Media still blames "custody dispute" for dad's murderous rampage (Norwalk, California)

When will the media finally get it? Dads like JOSEPH MERCADO who murder three people in an AK-47 massacre aren't in a little "custody dispute." A custody dispute is two people quibbling over whether visitation should be on every Wednesday or every other Wednesday. Guys like Mercado use child custody as a weapon in their arsenal of abuse, as a way to punish/threaten the mother for leaving him. Do you really think spending more quality time with the baby was his motivation here? Not when earlier accounts mention that he was trying to burn the house down. I'm guessing that a house fire wouldn't have been very beneficial to the baby's welfare. And he had no problem stripping the baby of his mother for life either. So much for shared parenting, eh?

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16011522

Arraignment set in deadly LA-area home rampage
The Associated Press
Posted: 09/07/2010 08:36:21 AM PDT
Updated: 09/07/2010 08:36:22 AM PDT

NORWALK, Calif.—A man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and two others in a rampage at her family's suburban Los Angeles home is scheduled for arraignment.

Twenty-six-year-old Joseph Mercado faces the death penalty if he's convicted of three counts of murder, attempted murder, child abuse and other crimes.

Prosecutors claim that Mercado shot a lock from the door of the family's Hawaiian Gardens home in a pre-dawn attack in May, then went from room to room firing an AK-47 assault rifle.

He allegedly killed 25-year-old Serena Tarin—the mother of his infant son—along with her father and brother. The woman's brother was wounded.

Authorities say Mercado and Tarin had been locked in a custody dispute over their son.

Mercado will be arraigned Tuesday morning.