Fatality inquiry whitewashes causes behind father's murder of 3-year-old son (Calgary, Canada)

The conclusions of this "fatality inquiry" are utter whitewashed bullsh**.

Divorce "stress" doesn't "cause" people to murder their children. If so, half the kids in North America would be dead.

And citing ongoing divorce and custody "conflict" doesn't get at the heart of the matter either. "Conflict" is a surface symptom. You have to dig in deeper to figure out who is doing what, who is threatening whom, and who is reacting to the threat in the best way that they can. Painting it all as "conflict" is the lazy way out.

So lets dig deaper. What we have here is not a "conflict" per se, but a system that totally ignored and minimized the the mother's legitimate objections (as they turned out to be totally true) as irrational "fears." She continued to fight for the safety of her child and herself, just as Daddy battled for abusive control over their lives. And in the end, it all gets airbrushed as (presumably mutual) "conflict."

The real problems here are the following:

1) The mother's actual observations and objections were totally ignored by a system brainwashed to believe that mothers only lie and that All Daddies are Oppressed Saints. This is just a modern take on old-fashioned misogyny.

And I don't trust this account for being very complete. Mom (allegedly) denied "physically abusive" behavior on Dad's part, but still "feared" for her safety and the safety of the child? That doesn't add up, since Mom's "fears" ("fear" being a way of trivializing what turned out to be a correct assessment) turned out to be all too true as we have seen.

2) Since Mom was apparently labeled a liar and/or crazy, Daddy continued to have weekend custody/visitation time--which he utilized to murder his 3-year-old son. Who was responsible for that? It wasn't due to "conflict." It was due to the father-friendly court system placing a helpless child victim in harm's way.

3) The emphasis on the (killer) Daddy's rights even extended so far as to deny the mother any moveaway rights, which would have also kept the child out of the hands of this suicidal/homicidal nutball. Also in line with a system that insists on policing women and their whereabouts, while winking at the men and their threats.

In short, the ongoing issue of father's rights being exalted over the rights of women and children to live their lives in safety and security.

But you don't see the "fatality inquiry" tackling these problems, do you?

http://www.calgaryherald.com/mobile/story.html?id=8638277

Stress of divorce a factor in murder-suicide, says fatality inquiry

Wednesday, July 10, 2013
By Erika Stark, Calgary Herald

A fatality inquiry concluded that authorities’ inability to ease the stress of a couple’s divorce and custody proceedings helped lead a Drumheller man to kill his three-year-old son and himself.

However, the judge made no recommendations for the prevention of similar family murder-suicides in the future.

Colton Dale and his father Rich Saunders died Sept. 28, 2008 after Saunders brought a lit barbecue into a bedroom and sealed the doors, window and air vents, killing them both.

The murder-suicide was the result of years of “protracted, prolonged, emotional and highly conflicted” divorce and custody battles between Colton’s mother, Meara McIntosh, and her estranged husband Saunders, provincial court judge Patrick McIlhargey found.

McIlhargey said the “extreme” actions of Saunders were not and likely could not have been anticipated.

“Had the legal proceedings been less stressful and/or had the measures taken by the authorities been more effective in reducing the stressful environment then the outcome may well have been different,” McIlhargey said in the report.

Drumheller RCMP responded to over 30 complaints and allegations involving the pair since April 2007, and Alberta’s child services ministry was also involved with the family, according to the report.

McIntosh had dropped Colton off for a weekend visit with Saunders the Friday before he was killed. At the time of his death, McIntosh had been planning to take Colton with her to Ottawa for a fresh start, but the court forbade it.

In the report, McIntosh stated that Saunders was never physically abusive. Still, she feared for her and her son’s safety, she told the Herald shortly after Colton was killed.

“Some days I thought, ‘I’m lucky to be alive,’ ” she said in 2008.

McIntosh herself made a number of recommendations in the report, including increased emphasis on support and outreach for women in rural communities.

She also recommended that non-criminal family matters not be dealt with in a courtroom.