Unfortunately, this is in many ways a typical scenario. Abusive dad secures custody (total control) over victim and shuts Mom off from any contact with the child whatsoever. Daddy then plays games with the kid's mental health supports, for which, of course, he is apparently not being held responsible for at all. Notice that this is an UNNAMED DAD....
http://www.nbc12.com/story/29208327/mom-of-teen-who-committed-suicide-files-wrongful-death-suit
Mom of teen who committed suicide files wrongful death suit
Posted: Jun 01, 2015 1:23 PM EDT
Updated: Jun 02, 2015 12:52 AM EDT
By NBC12 Newsroom
CHESTERFIELD, VA (WWBT) -
The mother of a Chesterfield high school student who committed suicide in 2013 has filed a wrongful death suit against two therapists, a counseling group, and the teen's biological father.
#17-year-old Cal Reilly hanged himself inside a tunnel at Chesterfield's Hampton Park, just days before graduation in May of 2013. His friends and former classmates later spray painted messages inside the tunnel in a gesture meant to memorialized the teen, but were arrested for graffiti and the messages were removed.
#Now Cal's mother, Darci Reilly, has filed suit against several people whom she claims did not prevent her son from taking his life. Reilly is seeking $6 million in damages.
#Darci Reilly's attorney, Mandy Wilson, says Cal's death stemmed from a nasty custody battle where he allegedly told one psychologist that if he had to live with his father, he would kill himself. Despite that, Wilson says one of the psychologists sent him to live with his father. At the time of the child's death, Reilly says she had no contact with her son, because of what she alleges are false accusations from these psychologists.
"What is alleged is heartbreaking, and includes everything from calling the police on (the child) out of anger, to requesting removal of him early from the one place that was actually treating him for a previous suicide attempt. We would ask anyone to reserve judgement against anyone unless and until they have read the full scope of the complaint," said Wilson in a statement to NBC12.
Showing posts with label mental health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mental health. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Dad charged with manslaughter after alcohol found in blood of 5-month-old son during autopsy (Norwalk, Connecticut)
Notice that dad JORGE CHICLANA also has a history of domestic violence. Not a big surprise. Men who choke their wives are statistically very dangerous around their kids as we see here.
http://foxct.com/2015/05/19/father-arrested-after-alcohol-found-in-his-infant-sons-blood-during-autopsy/
Father arrested after alcohol found in his infant son’s blood during autopsy
Posted 6:42 PM, May 19, 2015, by Tony Terzi, Updated at 06:43pm, May 19, 2015
NORWALK–Jorge Chiclana, 22, had no previous criminal record, but when his 5-month-old boy was found unresponsive in his crib last year, Chiclana’s now ex-wife, who was cleared of any wrongdoing, could think of no other suspect.
Five months after the May 16, 2014 death of Jacob Isaiah Chiclana, the state lab for toxicology issued a report saying the contents of the baby’s bottle contained 20 percent ethanol by weight, equivalent to 25 percent alcohol by volume, meaning a 50-proof cocktail.
“Police were looking into that and kept asking me if I saw him do it,” said Odalis Galarza, the baby’s mother. “I personally did not see him do that.”
She was referring to Chiclana, who was arraigned in Norwalk Superior Court on charges of second-degree manslaughter and risk of injury to a minor.
“I do know he made the bottle and, because it looked normal, I fed my son,” said Galarza. “You know, after three years of him doing this (making bottles), I would never have thought of ever looking into the bottles.”
Jorge Chiclana and Odalis Galarza have two children together. She says he swore up-and-down to her that he did not put alcohol in the baby’s bottle. But, his actions, she insists, said otherwise.
“He kept disappearing for short periods of time,” Galarza said. “He flew off to Puerto Rico. He kept changing his number every single time I gave the detective his new number.”
According to Galarza, her ex-husband started spray-painting a large toy inside their apartment the night before the baby’s death. Given the baby’s asthma, Galarza thought the paint fumes might be responsible for his death. But she didn’t want to question Chiclana too much on the matter because of an incident that happened just weeks before baby Jacob was born in December 2013.
“He got upset and he choked me in front of the kids and that’s when the Department of Children and Families came into our lives the first time,” claims Galarza.
It was revealed today in court that Chiclana, who was apprehended by U.S. Marshals Monday at the Honeyspot Inn motel in Stratford, has a history of mental health issues. The manager of the motel told Fox CT Chiclana had been staying there for two or three days in a room that was reserved in his mother’s name.
Chiclana’s case was transferred to Stamford Superior Court, where he is next due to appear on June 2.
According to a police report, police seized three cans of Krylon spray paint and a fan that Chiclana said he was using for ventilation for the painting project.
Two days after the child died, Dr. Susan Williams of the chief medical examiner’s office stated that the infant appeared to have died by asphyxiation due to aspiration. However, the cause remained unknown until further toxicology tests were performed on the infant’s tissue samples and his lungs were examined.
On August 18, 2014, Norwalk investigators received information from the office of the chief medical examiner that the victim had alcohol in his liver tissue and urine consistent with a .04 blood alcohol content.
A week before Jacob’s death, there was a poisoning incident in their home involving their then 16-month-old toddler. The baby had ingested liquid incense, which Galarza said Chiclana poured into container he left within reach of the child.
On March 16 of this year, Norwalk police received autopsy reports saying alcohol was present in the blood liver, gastric contents and urine. The cause of death remained undetermined, as did the manner of death.
