Dad murders pregnant wife, 13-month-old daughter (Madison, Wisconsin)

Bear with me as I catch up with the news from the past week or so.

Notice that the reporter is quick to blame dad MATTHEW MAGDZAS's military service for these murders--and fails to mention domestic violence or coercive control issues at all. Just because you're a veteran doesn't mean you wipe out your family. In fact, the military service is something of a red herring here. The guys who commit these crimes are almost uniformly narcissists who see women and children as their personal possessions--to keep or destroy as they see fit. That's the key to analyzing these things. Yes, some of these perpetrators are veterans. But many, many are not. Too bad the media can't bother to follow the basic research on these crimes.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2012673832_iraqvet20.html?syndication=rss

Originally published Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 8:17 PM

Iraq veteran, family dead in apparent murder-suicide in Wisconsin
April Oles-Magdzas was due to give birth to her second daughter Wednesday, a little more than a year after she and her husband became new parents.

By TODD RICHMOND

The Associated Press

BOB KING / AP

MADISON, Wis. — April Oles-Magdzas was due to give birth to her second daughter Wednesday, a little more than a year after she and her husband became new parents.

But when Oles-Magdzas' mother showed up that day at the couple's home in Superior, she found the family dead of an apparent murder-suicide.

Superior police said Thursday that Matthew Magdzas, 23, a Wisconsin National Guard soldier who earned a combat badge in the Iraq war, shot and killed his wife, their 13-month-old daughter, Lila, and their three dogs before turning the gun on himself.

Investigators think the killings occurred Tuesday afternoon, but like friends of the couple, they are wondering why.

Police Capt. Chad La Lor said Magdzas did not leave a suicide note, and investigators found no evidence the couple had money problems or was unduly stressed by the pending birth of their daughter. There was no indication either had been unfaithful.

La Lor said investigators plan to subpoena Magdzas' military medical records to see if he had complained of or been treated for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Lt. Col. Jackie Guthrie, a spokeswoman for the Wisconsin National Guard, said the military cannot disclose Magdzas' health records to the public.

According to Oles-Magdzas' friend and former colleague, Tessa Buscko, 36, of Duluth, Minn., Oles-Magdzas, 26, was due to give birth by C-section on the day her body was found. She said she didn't know what could have driven Magdzas to wipe out his family.

Magdzas enlisted in the National Guard during summer 2004, between his junior and senior years in high school, Guthrie said. He had completed his training by October 2005 and was assigned to the Superior-based 950th Engineer Company.

He volunteered to deploy overseas with the Milwaukee-based 1st Battalion, 121st Field Artillery Regiment in 2006. The unit protected convoys moving from Kuwait into northern Iraq, Guthrie said.

He served as a vehicle gunner and was involved in a small-arms battle in Iraq in November 2006, she said. She did not know where the battle took place. Magdzas received a combat action badge, an award that recognizes participation in combat. His deployment ended in 2007.

After returning to Wisconsin, Magdzas went to work as a firearms instructor for Better Defense, a shooting school.