Dad with "shared custody" murders two daughter with carbon monoxide poisoning (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania)

We've posted on dad CONWAY WELLER before. But this is the first article I've seen confirming that he had "shared custody." This is just more proof that granting these abusive thugs custodial rights does nothing to support children. It just puts children like this at additional risk for abuse and even death.

http://www.therecordherald.com/features/x742792884/Slain-sisters-Leeairra-Ann-and-Caleigh-Weller-will-be-buried-Saturday-in-Chambersburg

Slain sisters Leeairra Ann and Caleigh Weller will be buried Saturday in Chambersburg

By Denise Bonura
The Record Herald
Posted Nov 03, 2010 @ 12:38 PM

Two young sisters whose lives ended abruptly this week will be laid to rest together on Saturday.

The families of Leeairra Ann Weller, 5, of Chambersburg and her 8-month-old half sister, Caleigh, will hold a joint graveside service for the girls at 11:30 a.m. in Parklawns Memorial Gardens in Chambersburg.

Leeairra and Caleigh died of asphyxia from carbon monoxide poisoning Sunday at the hands of their father, Conway Weller, who then took his own life. The three were found around 11 p.m. inside Weller’s vehicle in a remote area at the end of Tower Road in Letterkenny Township. Franklin County Coroner Jeffrey R. Conner pronounced them dead at the scene.

“Leeairra was a devoted big sister,” Vicky Taylor, Caleigh’s great-grandmother, said. “She just adored Caleigh.”

‘Incomprehensible’

Taylor said Leeairra, daughter of Laura Wing of Chambersburg, and Caleigh, daughter of Rachael Hawk of Chambersburg, were both wonderful girls.

“Caleigh was a beautiful girl with big blue eyes and brown curly hair,” she said. “She had just cut her first tooth and she loved classical music. She was just a wonderful child and we miss her so much already. It’s really incomprehensible. We’re still struggling.”

Leeairra was a kindergartner at Hamilton Heights Elementary School. She played soccer for the Hamilton Heights Huskies and was a Girl Scout Daisy with Troop 80851 of Chambersburg. She also competed in beauty pageants.

“I want everyone to know how wonderful Leeairra was,” Wing wrote in an e-mail to The Record Herald. “But, at this time, I cannot put the words together.”

She thanked everyone for their prayers on her Facebook page and asked them to never forget “my beautiful little angel.”

“We’re just trying to get through another day,” Taylor said. “Both mothers are obviously devastated. Both are still trying to deal with those feelings when you have a loss like this.”

Tragic events

Weller, 24, who shared custody of the girls, asked to take them trick-or-treating on Saturday.

“When they (Hawk and Wing) couldn’t locate him on Sunday, they went to the police,” Taylor said. “Then Rachael got a brief phone call from him, and he told her he was out of her life and she would never see him again.”

Hawk recounted the phone call to police and went to Weller’s home. Taylor said a suicide note was taped to the door that said Weller did not want his children growing up in broken homes. She added two more notes, one addressed to each mother, were found inside. She was told a fourth note was found in Weller’s vehicle.

Taylor did not know if Weller had ever showed signs of mental distress.
Hawk had recently broken up with him and Taylor assumed he was not taking it very well.

“I don’t know if there were warning signs there or not, but I would like to emphasize this — if either Rachael or Laura had suspected for a moment that their children would not have been safe in their father’s care, they would not have allowed him to have the girls that night,” she said.

Donations

Contributions in Leeairra’s memory may be made to Hamilton Heights Elementary School PTO, 1589 Johnson Road, Chambersburg, Pa. 17202 or Franklin County Head Start, 275 South Gate Shopping Center, Chambersburg, Pa. 17201.

Memorial contributions for Caleigh may be made to: The Caleigh A. Weller Memorial Fund, Care of F&M Trust, 20 S. Main St., Chambersburg, Pa. 17201.

On the Net

www.drewmichaeltaylor.org