Dad in "custody battle" kills 4-year-old daughter in murder-suicide (Australia)

The write up here is so bad. It's as if the Australian media has learned nothing about fathers and custody-related murder since ARTHUR FREEMAN and ROBERT FARQUHARSON.

First, this is not some inexplicable "tragedy" where a father killed the child he "so adored" for some equally mysterious reason. So stop all the woo-woo, ain't-it-a-mystical-paradox rubbish.

There were plenty of red flags here, but of course the media doesn't identify them as such, or at least not very clearly.

Let's look at the father, GREG HUTCHINGS, without the blinders and phony sentimentality.

1) Even his own family (and presumably his enabler mother in denial) admits that he was "depressed" and on (unidentified) "anti-anxiety drugs."

2) He was 35, unemployed, and living at his mother's house in a "musty" room he shared with his daughter during his access time. So the guy is so dysfunctional that he can't even clean?

And even as a true portrait of this guy is coming together, the idiotic reporter characterizes the custody battle as a "tug-of-love" between the parents.

NO IT'S NOT! We have a mentally ill, barely functioning deadbeat father who, nevertheless, denigrates the mother of his child by claiming that he "feared" her. Which is crap, because who was it who murdered this girl? It wasn't Mom! Classic projection, a common move out the playbook of narcissistic control freaks and abusers.

Also note this:

1) The only smears against the Mom that are listed here, are a penchant for "electronic music." Nothing but a nebulous "lifestyle" choice--that the father also shared! This kind of random, arbitrary attack against the mother is also a common tactic among narcissistic abusers.

2) Daddy had his panties in a bunch about Mom taking the child to Finland without his authorization, and this deadbeat whack job was able to keep the courts from letting her.

Here we see the power of the fathers rights movement in Australia. Because if Mom had been able to leave Australia, this child would still be alive, wouldn't she? This is also classic projection, because it was because DADDY WAS PROVIDED ACCESS that he was able to take off with this child and kill her. This is also one of the grand achievements of the fathers rights movement, that any criminal sperm donor is granted his "rights" with no questions asked and no regard for the safety of any other human being.

3) But wait. Daddy also "feared" the mother taking the daughter to Peru? Once again, it wasn't the mother who killed the girl! The actual outcome shows that the father's "fears" were nothing but manufactured bullsh** meant to muddy the waters. Unfortunately, he succeeded admirably.

4) It's lazy and inaccurate, therefore, to conclude that this "tragic double-death was the result of a desperate ­father who cracked."

In fact, once again we have a protective mother WHOSE REAL AND JUSTIFIABLE CONCERNS WERE IGNORED BY THE COURTS. We know they were real, because the real-life outcomes PROVED they were real, and not tit-for-tat he said/she said.

"In applications to the Federal Circuit Court last year, Dorendahl expressed fears Hutchings was "delaying ­return to disappear with child," and 'it will be hard to locate ­father as he is unemployed, has no assets, lives with his father and is behaving erratically.'"

And that turned out to be the crux of the matter, not some nonsense about a mysterious tragedy arising from a "tug-of-love."

This was a WHOLLY PREVENTABLE MURDER that was set up and enabled by Australia's family courts, which once again assumed that the mother was lying or exaggerating so they ignored her. And therefore once again, they provided a killer father with unfettered ACCESS to his murder victim.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/inside-the-life-of-a-child-killed-so-tragically-what-led-greg-hutchings-to-destroy-the-child-he-so-adored/story-fni0cx12-1226813453165

Inside the life of a child killed so tragically: What led Greg Hutchings to destroy the child he so adored?

Taylor Auerbach • The Daily Telegraph • January 30, 2014 12:00AM

A tragic end to the two and a half week search for a father and his little girl who vanished just over the New South Wales border as two bodies were uncovered in sand dunes near Pottsville. ...

•Eeva may have been killed through drowning or poisoning
•No 'weapons' were found at crime scene
•Post-mortem conducted today - but decomposition may make cause of death hard to determine

POLICE are investigating today whether drowning or poisoning could have been the cause of death of four-year-old Eeva.

No weapons have been found at Pottsville Beach, where the bodies of Eeva and her father Greg Hutchings were found on Tuesday, but determining the cause of death may be difficult as the bodies - which may have sat under a pandanus tree for two weeks - are badly-decomposed.