The medical examiner’s office determined the child’s lungs were clear and the child did not die of aspiration, as originally thought. The OCME said he most likely died due to the fact that the asthmatic child was placed faced face down in the crib, which could affect the child’s breathing, especially given the central nervous system was depressed due to the presence of alcohol.
http://foxct.com/2015/05/19/father-arrested-after-alcohol-found-in-his-infant-sons-blood-during-autopsy/
Father arrested after alcohol found in his infant son’s blood during autopsy
Posted 6:42 PM, May 19, 2015, by Tony Terzi, Updated at 06:43pm, May 19, 2015
NORWALK–Jorge Chiclana, 22, had no previous criminal record, but when his 5-month-old boy was found unresponsive in his crib last year, Chiclana’s now ex-wife, who was cleared of any wrongdoing, could think of no other suspect.
Five months after the May 16, 2014 death of Jacob Isaiah Chiclana, the state lab for toxicology issued a report saying the contents of the baby’s bottle contained 20 percent ethanol by weight, equivalent to 25 percent alcohol by volume, meaning a 50-proof cocktail.
“Police were looking into that and kept asking me if I saw him do it,” said Odalis Galarza, the baby’s mother. “I personally did not see him do that.”
She was referring to Chiclana, who was arraigned in Norwalk Superior Court on charges of second-degree manslaughter and risk of injury to a minor.
“I do know he made the bottle and, because it looked normal, I fed my son,” said Galarza. “You know, after three years of him doing this (making bottles), I would never have thought of ever looking into the bottles.”
Jorge Chiclana and Odalis Galarza have two children together. She says he swore up-and-down to her that he did not put alcohol in the baby’s bottle. But, his actions, she insists, said otherwise.
“He kept disappearing for short periods of time,” Galarza said. “He flew off to Puerto Rico. He kept changing his number every single time I gave the detective his new number.”
According to Galarza, her ex-husband started spray-painting a large toy inside their apartment the night before the baby’s death. Given the baby’s asthma, Galarza thought the paint fumes might be responsible for his death. But she didn’t want to question Chiclana too much on the matter because of an incident that happened just weeks before baby Jacob was born in December 2013.
“He got upset and he choked me in front of the kids and that’s when the Department of Children and Families came into our lives the first time,” claims Galarza.
It was revealed today in court that Chiclana, who was apprehended by U.S. Marshals Monday at the Honeyspot Inn motel in Stratford, has a history of mental health issues. The manager of the motel told Fox CT Chiclana had been staying there for two or three days in a room that was reserved in his mother’s name.
Chiclana’s case was transferred to Stamford Superior Court, where he is next due to appear on June 2.
According to a police report, police seized three cans of Krylon spray paint and a fan that Chiclana said he was using for ventilation for the painting project.
Two days after the child died, Dr. Susan Williams of the chief medical examiner’s office stated that the infant appeared to have died by asphyxiation due to aspiration. However, the cause remained unknown until further toxicology tests were performed on the infant’s tissue samples and his lungs were examined.
On August 18, 2014, Norwalk investigators received information from the office of the chief medical examiner that the victim had alcohol in his liver tissue and urine consistent with a .04 blood alcohol content.
A week before Jacob’s death, there was a poisoning incident in their home involving their then 16-month-old toddler. The baby had ingested liquid incense, which Galarza said Chiclana poured into container he left within reach of the child.
On March 16 of this year, Norwalk police received autopsy reports saying alcohol was present in the blood liver, gastric contents and urine. The cause of death remained undetermined, as did the manner of death.
The medical examiner’s office determined the child’s lungs were clear and the child did not die of aspiration, as originally thought. The OCME said he most likely died due to the fact that the asthmatic child was placed faced face down in the crib, which could affect the child’s breathing, especially given the central nervous system was depressed due to the presence of alcohol.
Friday, April 24, 2015
Dad kills 9-year-old son, 6-year-old daughter despite order of protection, supervised visitation (New Zealand)
Lots of crocodile tears here by moronic officials who refused to act on any number of red flag, refused to look at all the evidence, ignored the mother's concerns, and thus allowed two kids be viciously murdered by their father.
Dad is identified as EDWARD LIVINGSTONE.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/68011537/killer-dad-edward-livingstone-high-risk
Killer dad Edward Livingstone 'high risk'
A Dunedin inquest into the deaths of the Livingstone children has ended with top officials fighting back tears.
Bradley, 9, and his sister Ellen, 6, were shot dead by Livingstone at their home in the Dunedin suburb of St Leonards, shortly before 10pm on January 15 last year.
Livingstone, 51, was later found dead in the front bedroom of the house at 9 Kiwi St. A shotgun lay next to him.
He left a final note at his flat before the killings.
Katharine Webb, Livingstone's former wife and the mother of Bradley and Ellen, was the first of 18 witnesses called to give evidence at an inquest into the three deaths, which began on Tuesday in Dunedin.
She escaped the shooting unharmed.
OFFICIALS EMOTIONAL AS INQUEST CLOSES
Chief Coroner Deborah Marshall on Friday closed the inquest and reserved her decision.
She thanked Katharine Webb for her quiet dignity.
It reminded everyone "how much you have suffered", Marshall said, voice breaking.
Shortly before, Southern District Commander Andrew Coster underlined the emotional weight of the inquiry by also fighting back tears as he defended the police performance under a grilling from Webb's lawyer Anne Stevens. Police were "totally committed" to do better but "we can't change what happened", he said.
Coster said he had moved to close the cracks the Livingstone case had highlighted and more resources had been allocated to family violence in the district.
Police received 2000 family violence reports per year just in its Dunedin office.
Coster said if Livingstone's convictions in Australia from 1988 (arson and assault) had been known to the court dealing with his protection order breach, it was still questionable whether it would have made a difference.
At the time of the hearing, police still needed to know more about the convictions and the circumstances.
