Dad kills 14-year-old son in murder-suicide; protective mother's concerns ignored by authorities (Essex, Vermont)

Separation/divorce is always a dangerous time with volatile, unstable men. When these men have children with their former partners, they should NOT have access to the children, as they too often make the children into targets of their rage against the mother.

Not made clear here if Dad's access was court-ordered or otherwise.

The killer dad is identified as LUDWIG "SONNY" SCHUMACHER.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/fa75f5b5ebef4d459555ad8fa7766d11/VT--Father-Son-Deaths

Mom had warned police about son's safety hours before bodies were discovered

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS January 08, 2014 - 3:08 pm EST

ESSEX, Vermont — A mother had warned police in the Vermont town of Essex that she feared for her son's safety hours before he and his father were found dead last month, according to court papers.

Ludwig "Sonny" Schumacher, 49, killed his 14-year-old son, Gunnar, before killing himself, police said. Their bodies were found Dec. 18.

Ludwig Schumacher, a longtime member of the Vermont National Guard, had separated from his wife, Christina Schumacher, last summer. Court papers say Christina Schumacher called Essex police the night of Dec. 17 to express concern about her son, the Burlington Free Press reported (http://bfpne.ws/1iTtU3P ). She said she feared her estranged husband might try to take the teenager out of the country. Gunnar had not been heard from in a couple of days and hadn't attended school, she said.

The next day a friend of Ludwig Schumacher notified police about "a possible homicide/suicide which occurred at 8 Carmichael St. Apartment 201," Essex Detective Lt. George Murtie wrote in the court affidavit. Ludwig Schumacher lived in the apartment.

Essex police have applied for search warrants for Ludwig Schumacher's two trucks because they haven't located any cellphones or computers belonging to the father or son, court records said. Ludwig Schumacher left a typed suicide note in the apartment, police said.