Custodial dad on trial in kids' deaths (Detroit, Michigan)

As dad STEVEN NICHOLSON faces trial on 1st-degree murder charges for the deaths of his two young children, a predictable thing is happening:

The media is already "forgetting" that this abusive father managed to wrangle custody away from two separate mothers: He had joint legal custody/physical placement of the girl, and full custody of the boy.

Note that previous news accounts have also clarified that Nicholson managed to gain and retain custody despite a history of domestic violence, substance abuse issues, "petty" crime, and previous child abuse allegations.

Despite all that, the little boy's mother lost custody when an unnamed judge accused her of "kidnapping" her son (e.g. cutting off visitation with a father who is now on trial for the torture murder of said son). Do you think that judge's name will ever be made public? Don't hold your breath.

See our previous posts on this horrific case.

Here's one from January:

http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2011/01/custodial-dads-murder-trial-delayed.html

And a few from last fall:

http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/11/custodial-dad-to-be-tried-on-murder.html
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/10/family-friends-mourn-dead-toddlers-dad.html
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-did-sleeping-dad-get-custody-of-his.html

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110412/METRO01/104120361/1409/METRO/Allen-Park-father-on-trial-in-kids%E2%80%99-deaths

Last Updated: April 12. 2011 1:00AM
Allen Park father on trial in kids' deathsDoug Guthrie / The Detroit News

Detroit— An Allen Park man facing first-degree murder charges in the fatal scalding and drowning of his toddler son and daughter has said the deaths were accidental.

But witnesses Monday told stories about a sometimes loving, sometimes abusive father after Steven Nicholson's lawyer, William Winters, failed to keep their testimony from his trial in Wayne Circuit Court.

Nicholson, 27, is accused of the October deaths of 15-month-old Ella Stafford and her 13-month-old half brother, Jonathon Sanderlin. Nicholson has said they must have turned on the tub's hot water while he slept.

Wayne County's Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Carl Schmidt is expected to testify today that the toddlers died of intentional drowning.

Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Carin Goldfarb presented witnesses Monday who told of watching earlier abuse by Nicholson, particularly of his son.

"While not witnesses to the ultimate murder, they are witnesses of the child abuse that led to the murders," Goldfarb told Judge Vera Massey Jones.

The mother of Ella, Taylor Stafford, 19, said she once sent an email to the mother of Nicholson's son, warning about abuse.

"Tough love," Stafford testified. "That was the theory."