He said the information had come from a cell interview for intelligence purposes and entered into the police intelligence system..
If the officer he had known more detail about the case, it might have been an error not to have taken further action. In a best case scenario, a family violence meeting co-ordinator would have noticed the new information and followed it up.
The police prosecutor who opposed a discharge without conviction for Livingstone's second breach of his protection order could have sought an adjournment to investigate further his convictions in Australia.
"It's most likely it would have been granted."
Two constables who attended an incident at Livingstone's house on August 7 and were handed empty bullet shells which Livingstone had given his children, should have recorded it.
"It was a very significant matter and staff did not attach sufficient weight to it."
The fact police did not investigate a rape allegation by Webb was a failure and too much reliance was placed on Webb's desire not to take it further.
Police and other agencies did have a level of awareness of risk factors in the case and "there were a lot of things in place that led this group to believe the case was well managed."
Nothing of great significance suggested an major escalation of risk, he said.
"But if the police had taken ownership of the rape there is a distinct possibility we would not be here?" Stevens said.
Police would have needed a reliable confession from Livingstone to proceed with a prosecution if his wife did not want to pursue charges.
"I accept if convicted he would be in custody."
He agreed complainants could change their mind. Webb had engaged with Women's Refuge, she had a protection order, Livingstone had engaged with Emergency Psychiatric Services and the children were in a programme.
He was not sure much more could have been done.
"You can't make the right call in every instance."
Even if Livingstone had not received a discharge without conviction, he would almost certainly not have gone to prison, Coster said.
But each little step made here ultimately affected the outcome, Stevens said. Coster said it was unfair to assume outcomes would have been different if the case was handled better.
In other evidence, Mel Foot, who lived next door to the Livingstone house, remained adamant she had telephoned police in August to tell them about a threat Livingstone made to kill his family with an axe.
She had also told two constables who attended an incident at the Livingstone house on August 7.
"I'd warned everybody but nobody listened."
Coster said police were unable to verify Foot's claim.
LIVINGSTONE WAS 'HIGH RISK'
On Friday, former Dunedin probation officer Liqueshia Dougherty told the inquest she was briefed about Livingstone at an inter-agency family violence meeting about a week after he had breached a protection order on August 6, 2013, preventing him from contacting Webb.
The meeting was attended by several agencies including Police, Corrections, Child, Youth and Family and Women's Refuge. Dougherty noted on a document that she was told Livingstone was considered "high risk" and had narcissistic personality disorder, a high sense of entitlement and refused to accept his relationship with Webb was over.
She also noted that he had given his children bullet casings at a supervised visit as a "message for her [Webb]".
It was brought to her attention that Livingstone worked at Otago Correctional Facility and she made a note so she could pass it on to management at the prison.
"At the time it seemed like I was the only person in the room that wasn't aware of the information.
"Everybody seemed quite concerned. People felt there was more underneath it."
Dougherty said the reference to the bullet casings made her particularly concerned.
She did not recall knowing anything about an allegation that Livingstone had raped Webb.
Minutes of the meeting noted there had been two family violence incidents involving Livingstone and Webb, most recently on May 27.
They also noted that Livingstone had mental health issues and Women's Refuge was working closely with Webb who had written about wanting to end her relationship.
Livingstone's name was added to a high risk register.
People on that register were "kept a closer eye on", Dougherty said.
It indicated an issue that needed more intervention.
There were 31 new family violence related matters discussed at the meeting.
KEY POINTS FROM DAY ONE
* Katharine Webb said Edward Livingstone raped her in May 2013 shortly before they separated. She did not pursue charges because she wanted to focus on getting out of the house and keeping her children safe. She knew where to go for help if needed.
* In 2013, Livingstone twice (August 6-7 and September 14) breached a protection order preventing him from contacting Webb in the months before the shooting. He obtained police diversion on one charge and a discharge without conviction on the other.
* Livingstone had an historic conviction for arson in Australia dating back to 1988. The court heard he set fire to his former fiance's home after coming home to find her in bed with another man.
* Livingstone gave bullet casings to his children during a supervised visit after he separated from Webb.
* Livingstone told associates he had thoughts about killing his family and himself in the months before the shooting. Livingstone's neighbour Mel Foot said she contacted police in August 2013 and told them that Livingstone had talked about killing his family. Foot alleged the complaint was never followed up by police.
* Psychiatrist Christopher Wisely was unaware of Livingstone's historic conviction for arson or the incident involving the bullet casings. If Wisely had known it may have altered the risk assessment he gave to a judge at a sentencing hearing at Dunedin District Court on November 15, 2013, in relation to the second breach of the protection order. Livingstone was discharged without conviction.
* Police prosecutor Sergeant Kate Saxton said she was not fully aware of Livingstone's criminal offending in Australia at the time of the hearing. She could have sought an adjournment on the matter until she was sent all the information, but decided not to. Interpol sent her a copy of Livingstone's Australian criminal history on December 9. Saxton conceded that the information could have altered the outcome of the sentencing.
* Saxton also told the court that Livingstone should not have received diversion for the first breach of the protection order. Diversion was not available for breaching a court order, she said.
* Wisely said Edward Livingstone sourced the shotgun used in the shooting from a former flatmate's home. The flatmate did not know Livingstone had taken the gun until police came to his home after the shooting.
KEY POINTS FROM DAY TWO
* Southern District Commander Andrew Coster said police had failed to pick up red flags in the case and the Criminal Investigation Branch should have investigated an allegation, admitted by Livingstone, that he had brutally raped his wife Katharine in May, 2013. The police effort was well intentioned but inadequate and too much weight had been given to Katharine Webb's wishes. Livingstone should not have been considered eligible for diversion and police should have pursued the allegation despite the victim's desire not to pursue the allegation. Steps had been taken to address the failures, he said, with a specialist investigation unit set up.