Investigators are yet to ­determine how Hutchings and his bubbly blonde daughter Eeva Anna-Leena Dorendahl-Hutchings died, but what is certain is that tumult and heartache dominated four-year-old Eeva's short life.

Police have confirmed they are investigating an apparent murder-suicide but the cause of death will be determined by the NSW Coroner.

Eeva's grief-stricken mother Michelle Dorendahl spent several hours with detectives yesterday but is yet to speak publicly.

At Pottsville Beach, a single bunch of flowers was placed at the beach sits on the beach. A handwritten note alongside reads: 'BIG, big cuddles you precious innocent angel xxx'.

Eeva had been at the centre of a custody battle and Mr Hutchings was due to hand her over to her mother at Pottsville when they disappeared on January 11.

Before Hutchings disappeared with Eeva on January 11 he said in signed affidavits that he feared his estranged wife Michelle Dorendahl. ==================================================
Sadness at the heart of tragedy:

A GLIMPSE into the room which 35-year-old Greg Hutchings shared with his four-year-old daughter Eeva in his mother's Pottsville home reveals a normal suburban scene.

However, past the colourful hanging children's jackets and card which Eeva made for her dad, sits a container of anti-anxiety drugs.

They are a grim hint of the darkness behind the discovery of the bodies of the father and daughter - just a short walk from the front door of 55-year-old Diana Hutchings' first-storey flat.

They are a clue to the effect the tug-of-love over the custody of the four-year-old had on Hutchings.

The packet of Escitalopram was on a table when Ms Hutchings opened her doors to The Daily Telegraph while the search for the missing father and daughter was still under way last week.

She smiled throughout the meeting and said repeatedly: "I'm sleep-deprived. I just want them found.

"The room shared by Eeva and her father was unremarkable, if not a little musky.

- colourful children's jackets hung on a rack, a tiny pink fishing hat sat on the toddler's pillow.

And a card she had made for her Dad sat opened next to the double bed.

His family admitted Hutchings suffered depression.

Courts banned either parent from taking Eeva to "electronic music 'lifestyle' festivals" or to countries not party to The Hague convention on child abduction.

Both parents were also ­ordered not to "denigrate" the other in front of their daughter Eeva. ==================================================

He expressed fears his ­­­ex-partner planned to take Eeva to Finland and a Finnish passport was issued in Eeva's name in 2011 - but courts had imposed restrictions on both parents.

Mr Hutchings mother Diana yesterday said she did not believe her son had killed his daughter.

"I don't believe it was a murder-suicide, no," she said yesterday.

"Nobody could ever imagine Greg doing anything to harm his child.''

"Two people have passed away and I think they deserve the truth. I know the community wants answers - we want answers.

"It's unfair to jump to conclusions until we know. We have two beautiful people here (Eeva and Mr Hutchings) and we have to find a way to say goodbye and to honour their lives.

"The best thing we can do is to show some respect."

Detectives yesterday visited the Pottsville unit Mr Hutchings, 35, shared with his mother Diana, to take DNA samples.

Meanwhile friends of Ms Dorendahl took to Facebook to voice their heartbreak.

"Your community family loves you, we honour your mother, so sorry we failed to protect you. Fly free beautiful girl," one friend posted.

Many who knew the family believe the tragic double-death was the result of a desperate ­father who cracked.

The owner of the White Jade restaurant, and Mr Hutchings' former boss, told The Daily Telegraph: "He never turned up because of the custody fight ... we had to let him go (after two months)."

On the day he went missing with Eeva, Dorendahl went to the White Jade. She called police from the restaurant.

The court orders only ­hinted at the bitter fight over Eeva's company.

In applications to the Federal Circuit Court last year, Dorendahl expressed fears Hutchings was "delaying ­return to disappear with child," and "it will be hard to locate ­father as he is unemployed, has no assets, lives with his father and is behaving erratically."

Her fears proved prophetic.

After Eeva returned from a trip to Peru with her mother last year, Hutchings said: "I had grave concerns about my child travelling to South America … I do not see any justifiable reason to put my four-year-old child at risk when there is a safe alternative of Eeva being at home."

