Dad with history of domestic violence, child abuse still granted joint custody; mom surprised that he murdered HIS parents before he had chance to murder her and the kids (Bayfield County, Minnesota)

In reality, dad JAMES "JIMMY" CRAIN should have been locked up years ago for all of his assaults on his ex-wife and kids, not to mention all his DUIs. But no. Mom finally divorces his @$$, and dad gets JOINT CUSTODY. Because this is what control-freak abuser dads get these days, despite all the lies we're told about how poor widdle daddies are discriminiated against and how it's so awful.

After the divorce, the abuse didn't cease--though in fact, it almost never does. Mom "filed two domestic abuse restraining orders and four child abuse restraining orders on behalf of the children" in the nine years after the divorce. Which just goes to show how this guy's butt was coddled from beginning to end. It apparently never occurred to the authorities to terminate his parental rights and throw him in jail.

Which means that abuser daddy just became more entitled and more violent over time. Finally he appears he murdered his own parents with a butcher knife, and then attempted to injure the arresting deputies.

This is what happens when violence against women and children is not taken seriously, folks.

 http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/286354/

Ex-wife, court records detail past abuse by Iron River murder suspect

Sheila Schuld says she always knew her ex-husband, James “Jimmy” Crain, had it in him to kill.

By: Tom Olsen and Alysee Shelton, Duluth News Tribune

Authorities in Bayfield County say something prompted the 44-year-old Crain to brutally slash his parents with a butcher knife that night, alleged actions for which he faces intentional homicide charges.

Sheila Schuld says she always knew her ex-husband, James “Jimmy” Crain, had it in him to kill.

She just didn’t think it would ever happen to his elderly parents, Jim and Eunice “Crickett” Crain, who were found dead in their Iron River apartment on the evening of Dec. 7.

“I thought he loved his parents,” Schuld said. “He was mean, aggressive and abusive, but I didn’t think he would kill his parents.”

Instead, Schuld said she expected to be the target of Crain’s rage.

“I’m 100 percent sure if he found me and the kids first, it would have been us dead instead of his parents,” she said. “He didn’t like us.”

Authorities in Bayfield County say something prompted the 44-year-old Crain to brutally slash his parents with a butcher knife that night, alleged actions for which he faces intentional homicide charges. But with no witnesses, and Crain in a medically induced coma, there are few clues to suggest a motive.

However, a News Tribune review of Wisconsin court records and interviews with family members and Iron River residents reveal that Crain has a long history of family violence and alcohol abuse.

As Crain remains in a coma and in custody, he could not be interviewed and does not yet have an attorney representing him. Like all defendants, he remains innocent until proven guilty.

Records detail abuse

Sheila Schuld married Jimmy Crain on June 5, 1993, in Iron River. The couple had three children together: J.R., 22; Zachary, 18; and Dominique, 15.

Schuld said Crain became abusive shortly after Zachary’s birth in 1995. Crain was a heavy drinker, resulting in bouts of rage and violence, she said.

“There were fights when he drank,” she recalled. “When he sobered up, he had no idea what he had done. He would say ‘sorry,’ but he would do it again.”

In a 2003 petition for a restraining order, Schuld described how small arguments between her and Crain would turn violent. Among the incidents, Schuld wrote that Crain flipped over a couch she was sitting on, threw a lit cigarette in her eye and repeatedly hit and cut her. Crain called her a “slut,” a “whore” and a “b____" so often that their youngest child thought the insults were part of her name, she said.

Schuld also described Crain as controlling, saying he wouldn’t allow her to get a driver’s license or a phone.

The abuse extended to the couple’s children as well, according to court documents.

In a 2004 petition for a child abuse restraining order, J.R. Crain, who was 12 years old at the time, wrote of several incidents in which he said his father physically abused him.

“My dad was choking my mom and I yell stop, so he ran out of the bedroom and picked me up and threw me,” J.R. Crain wrote of an incident in the fall of 2003. “And I had a bruise from shoulder to middle arm.”

He described another incident about the same time: “I came home 5 (minutes) late from community center and my dad picked me up and drop me on my head and stomped on it, and it hurt really bad.”

Schuld filed for divorce on Oct. 31, 2003, something she said she had been threatening to do for some time, but that Crain did not seem to take seriously. Still, Schuld said, the divorce was not enough to stop the abuse.

“I don’t want to go to my dad’s”

When the couple divorced, Sheila Schuld and Jim Crain were awarded shared custody of their three children.

According to Wisconsin court records, Schuld filed two domestic abuse restraining orders and four child abuse restraining orders on behalf of the children against Crain between 2003 and 2012.

The orders, all of which resulted in some court action against Crain, cite his drinking and abusive behavior.

In written statements and interviews with domestic abuse advocates, the children said their father drank constantly when they were in his custody. He would allegedly take them to Iron River bar Kev’s Korner, and then drive drunk.

“He took us to Kev’s Korner and we stayed there until one o clock in the morning,” J.R. Crain wrote about an incident in the fall of 2005. “Dad had a drink in his hand while driving us back to grandma’s house.”

In the same letter, J.R. Crain explains: “I don’t want to go to my dad’s because he drinks constantly and is always mean to us. He would leave us with grandma for eight hours at a time and I know he went to the bar because he comes home with a cup full of liquor.”

According to Wisconsin criminal records, Crain was convicted of knowingly violating a domestic abuse order in 2004. He was also convicted of operating while intoxicated in 2002, and has four disorderly conduct convictions between 2004 and 2011. Most of the charges involved Sheila Schuld.

“He was abusive towards me and the kids for a long time,” Schuld said.

No record of violence against parents

There are no court records, however, indicating any physical violence between Crain and his parents. Police had been called to the home a few times for arguments, but no arrests were made.

Family friend and landlord Eric Olson said Crain’s record of violence was not discussed much within the family, and that his siblings probably didn’t know of his displays of aggression.

“The siblings had no idea about Jimmy’s aggressiveness,” Olson said. “I don’t think anyone discussed it.”

Jimmy Crain was charged Friday with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide. He’s also charged with two counts of battery of a peace officer and failure to comply with an officer’s attempt to take a person into custody.

Details about the incident remain sketchy, but authorities reported that they responded to a 911 call from Eunice Crain about 6 p.m. and arrived about 20 minutes later to find the elderly couple dead in a pool of blood.

Deputies then found Jimmy Crain in the bathroom with injuries to his neck and both wrists, according to the criminal complaint. Alongside him was the suspected murder weapon, a butcher knife.

Crain suffered a seizure shortly after authorities arrived at the scene, and then regained consciousness enough to lunge for the knife and throw punches at the deputies, authorities said.

Crain was taken to St. Luke’s hospital in Duluth, where he remains in a coma. When he awakens, he’s expected to be extradited to Wisconsin to face the homicide charges.

Meanwhile, the deaths have created a stir in Iron River, a town of about 1,100 people. Numerous residents have told the News Tribune that they worried about Jimmy Crain’s behavior, but expressed shock when they learned he was suspected of killing his parents.

A celebration of life was held Sunday night in Iron River to honor Jim, 79, and Crickett Crain, 76. Family members, friends and neighbors gathered to play music and share funny memories.

Schuld was among the organizers of the celebration.

“No matter how bad of a father Jimmy was, the kids still loved their grandparents,” Schuld said. “Everyone loved them. We wanted to remember them as they were and not for the tragedy that happened.”