* Detective Senior Sergeant Kallum Croudis, of the Dunedin police, admitted a series of significant failings by police staff who dealt with Livingstone and his family in the months before the shooting. Police had failed to follow-up in a timely way information Livingstone had an arson conviction in Australia. Bullet casings Livingstone gave to his children at a supervised visit and then handed to police should have been investigated.
* Livingstone drove to the Kiwi St property with a red fuel container full of petrol, a shotgun stolen from his former flatmate and ammunition. There were beers in the car, but blood tests would later show he was not over the legal limit. Livingstone entered the house through a side door using a key before shooting his children in their bedrooms.
* Police investigations showed Livingstone claimed he was abused at a boys' school in Sydney and had a violent father. His mother left the family when he was very young. He has a younger sister called Suzanne.
* Police received information, probably on August 8 last year, that Livingstone was harassing his former wife's neighbour by phone calls and text messages mainly wanting to know if his wife was still wearing her wedding ring. Police were also told Livingstone was sneaking around his former family home when his wife was at work. The informant (name suppressed) told police Livingstone was, "f...... nuts".
* The general practitioner treating Livingstone says she doubts the drugs she prescribed on May 16, 2013 (zyban and escitalopram) could have caused a psychotic episode leading him to rape his wife. He had not reported problems with past use of zyban. Livingstone's psychiatrist Chris Wisely believes Livingstone had an adverse reaction to the drugs that led to the rape his wife. The couple separated after the rape.
KEY POINTS FROM DAY THREE
* Livingstone deceived his psychotherapist by not telling her fully about his past or the full details of the incidents relating to his first breach of a protection order. The psychotherapist, whose name is suppressed, did not seek details of the police case and provided a letter, which was later produced in court, saying she did not believe Livingstone was a violent man, despite knowing he had raped Webb. Livingstone once told the psychotherapist he was a "sex addict".
* Barnardos employee Rebecca Cadogan, who supervised five of Livingstone's six arranged visits with Bradley and Ellen, said she was not surprised to learn he had killed his children. Cadogan said she had seen Livingstone become very aggressive and dominating during one of the sessions and instinctively thought of him when she heard about the shooting.
* Former flatmate Philip Mans said Livingstone's drinking increased while they lived together to a point, in the months before the shooting, where he could hardly stand some evenings and went to bed very depressed. Livingstone stole the gun used in the shooting from Mans' locked gun safe. Mans said he felt Livingstone had deceived and manipulated him.
* Forensic psychiatrist Dr David Chaplow said a clinical review identified that elements of Livingstone's care were inadequate. The review's main finding was that information held by various clinicians about Livingstone could have been shared better. Collectively they failed to ascertain Livingstone's danger to Webb. He had deceived them. However, while Livingstone's care could have been better, the review found there was nothing clinicians could have done to change the end result.
* Mark Godwin, from the Department of Corrections, said during Livingstone's recruitment for a job at Otago Correctional Facility checks indicated he had no criminal convictions, nor did he declare any. If the department had been aware Livingstone had an historic conviction for arson in Australia he may not have been hired. In December 2013, Livingstone received a final warning from Corrections after he was was discharged without conviction for breaching a protection order. If Livingstone had been convicted he may have lost his job, Godwin said.
Coster said Mel Foot's claim she told the police on August 8, 2013, about Livingstone wanting to kill his family with an axe emerged through the media.
Police investigated the claim thoroughly but nothing was available to verify the claim.
Police had gone through the calls made by Foot from her telephone and she had accepted no call had been made to convey the information.
She now maintained she had told police in person when officers called at the address on August 7, Coster said..
However the officers had no recollection of that information and believed they would have recorded such a significant thing.
Coster said Mel Foot's claim she told the police on August 8, 2013, about Livingstone wanting to kill his family with an axe emerged through the media.
Police investigated the claim thoroughly but nothing was available to verify the claim.
Police had gone through the calls made by Foot from her telephone and she had accepted no call had been made to convey the information.
She now maintained she had told police in person when officers called at the address on August 7, Coster said..
However the officers had no recollection of that information and believed they would have recorded such a significant thing.
Dad is identified as EDWARD LIVINGSTONE.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/68011537/killer-dad-edward-livingstone-high-risk
Killer dad Edward Livingstone 'high risk'
A Dunedin inquest into the deaths of the Livingstone children has ended with top officials fighting back tears.
Bradley, 9, and his sister Ellen, 6, were shot dead by Livingstone at their home in the Dunedin suburb of St Leonards, shortly before 10pm on January 15 last year.
Livingstone, 51, was later found dead in the front bedroom of the house at 9 Kiwi St. A shotgun lay next to him.
He left a final note at his flat before the killings.
Katharine Webb, Livingstone's former wife and the mother of Bradley and Ellen, was the first of 18 witnesses called to give evidence at an inquest into the three deaths, which began on Tuesday in Dunedin.
She escaped the shooting unharmed.
OFFICIALS EMOTIONAL AS INQUEST CLOSES
Chief Coroner Deborah Marshall on Friday closed the inquest and reserved her decision.
She thanked Katharine Webb for her quiet dignity.
It reminded everyone "how much you have suffered", Marshall said, voice breaking.
Shortly before, Southern District Commander Andrew Coster underlined the emotional weight of the inquiry by also fighting back tears as he defended the police performance under a grilling from Webb's lawyer Anne Stevens. Police were "totally committed" to do better but "we can't change what happened", he said.
Coster said he had moved to close the cracks the Livingstone case had highlighted and more resources had been allocated to family violence in the district.
