Domestic violence up in 2009 (Topeka, Kansas)

We've reported on dad JAMES KRAIG KAHLER before, who is charged with the murder of his two daughters, his "estranged" wife, and wife's grandmother.

http://cjonline.com/news/state/2010-09-18/domestic_violence_spikes_in_09

Domestic violence spikes in '09
'Hurting people hurt people'; economic stress likely fueling fire of increased attacks
By Tim Carpenter
Created September 18, 2010 at 9:54pm

Updated September 19, 2010 at 12:04am

James Kraig Kahler was a suspect in the slashing of his estranged wife's car tires and ripping out of her utility cables.

He was due to stand trial for domestic assault.

These could have been logged as precursors to carnage unlikely to be swept from the mind of anyone shocked by domestic violence killings.

Kahler is facing the death penalty for allegedly massacring his family at a home 20 miles southwest of Topeka in November 2009. Prosecutors say he shot to death his wife Karen, daughters Emily and Lauren, and Karen's grandmother Dorothy Wight.

A month earlier, Mario Chavez was known to Salina police as a man arrested three times for ignoring protection orders. He redefined his profile by marching into the Ramada Hotel and Convention Center and fatally shooting his ex-wife Rosa Gomez and one of her colleagues Charles Losey. Chavez committed suicide after being cornered by police.

These scenes give shape to a sobering statistic: Kansas last year recorded the highest number of domestic violence fatalities among adults in nearly two decades.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says 35 adults, as well as 14 children, died at the hands of a current or former partner, relative or household member in 2009. In the 18 years for which Kansas statistics are available, the 41 adult domestic violence deaths in 1993 ranks as the benchmark. The lowest annual tally was 11 in 1995. The last five years: 2005, 21; 2006, 21; 2007, 17; 2008, 19; and 2009, 35.

"It's not something specific to Kansas," said Dorthy Stucky Halley, director of victims' services in the Kansas attorney general's office. "It's a nationwide trend."

She said there was no single cause for a spike in the frequency and severity of violence by batterers, but prolonged economic stress could be pouring gasoline on volatile domestic situations untreated as public demand for services expanded and financing for programs diminished.

Mayhem continues

Prognosis for 2010 in Kansas isn't much better. Preliminary records indicate that through August of this year, according to the KBI, 20 adults and six children have died in cases defined as domestic violence.

In Johnson County, Tiffani Hayes became one of those statistics. She was in the process of obtaining a divorce from her estranged husband in August after less than two years of marriage. Dissolution of their vows apparently wasn't sufficient for Terry Hayes. He is charged with first-degree murder after his 28-year-old wife died from a gunshot wound to the head outside an Olathe residence.

Days later, a woman embroiled in marital difficulties returned to her Assaria home to speak with her husband and retrieve clothing. Valerie Paulson, 38, didn't leave alive. She died of stab wounds allegedly inflicted by her husband, Andy Paulson, in a melee resulting in injuries to Valerie's sister-in-law. Charges include first-degree murder, attempted murder and kidnapping.

But the numbers are still climbing. On Sept. 1, 88-year-old June Smith died of stab wounds in Manhattan. Her daughter, Diane R. Washam, 45, must answer to a charge of second-degree murder.

"Hurting people hurt people," said Vera Johnson, who operates the New Start Family Life Skills facility in Saline County. "They're not all monsters. They are people who don't know how to cope."

She often observes personality extremes among people in her counseling classes. There is the domestic offender who is incapable of checking emotions and acts impulsively when responding to conflict in the home. Another category contains anti-social, controlling men or women who manage to get through each day by emotionally suffocating people closest to themselves.

The KBI says the profile of Kansas' domestic violence offenders remains unchanged from the early 1990s. The average victim is a white female between 20 and 24 years of age. The typical offender is male, white and in his early 20s. Saturdays and Sundays are the most likely days for violence to occur, and the hours between midnight and 4 a.m. are the most dangerous.

Surging demand

Eileen Doran, director of the Topeka's Center for Safety and Empowerment, formerly the Battered Women Task Force, said the agency serving Shawnee, Wabaunsee, Jackson and Osage counties logged an increase in the number of people caught up in domestic violence.

"This summer alone it was like an explosion," she said.

Doran said the number of people calling a crisis hotline escalated. The organization's shelter has been full since June. There are more serious injuries tied to domestic abuse, she said.

However, Doran suspects growth in demand for domestic-violence services was the norm across the state.

She also cautioned people against second-guessing the decisions of men and women who are victims of domestic violence. It is simplistic to conclude victims should just pack their bags and move out of a home, she said.

"People blame victims," Doran said. "In reality, a person is more likely to get killed when leaving. That's when a woman's danger level is the highest."

Halley, of the attorney general's office, said the list of risk factors contributing to domestic violence was long. There's substance abuse, poverty, sex abuse, extreme religious beliefs or personal philosophies and a history of violence outside the home. Triggers for fatal violence include access to a weapon, unemployment, death threats, episodes of jealousy and divorce actions.

"There are risk factors that need to be kept in mind," she said. "But we know that any situation where domestic violence is occurring could turn lethal."

She said the attorney general's office was expanding certification of domestic violence treatment facilities to help guarantee quality assistance to victims regardless of location. Seven centers have been certified, including the Topeka and Salina organizations.

Kansas lawmakers moved to improve tracking of people engaging in activity that could lead to domestic violence. The 2010 Legislature and Gov. Mark Parkinson approved a bill mandating tagging of court cases with an element of domestic violence.

Johnson, of the New Start center in Salina, said additional reform was necessary to protect people in jeopardy. She said stalking a family member was a felony in Kansas, while beating the same person could be classified as a misdemeanor.

"There's got to be stronger consequences," she said. "It just makes sense."