articles just like this--all kinds of handwringing for the killer daddy, while the victims are treated like faceless entities.

Hat tip to E.

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Husband-accused-of-killing-pregnant-wife--93896714.html

Spring man facing capital murder charges in shooting death of pregnant wife

by Tiffany Craig / 11 News & The Associated Press
khou.com
Posted on May 16, 2010 at 8:41 PM
Updated today at 11:48 AM

SPRING, Texas – A Spring man is facing capital murder charges in the shooting death of his pregnant wife.

Harris County Sheriff’s investigators said they responded to Michael Alan McDougall’s home in the 18700 block of Autumn Breeze on a domestic disturbance call around 10:42 a.m. Sunday.

Neighbors reported hearing McDougall, 37, and his wife, Jennifer Elaine McDougall, 30, arguing in their carport early Sunday before gunshots rang out.

One nearby resident said before the gunfire, she heard Jennifer McDougall say, "Help me! Help me! What are you doing? Somebody please help me."

Investigators said they found Jennifer McDougall’s body next to the car. Both front doors of the vehicle were open, they said.

"We don’t know who was leaving, whether she was leaving or whether he was leaving," said Sergeant Curtis Brown with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. "Apparently, it was a pretty loud disturbance. Most of the neighbors in the area heard it."

Jennifer McDougall was six months pregnant when she died. Investigators said the couple’s other children – aged 2, 4 and 8 – were in the house and did not witness the shooting.

They were put in CPS custody, because the family did not have any other relatives in the Houston area, investigators said.

Police arrested Michael McDougall at the scene. As he was taken into custody, investigators said McDougall told them his wife "had it coming."

Steve Hochanadel, a petroleum engineer who lives three doors down from the scene, said his family and the McDougalls moved down to the Houston area from Denver at about the same time. Hochanadel said Michael McDougall, also a petroleum engineer, seemed stressed about the move.

"He wasn’t the same guy," Hochanadel said. "He just seemed a little stressed out. I don’t know what kind of problems they were having. I just wish I could have known about it ahead of time and helped him."

The motive for the slaying was still under investigation Monday.