Police received 2000 family violence reports per year just in its Dunedin office.
Coster said if Livingstone's convictions in Australia from 1988 (arson and assault) had been known to the court dealing with his protection order breach, it was still questionable whether it would have made a difference.
At the time of the hearing, police still needed to know more about the convictions and the circumstances.
He said the information had come from a cell interview for intelligence purposes and entered into the police intelligence system..
If the officer he had known more detail about the case, it might have been an error not to have taken further action. In a best case scenario, a family violence meeting co-ordinator would have noticed the new information and followed it up.
The police prosecutor who opposed a discharge without conviction for Livingstone's second breach of his protection order could have sought an adjournment to investigate further his convictions in Australia.
"It's most likely it would have been granted."
Two constables who attended an incident at Livingstone's house on August 7 and were handed empty bullet shells which Livingstone had given his children, should have recorded it.
"It was a very significant matter and staff did not attach sufficient weight to it."
The fact police did not investigate a rape allegation by Webb was a failure and too much reliance was placed on Webb's desire not to take it further.
Police and other agencies did have a level of awareness of risk factors in the case and "there were a lot of things in place that led this group to believe the case was well managed."
Nothing of great significance suggested an major escalation of risk, he said.
"But if the police had taken ownership of the rape there is a distinct possibility we would not be here?" Stevens said.
Police would have needed a reliable confession from Livingstone to proceed with a prosecution if his wife did not want to pursue charges.
"I accept if convicted he would be in custody."
He agreed complainants could change their mind. Webb had engaged with Women's Refuge, she had a protection order, Livingstone had engaged with Emergency Psychiatric Services and the children were in a programme.
He was not sure much more could have been done.
"You can't make the right call in every instance."
Even if Livingstone had not received a discharge without conviction, he would almost certainly not have gone to prison, Coster said.
But each little step made here ultimately affected the outcome, Stevens said. Coster said it was unfair to assume outcomes would have been different if the case was handled better.
In other evidence, Mel Foot, who lived next door to the Livingstone house, remained adamant she had telephoned police in August to tell them about a threat Livingstone made to kill his family with an axe.
She had also told two constables who attended an incident at the Livingstone house on August 7.
"I'd warned everybody but nobody listened."
Coster said police were unable to verify Foot's claim.
LIVINGSTONE WAS 'HIGH RISK'
On Friday, former Dunedin probation officer Liqueshia Dougherty told the inquest she was briefed about Livingstone at an inter-agency family violence meeting about a week after he had breached a protection order on August 6, 2013, preventing him from contacting Webb.
The meeting was attended by several agencies including Police, Corrections, Child, Youth and Family and Women's Refuge. Dougherty noted on a document that she was told Livingstone was considered "high risk" and had narcissistic personality disorder, a high sense of entitlement and refused to accept his relationship with Webb was over.
She also noted that he had given his children bullet casings at a supervised visit as a "message for her [Webb]".
It was brought to her attention that Livingstone worked at Otago Correctional Facility and she made a note so she could pass it on to management at the prison.
"At the time it seemed like I was the only person in the room that wasn't aware of the information.
"Everybody seemed quite concerned. People felt there was more underneath it."
Dougherty said the reference to the bullet casings made her particularly concerned.
She did not recall knowing anything about an allegation that Livingstone had raped Webb.
Minutes of the meeting noted there had been two family violence incidents involving Livingstone and Webb, most recently on May 27.
They also noted that Livingstone had mental health issues and Women's Refuge was working closely with Webb who had written about wanting to end her relationship.
Livingstone's name was added to a high risk register.
People on that register were "kept a closer eye on", Dougherty said.
It indicated an issue that needed more intervention.
There were 31 new family violence related matters discussed at the meeting.
KEY POINTS FROM DAY ONE
* Katharine Webb said Edward Livingstone raped her in May 2013 shortly before they separated. She did not pursue charges because she wanted to focus on getting out of the house and keeping her children safe. She knew where to go for help if needed.
* In 2013, Livingstone twice (August 6-7 and September 14) breached a protection order preventing him from contacting Webb in the months before the shooting. He obtained police diversion on one charge and a discharge without conviction on the other.
* Livingstone had an historic conviction for arson in Australia dating back to 1988. The court heard he set fire to his former fiance's home after coming home to find her in bed with another man.
* Livingstone gave bullet casings to his children during a supervised visit after he separated from Webb.
* Livingstone told associates he had thoughts about killing his family and himself in the months before the shooting. Livingstone's neighbour Mel Foot said she contacted police in August 2013 and told them that Livingstone had talked about killing his family. Foot alleged the complaint was never followed up by police.
* Psychiatrist Christopher Wisely was unaware of Livingstone's historic conviction for arson or the incident involving the bullet casings. If Wisely had known it may have altered the risk assessment he gave to a judge at a sentencing hearing at Dunedin District Court on November 15, 2013, in relation to the second breach of the protection order. Livingstone was discharged without conviction.
* Police prosecutor Sergeant Kate Saxton said she was not fully aware of Livingstone's criminal offending in Australia at the time of the hearing. She could have sought an adjournment on the matter until she was sent all the information, but decided not to. Interpol sent her a copy of Livingstone's Australian criminal history on December 9. Saxton conceded that the information could have altered the outcome of the sentencing.
* Saxton also told the court that Livingstone should not have received diversion for the first breach of the protection order. Diversion was not available for breaching a court order, she said.
* Wisely said Edward Livingstone sourced the shotgun used in the shooting from a former flatmate's home. The flatmate did not know Livingstone had taken the gun until police came to his home after the shooting.
