Dad with long history of violence against wife, son finally murders wife (Naples, Florida)

Typical. Florida authorities refused to prosecute dad JEFFREY MORETZ for aggravated assault. If they had, maybe, just maybe, this woman would be alive today.

And the media blathers on about "the marriage" being "beset" or "marred" with violence. It wasn't "the marriage," folks. It was a violent man who was coddled by the authorities for years. It was a violent man who terrorized his wife and son for years. And true to form, his violence just continued to escalate until it reached the murder stage. What was this woman to do? She was terrorized if she stayed--and no Florida authorities would prosecute him. And if she left him or called the cops, he said he'd kill her. Well, he made good on his threats, didn't he?

Notice how the poor adult son was labeled mentally ill or in need of a psychiatrist for rebelling against his father's violence.

And the authorities try to blame mom for not getting an order of protection. What good would that have done her? It just would have pissed this guy off more. Unfortunately, even the so-called advocates for victims of domestic violence refuse to see the real traps that these women are in. I don't see that mom was "in denial." She knew very well how dangerous this guy was, and she was right.

http://www.marcoislandflorida.com/article/20110707/CRIME/110706059/Slain-Naples-woman-wanted-divorce?odyssey=tab%7Cmostpopular%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE

Slain Naples woman wanted divorce
Police say victim filed 2 weeks ago

8:56 PM, Jul. 6, 2011

In big, bold letters on a handwritten note, she begged a judge to lift the restraining order against her husband, claiming, “I am not afraid of him at all.”

That was after he chased their adult son out of their Golden Gate Estates home while shooting a gun in August 2009.

Two years later, on Tuesday, that husband, Jeffrey Moretz, 54, shot and killed Christine Moretz, 53, inside a North Naples hospital shortly after she filed for divorce to end their 36-year marriage, according to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.

Witnesses said Jeffrey Moretz then shot and seriously wounded himself. A short-barreled handgun was seized at the scene, the sheriff’s office said.

He is being treated at a local hospital and has not been charged in the case. Family members were not available for comment Wednesday.

Although prosecutors dropped the aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge against Moretz in the 2009 case, their reports detail a marriage beset with domestic violence, threats of suicide and the episode involving their son, Chad Adam Moretz, 33, who has been arrested several times on battery charges and is currently wanted on a contempt of court charge.

According to state attorney’s and court records:

The Moretzes were married in Erie, Ohio, in 1975 after graduating from high school. They eventually moved to Collier County, where they owned a construction business called Master Builders and Remodeling.

Their marriage, according to their son, was marred by domestic violence.

“He’d beat my mom up real bad and threatened that ... if she went to the cops he’d kill her,” Chad Moretz told detectives investigating the 2009 shooting.

Violence erupted at the Moretz household Aug. 19 of that year when Chad said he came home cussing because his father sent him to a dentist who was unable to pull his bad teeth.

He said his father pulled a gun from his desk and started blasting. Chad ran out of the house.

“Then I felt him put the gun to the back of my head. I knocked it away and then he shot right next to my ear,” Chad said.

He said his wife, Kimberly, jumped in to save him, and his father fired another round, almost hitting her.

But Jeffrey Moretz told detectives his son, who was being treated by a psychiatrist, was the abuser.

“He’s blackened my face so bad that you wouldn’t even recognize” me, he said.

On the day of the 2009 shooting, his son told him, “‘I’m gonna kill you and rip your head off,’” Jeffrey told investigators.

Jeffrey Moretz said his son threw a cabinet and “I figured I was going to be attacked,” so he pulled out the gun. He said his son followed him onto the patio and he started firing in the air.

Christine Moretz came out of the house screaming and shaking, Deputy E. Oberdorff wrote in reports. She said her husband also threatened to shoot himself or overdose on pills. She denied her husband abused her.

Later, the wife wrote Circuit Judge Frederick Hardt, asking him to lift the restraining order against her husband.

“I did not ask for this no contact order and do not want it,” Christine Moretz wrote.

Women who are abused by spouses are often in denial because of fear of retaliation, for financial reasons or because they mistakenly believe things will get better, said Mary Ann Green, spokeswoman for the Shelter For Abused Women and Children in Naples.

“But with domestic violence, there is a pattern of abuse that escalates,” Green said.

Filing for divorce or leaving is often the last straw for an abuser, Green said.

Christine Moretz, who had separated from her husband and got a job as the lead concierge at Cap Ferrat, a condominium in Pelican Bay, filed for divorce June 17. Two weeks later, she was killed.

“It’s a very emotional time for us,” said Sandra Shock, general manager at Cap Ferrat. “She was such a warm and cheerful woman.”

Jeffrey Moretz’s former attorney, Lee Hollander, said the suspect was a nice guy.

“I realize that may be contrary to the present allegations, but he was kind and pleasant,” Hollander said. “I certainly wasn't expecting this.”

Hollander said the aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge against his client was dismissed by prosecutors after Moretz claimed self defense.