Police yesterday said formal identification of the bodies would take "considerable time" and they are treating the deaths as suspicious.

Custodial dad, step convicted of murdering 8-year-old daughter; social service agencies ignored protective mother, others (Finland)

UNNAMED DAD, though I'm not sure why, since he's already been convicted and the victim is dead. 

Not one word of explanation here as to how and why this violent father got custody, and who gave it to him. Nor is there any exploration as to why the protective mother and other parties were repeatedly ignored. Except to blame "divisions between different departments and agencies in the system." Which in reality, is only part of the problem. 

http://yle.fi/uutiset/agencies_poor_coordination_contributed_to_childs_death/6686163

News 12.6.2013 17:23 | updated 12.6.2013 17:23

Agencies' poor coordination contributed to child’s death

A report on the case of an 8-year-old girl who was killed a year ago by her father and stepmother saw her fall through the cracks of Finland’s child protection system.

The Ministry of Justice report published Tuesday has revealed serious gaps between the various officials responsible for child welfare in the shocking case of an 8-year-old girl, whose father and stepmother were convicted of killing her.

According to the investigative report, 8-year-old Erika was left totally alone in the midst of repeated abuse and in spite of numerous complaints and concerns that were filed to child protection authorities by her mother, neighbours and school officials.

Unfortunately, because of the lack of coordination between the agencies responsible for child welfare, no one had a complete picture of how dire the girl's situation was. She died a year ago.

Susanna Huovinen, Minister of Health and Social Services, says that this tragic incident proves that it's time to eliminate the divisions between different departments and agencies in the system.

The Minister of Justice, Anna-Maja Henriksson said that it's clear that this child was not listened to. 

Each year, ten children die and 300 are injured because of domestic violence. In the last ten years, Finland's mothers and fathers have either killed or permanently maimed 3,000 children.

Custodial dad, step charged in beating murder of 8-year-old daughter; dad gained custody 2 months before girl's death (Helsinki, Finland)

No explanation as to why this girl went into foster care, or why the mother lost custody. But we certainly see Daddee Glorification here, which is the assumption that any scumbag sperm donor must be great.

In reality, it appears that UNNAMED DAD and his gal pal began abusing (torturing) this girl almost immediately, and she died withing two months of Daddy getting custody. Who wants to take responsibility for giving this killer dad custody? Let's see the names.

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Homicide+of+8-year-old+sparks+police+investigation+into+possible+negligence+by+child+welfare+officials/1329104729483

Homicide of 8-year-old sparks police investigation into possible negligence by child welfare officials

Father and stepmother charged with murder

A murder case in which the victim is an 8-year-old girl and the defendants are her father and her father’s girlfriend is leading to a police investigation into possible criminal negligence by Helsinki child welfare officials.

The head of the investigation, Detective Superintendent Antti Leppilahti did not want to specify the number of possible suspects or their positions in the city’s Social Services department.

A number of reports had been made by neighbours to child welfare officials about poor treatment of the girl.

The victim, who had previously lived with her mother, had been taken into foster care two years ago. She had been placed in the custody of her father about two months before her death in early May.

The father and his girlfriend are charged with assault and battery, deprivation of freedom, and murder in a trial which began last week.

Police say that the girl had been repeatedly confined to bed, wrapped in a sheet and taped in place, until she finally died of asphyxiation.

Both defendants admit to the actions that caused the girl’s death. However, they will admit only to aggravated assault and battery and aggravated negligent manslaughter.

Police: Dad killed 8-year-old son, son's mom in murder-suicide (Varkaus, Finland)

UNNAMED DAD in this latest act of familicide.

http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2011/10/father_suspected_of_double_homicide-suicide_2973139.html

Father suspected of double homicide-suicide
published yesterday 09:00 PM, updated today 09:37 AM

Police in the eastern Finnish town of Varkaus have found three bodies in a private home in the Käpykangas neighbourhood. A man, woman and a eight-year-old child, were apparently all members of the same family. Police believe that the man shot and killed his wife and son before taking his own life.

North Savo Police initially declined to say much about the case, such as whether the victims died as the result of an accident or foul play. The incident is now being investigated as a double homicide.

The bodies were discovered around 6pm Monday after relatives expressed concern about not being able to contact members of the family.