KEY POINTS FROM DAY TWO
* Southern District Commander Andrew Coster said police had failed to pick up red flags in the case and the Criminal Investigation Branch should have investigated an allegation, admitted by Livingstone, that he had brutally raped his wife Katharine in May, 2013. The police effort was well intentioned but inadequate and too much weight had been given to Katharine Webb's wishes. Livingstone should not have been considered eligible for diversion and police should have pursued the allegation despite the victim's desire not to pursue the allegation. Steps had been taken to address the failures, he said, with a specialist investigation unit set up.
* Detective Senior Sergeant Kallum Croudis, of the Dunedin police, admitted a series of significant failings by police staff who dealt with Livingstone and his family in the months before the shooting. Police had failed to follow-up in a timely way information Livingstone had an arson conviction in Australia. Bullet casings Livingstone gave to his children at a supervised visit and then handed to police should have been investigated.
* Livingstone drove to the Kiwi St property with a red fuel container full of petrol, a shotgun stolen from his former flatmate and ammunition. There were beers in the car, but blood tests would later show he was not over the legal limit. Livingstone entered the house through a side door using a key before shooting his children in their bedrooms.
* Police investigations showed Livingstone claimed he was abused at a boys' school in Sydney and had a violent father. His mother left the family when he was very young. He has a younger sister called Suzanne.
* Police received information, probably on August 8 last year, that Livingstone was harassing his former wife's neighbour by phone calls and text messages mainly wanting to know if his wife was still wearing her wedding ring. Police were also told Livingstone was sneaking around his former family home when his wife was at work. The informant (name suppressed) told police Livingstone was, "f...... nuts".
* The general practitioner treating Livingstone says she doubts the drugs she prescribed on May 16, 2013 (zyban and escitalopram) could have caused a psychotic episode leading him to rape his wife. He had not reported problems with past use of zyban. Livingstone's psychiatrist Chris Wisely believes Livingstone had an adverse reaction to the drugs that led to the rape his wife. The couple separated after the rape.
KEY POINTS FROM DAY THREE
* Livingstone deceived his psychotherapist by not telling her fully about his past or the full details of the incidents relating to his first breach of a protection order. The psychotherapist, whose name is suppressed, did not seek details of the police case and provided a letter, which was later produced in court, saying she did not believe Livingstone was a violent man, despite knowing he had raped Webb. Livingstone once told the psychotherapist he was a "sex addict".
* Barnardos employee Rebecca Cadogan, who supervised five of Livingstone's six arranged visits with Bradley and Ellen, said she was not surprised to learn he had killed his children. Cadogan said she had seen Livingstone become very aggressive and dominating during one of the sessions and instinctively thought of him when she heard about the shooting.
* Former flatmate Philip Mans said Livingstone's drinking increased while they lived together to a point, in the months before the shooting, where he could hardly stand some evenings and went to bed very depressed. Livingstone stole the gun used in the shooting from Mans' locked gun safe. Mans said he felt Livingstone had deceived and manipulated him.
* Forensic psychiatrist Dr David Chaplow said a clinical review identified that elements of Livingstone's care were inadequate. The review's main finding was that information held by various clinicians about Livingstone could have been shared better. Collectively they failed to ascertain Livingstone's danger to Webb. He had deceived them. However, while Livingstone's care could have been better, the review found there was nothing clinicians could have done to change the end result.
* Mark Godwin, from the Department of Corrections, said during Livingstone's recruitment for a job at Otago Correctional Facility checks indicated he had no criminal convictions, nor did he declare any. If the department had been aware Livingstone had an historic conviction for arson in Australia he may not have been hired. In December 2013, Livingstone received a final warning from Corrections after he was was discharged without conviction for breaching a protection order. If Livingstone had been convicted he may have lost his job, Godwin said.
Coster said Mel Foot's claim she told the police on August 8, 2013, about Livingstone wanting to kill his family with an axe emerged through the media.
Police investigated the claim thoroughly but nothing was available to verify the claim.
Police had gone through the calls made by Foot from her telephone and she had accepted no call had been made to convey the information.
She now maintained she had told police in person when officers called at the address on August 7, Coster said..
However the officers had no recollection of that information and believed they would have recorded such a significant thing.
Coster said Mel Foot's claim she told the police on August 8, 2013, about Livingstone wanting to kill his family with an axe emerged through the media.
Police investigated the claim thoroughly but nothing was available to verify the claim.
Police had gone through the calls made by Foot from her telephone and she had accepted no call had been made to convey the information.
She now maintained she had told police in person when officers called at the address on August 7, Coster said..
However the officers had no recollection of that information and believed they would have recorded such a significant thing.
Monday, February 16, 2015
Custodial dad gets 17 years for sexually abusing daughter over seven years (Queensland, Australia)
This is the second conviction I have seen this month of an Australian custodial father being convicted of sexual abuse. See this other account which at first I thought was the same dad, but is apparently not.
Now we see that apart from all the late-to-the-table moral outrage expressed by Judge Conlon, UNNAMED DAD was coddled by the psychiatric establishment and the courts in cahoots with them. There was only some modicum of justice in this case after years of pushing.
SHAME on Dr. Olav Niellsen and all the other pedophile and child rapist enablers. They should rot in jail too.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/sick-sex-monster-father-to-rot-in-jail-for-at-least-17-years/story-fni0cx12-1227221835484
Sick sex monster father to rot in jail for at least 17 years
Janet Fife-Yeomans The Daily Telegraph February 17, 2015 12:00AM
“When fathers like the offender are exposed for their horrific crimes, the community expects the courts will impose severe punishment,” Judge Conlon said.
A TRUCK driver will spend at least 17 years in jail for the sexual abuse of his daughter in one of the longest sentences handed down to a paedophile father in Australia.
In sentencing the 49-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his daughter, Judge Paul Conlon said it was what the community expected.
The man was jailed for at least 13 years in Campbelltown District Court yesterday after being extradited from Queensland, where he has spent four years behind bars for incest.
“In this country, for the overwhelming majority of fathers, the love they have for their daughters is such that they would give their own lives to protect and keep them safe from harm,” Judge Conlon said.
“When fathers like the offender are exposed for their horrific crimes, the community expects the courts will impose severe punishment.”
The man, who had custody of his daughter and her brothers after he split up with their mother, had groomed his daughter from the age of 12, sexually assaulting her at least every two weeks including “brutal and humiliating” vaginal and anal sex, the judge said. The children lived with their father and his new wife in NSW and moved to Queensland after the girl completed Year 12, where the abuse continued.
Judge Conlon, who has a reputation for handing down tough sentences to child sex offenders, said the truck driver had exploited her youth “in the worst possible way”.
“He has groomed his own daughter, turning her into his sexual play thing,” the judge said.
He was critical of psychiatrist Dr Olav Nielssen who told the court the repeated sexual abuse over seven years had been “opportunistic”.
Judge Conlon said the psychiatrist had seemed to treat “without any critical evaluation” the man’s comments that he had trouble “showing his feelings” to his daughter and had not known how to express himself.
“In my view, it is inappropriate to use the word ‘opportunistic’ when dealing with persistent sexual abuse of a child over a period of seven years. I am unable to have much confidence in this future risk assessment,” Judge Conlon said.
His daughter, now 28, went to Queensland police in 2007. The father was sentenced in Queensland to a maximum of four years with a non-parole term of just one year four months after telling the psychiatrist that “he and his daughter had a very close and open relationship and that he really loved her”.
He had pleaded guilty to three counts of raping his daughter.
He served four years after parole was refused because he had initially refused to complete a sex offenders course. He was extradited to NSW in November 2013. He has been in jail awaiting sentence on another 12 counts to which he pleaded guilty.
Judge Conlon said it was difficult not to feel revulsion. “Even allowing for the frequency with which I have to confront this type of offending conduct, it is never an easy task.”
Now we see that apart from all the late-to-the-table moral outrage expressed by Judge Conlon, UNNAMED DAD was coddled by the psychiatric establishment and the courts in cahoots with them. There was only some modicum of justice in this case after years of pushing.
SHAME on Dr. Olav Niellsen and all the other pedophile and child rapist enablers. They should rot in jail too.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/sick-sex-monster-father-to-rot-in-jail-for-at-least-17-years/story-fni0cx12-1227221835484
Sick sex monster father to rot in jail for at least 17 years
Janet Fife-Yeomans The Daily Telegraph February 17, 2015 12:00AM
“When fathers like the offender are exposed for their horrific crimes, the community expects the courts will impose severe punishment,” Judge Conlon said.
A TRUCK driver will spend at least 17 years in jail for the sexual abuse of his daughter in one of the longest sentences handed down to a paedophile father in Australia.
In sentencing the 49-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his daughter, Judge Paul Conlon said it was what the community expected.
The man was jailed for at least 13 years in Campbelltown District Court yesterday after being extradited from Queensland, where he has spent four years behind bars for incest.
“In this country, for the overwhelming majority of fathers, the love they have for their daughters is such that they would give their own lives to protect and keep them safe from harm,” Judge Conlon said.
“When fathers like the offender are exposed for their horrific crimes, the community expects the courts will impose severe punishment.”
The man, who had custody of his daughter and her brothers after he split up with their mother, had groomed his daughter from the age of 12, sexually assaulting her at least every two weeks including “brutal and humiliating” vaginal and anal sex, the judge said. The children lived with their father and his new wife in NSW and moved to Queensland after the girl completed Year 12, where the abuse continued.
Judge Conlon, who has a reputation for handing down tough sentences to child sex offenders, said the truck driver had exploited her youth “in the worst possible way”.
“He has groomed his own daughter, turning her into his sexual play thing,” the judge said.
He was critical of psychiatrist Dr Olav Nielssen who told the court the repeated sexual abuse over seven years had been “opportunistic”.
Judge Conlon said the psychiatrist had seemed to treat “without any critical evaluation” the man’s comments that he had trouble “showing his feelings” to his daughter and had not known how to express himself.
“In my view, it is inappropriate to use the word ‘opportunistic’ when dealing with persistent sexual abuse of a child over a period of seven years. I am unable to have much confidence in this future risk assessment,” Judge Conlon said.
His daughter, now 28, went to Queensland police in 2007. The father was sentenced in Queensland to a maximum of four years with a non-parole term of just one year four months after telling the psychiatrist that “he and his daughter had a very close and open relationship and that he really loved her”.
He had pleaded guilty to three counts of raping his daughter.
He served four years after parole was refused because he had initially refused to complete a sex offenders course. He was extradited to NSW in November 2013. He has been in jail awaiting sentence on another 12 counts to which he pleaded guilty.
Judge Conlon said it was difficult not to feel revulsion. “Even allowing for the frequency with which I have to confront this type of offending conduct, it is never an easy task.”
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Custodial dad avoids jury trial for beating death of 19-month-old son; granted three-judge panel instead (Avonsdale, Ohio)
Update to the killer dads and custody lists.
According to our previous posts, dad JAMES LYONS was awarded custody when the mother sought out mental health treatment.
This is the most recent update I have found. As there are a lot of men named James Lyons, I haven't verified if the father has in fact died from his sickle-cell anemia.
Notice that this latest article erases the father's custodial status. This is typical.