Few details have been released of the ongoing investigation.

Dad released, arrested as flight, kidnap threat (Brevard County, Florida)

We posted on this case extensively back in 2009. And what we found then was that there was a lot more here than a little ride on a sail boat. What we uncovered was very probable collusion between the custody supervisor (who was a personal friend of the father) and the father, PAUL MARTIKAINEN. And incompetence/corruption on the part of Florida DCF and the family court. This was a father with a history of domestic violence and child abuse. And a father with no sailing experience who put this child at extraordinary risk.

In addition, as a friend of mine pointed out, GPS monitoring of a father like this does not provide safety for children.  It either subjects the mother and child to ALSO being monitored (in order to assure that the stalker is not in their vicinity), or else it fails when they are at locations other than home, work, or school.

Here are the points we raised back in 2009:

1) We still have no idea how Dad "dodged" the court-appointed visitation supervisor who was presumably supposed to stop the initial abduction. Are we supposed to believe that this person (who was a friend of the father!) was just a dimwit, and that it's just an amazing coincidence that Dad's "alleged" abuse was "verified" just days before by the Florida Department of Children and Families, and yet there was no stepped-up attention at all? At this point, why was visitation even continued? Clearly, Dad was pretty confident he could pull this stunt, since he had his sailboat all ready to go and waiting--and now repainted a battleship gray with all identifying numbers removed, so as to make detection more difficult. Why was Dad so confident? This "monitor" needs to be thoroughly investigated for any role he may have played in this fiasco. And subjected to any and all appropriate disciplinary actions including jail. But the authorities have refused to follow up.


2) In a move that the Florida Department of Children and Families is now famous for--deftly passing the buck and absolving itself of responsibility--DCF basically said "not my problem, man" because the mother had primary custody (so?) and "the child was under the supervision of the judge." And also, you know, the investigation was closed the day before Thanskgiving and our part was done. Well then. Maybe the judge needs to be fired along with most of the DCF staff. (As it turns out, the judge was CHARLIE ROBERTS, well known as a fathers rights judge.)


3) For the moronic enablers who still insist that Dad is not abusive or neglectful, consider the following points:


* Dad was taking a 3-year-old child out on a sailboat when Dad had little to no sailing experience, on a boat that was difficult to identify from the air because of the gray paint job. This made it difficult to catch, yes, but also difficult to locate in case of distress. Do you wonder if Dad even thought of that, or if he even cared?


* The boat had no EPIRB, a devise that helps rescuers locate boats in distress, and the boat had no child life vests. Though it's possible that Dad went out and bought a child vest, it sure didn't look like this was a priority given the context of his other actions. How do these actions rate in terms of Dad's overall concern for the boy's safety and well being, folks?


* Given that Dad appeared to be sailing alone, how did he, an inexperienced sailor, plan to supervise an active preschooler on a 32-foot sailboat? Is he going to devote himself totally to child care under the rather demanding circumstances? (I'd hate to be supervising a preschooler on a boat this size even if I had no other responsibilities.) Yea, sure he is. And embark on a crash course in sailing at the same time. How's that for multi-tasking? Actually it's just pure freaking stupidity. He's going to be ignoring the kid, that's what. He has no choice if he's going to keep the boat afloat.


* A bad storm was expected to move across the Gulf from Texas. But did a bad weather forecast put a crimp in Dad's plans? Did it make him reconsider his son's well-being in this nutty scheme for even a second? Apparently not.


4) Why are these guy's "rights" even under consideration at this point? We now find out that Dad gave up his parental rights after the initial divorce in 2005, when the baby hadn't even been born yet! The couple then makes an effort to reconcile, so Dad changes his mind and wants joint custody because he's "developed a bond" with the child. Yea, right. Work out the timeline. Basically as soon as Dad enters the picture, he's abusing the child. And not "alleged" abuse as initially reported in error. We're talking "verified" abuse. So you want to tell me about bonding? My @$$.

5) Note that in addition to the "verified" (not "alleged") child abuse charges, this guy has a general criminal record that includes drug trafficking. Oh yes, great dad this one.


http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110831/NEWS01/108310321/Father-released-arrested-flight-kidnap-threat

Father released, arrested as flight, kidnap threat

1:11 AM, Aug. 31, 2011


After Paul Martikainen took his son from a Cocoa park during a supervised visit in 2009, local police officers wanted to arrest him for interfering with child custody.

But the 35-year-old father's ensuing attempt to flee the country by sailing across the Gulf of Mexico elevated a kidnapping charge against him, and he went on to serve part of a 22-month sentence in a federal prison.
Martikainen was freed Monday, but the Cocoa Police Department's warrant still stood: He was promptly re-arrested and returned to the Brevard County Detention Center.

But with the chance that the former Palm Bay man could post bond, prosecutors and the 5-year-old boy's mother feared the same kidnapping scenario could recur.

Martikainen, a native of Finland, often had expressed plans to leave the country with his son, they said.
"He is a flight risk," Assistant State Attorney Gary Beatty said as Martikainen made an initial court appearance Tuesday. "The mother . . . is very concerned that there is going to be a repeat of this, of him attempting to get the child away."

Martikainen took his son, Luke Finch, from Cocoa Riverfront Park when a court-appointed monitor stepped away in November 2009. He traveled across the state and boarded a sailboat in Fort Myers in an attempt to reach Mexico.

Three days later and about 140 miles southwest of Fort Myers Beach, the Coast Guard caught up with the boat. The boy was unharmed and returned to Martikainen's estranged wife, Christa Finch.

Because he crossed into international waters, Martikainen was sentenced to time ina federal prison after pleading guilty to kidnapping.

Standing before a judge on the original charge Tuesday, Martikainen was ordered to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet if he posts the $20,000 bond. The judge also told him not to go within one mile of his son and former wife.

"There is concern and likelihood that he may try to take his son back to Finland, where much of his family lives," an arrest warrant states.

Late Tuesday, Martikainen remained in jail. If convicted on the charge, he faces a maximum of five years in a state prison.

Research in Child Abuse and Neglect: Risk Factors for Physical Child Abuse (2008)

Part of our ongoing survey of the what the child abuse and neglect literature says about perpetrators. Perpetrator data is highlighted in bold.

http://www.thieme-connect.com/ejournals/abstract/ejps/doi/10.1055/s-2008-1038922

Eur J Pediatr Surg 2008; 18: 387-391
DOI: 10.1055/s-2008-1038922

© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Risk Factors for Physical Child Abuse in Infants and Toddlers

T. Hurme1, S. Alanko2, P. Anttila3, T. Juven2, E. Svedström4
1 Department of Pediatric Surgery, University Hospital Turku, Turku, Finland
2 Department of Pediatric Psychiatrics, University Hospital Turku, Turku, Finland
3 Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital Turku, Turku, Finland
4 Department of Pediatric Radiology, University Hospital Turku, Turku, Finland

Abstract
Background: We examined the risk factors and injuries in physical child abuse between November 2003 and February 2007. Patients and Methods: The uptake area of the University Hospital of Turku, Finland, consists of about 700 000 inhabitants. Forty-eight cases of physical child abuse were examined. The median age of the abused children was 2.2 years, for children with skull fractures it was 0.5 years. The incidence of child physical abuse increased during the study period; it was 0.6/month in 2004 and 1.7/month in 2006. Mortality in the study group was 2.1 %.

Results: Depression, overactivity, crying and prematurity were risk factors in the physically abused children. Parental risk factors were alcohol and drug abuse. Most often the perpetrator was the father or stepfather; when the perpetrator was unknown, the children were mostly in their mothers' care. The average delay of 3 weeks until starting the investigation into abuse was mostly due to delays by health centers or homes. Radiographs were the cornerstones of the medical examination but magnetic resonance examinations were essential for the examination protocol.

Conclusions: All levels of public health services, day care facilities and schools must be aware of possible physical child abuse and initiate an investigation as soon as possible by contacting the authorities. Physically abused children and their families must be followed up and supported for a sufficiently long period by social pediatric outpatient wards. The general information on child maltreatment provided to the public needs to be increased to prevent abuse. A child welfare report must be made to social workers in every maltreatment case examined in hospital, and in most cases the offence must also be reported to the police. Nevertheless, in certain cases even permanent custody of the child cannot be avoided.