See our previous posts.
http://www.cncpunishment.com/forums/showthread.php?316-James-Lyons-Sentenced-to-LWOP-in-2009-OH-Slaying-of-Infant-Son-Jaden-Jenkins
James Lyons Sentenced to LWOP in 2009 OH Slaying of Infant Son Jaden Jenkins
10-14-2010, 07:23 PM
Judge panel to try baby death case
James Lyons doesn't want a jury to hear about the horrific injuries or see autopsy pictures of the infant son he allegedly beat to death, so he asked Monday for an unusual way to deal with his death-penalty murder case.
Lyons, 28, of Avondale, asked for and was granted a three-judge panel to hear the case instead of jurors.
Dan Burke, one of Lyons' two court-appointed attorneys, said they wanted to avoid a jury trial "because of the nature of the injuries of the child ... the emotional issue."
Lyons is accused of beating his 19-month-old son, Jaden Jenkins, to death Sept. 12, 2009. The child's skull was fractured by at least seven blows and the majority of his ribs were fractured. Prosecutors estimated the child had been beaten for more than a year. Lyons is charged with aggravated murder, felonious assault and child endangering. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against him.
Under Ohio law, those charged with a crime with the ultimate penalty - death - cannot plead guilty. Asking for a three-judge panel often is the precursor to what effectively is a guilty plea in such a case but not in this one, Burke said.
The case originally was assigned to Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Pat DeWine who will remain on and preside over the three-judge panel. On Monday, two other judges were selected to complete the panel. They are Melba Marsh and Jerome Metz.
The judges will hear the evidence as a jury would and render a decision on guilt or innocence. If Lyons is convicted of capital murder, a second phase of the trial is held where prosecutors will ask for the death penalty and Lyons attorneys will try to save his life. In addition to the death penalty, the judges can impose sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole, life without the possibility of parole for 30 years, life without the possibility of parole for 25 years or life without the possibility of parole for 20 years.
That is, if Lyons lives that long.
His attorneys sought the three-judge panel earlier, but the original hearing on the issue was delayed because Lyons was taken to the hospital where he said he almost died. Lyons, Burke said, suffers from a severe case of sickle-cell disease, a painful blood disorder where the normally disk-shaped blood cells instead are shaped like "sickles" - or the letter C - and block blood flow that can cause organ failure and even death.
The case is next in court Oct. 6.
According to our previous posts, dad JAMES LYONS was awarded custody when the mother sought out mental health treatment.
This is the most recent update I have found. As there are a lot of men named James Lyons, I haven't verified if the father has in fact died from his sickle-cell anemia.
Notice that this latest article erases the father's custodial status. This is typical.
See our previous posts.
http://www.cncpunishment.com/forums/showthread.php?316-James-Lyons-Sentenced-to-LWOP-in-2009-OH-Slaying-of-Infant-Son-Jaden-Jenkins
James Lyons Sentenced to LWOP in 2009 OH Slaying of Infant Son Jaden Jenkins
10-14-2010, 07:23 PM
Judge panel to try baby death case
James Lyons doesn't want a jury to hear about the horrific injuries or see autopsy pictures of the infant son he allegedly beat to death, so he asked Monday for an unusual way to deal with his death-penalty murder case.
Lyons, 28, of Avondale, asked for and was granted a three-judge panel to hear the case instead of jurors.
Dan Burke, one of Lyons' two court-appointed attorneys, said they wanted to avoid a jury trial "because of the nature of the injuries of the child ... the emotional issue."
Lyons is accused of beating his 19-month-old son, Jaden Jenkins, to death Sept. 12, 2009. The child's skull was fractured by at least seven blows and the majority of his ribs were fractured. Prosecutors estimated the child had been beaten for more than a year. Lyons is charged with aggravated murder, felonious assault and child endangering. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against him.
Under Ohio law, those charged with a crime with the ultimate penalty - death - cannot plead guilty. Asking for a three-judge panel often is the precursor to what effectively is a guilty plea in such a case but not in this one, Burke said.
The case originally was assigned to Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Pat DeWine who will remain on and preside over the three-judge panel. On Monday, two other judges were selected to complete the panel. They are Melba Marsh and Jerome Metz.
The judges will hear the evidence as a jury would and render a decision on guilt or innocence. If Lyons is convicted of capital murder, a second phase of the trial is held where prosecutors will ask for the death penalty and Lyons attorneys will try to save his life. In addition to the death penalty, the judges can impose sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole, life without the possibility of parole for 30 years, life without the possibility of parole for 25 years or life without the possibility of parole for 20 years.
That is, if Lyons lives that long.
His attorneys sought the three-judge panel earlier, but the original hearing on the issue was delayed because Lyons was taken to the hospital where he said he almost died. Lyons, Burke said, suffers from a severe case of sickle-cell disease, a painful blood disorder where the normally disk-shaped blood cells instead are shaped like "sickles" - or the letter C - and block blood flow that can cause organ failure and even death.
The case is next in court Oct. 6.
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Dad gets just 7 years for killing 3-month-old daughter (Norwalk, Connecticut)
Classic abuser daddy coddling. This father couldn't even keep his cover story straight.
Dad is identified as JUSTIN SMITH.
http://www.thehour.com/news/nw-courts/norwalk-man-sentenced-to-years-in-prison-for-shaking-baby/article_e88ff87a-45a2-11e4-b11b-0017a43b2370.html
Norwalk man sentenced to 7 years in prison for shaking baby to death
Posted: Friday, September 26, 2014 1:31 pm | Updated: 1:54 pm, Fri Sep 26, 2014.
By STEVE KOBAK Hour Staff Writer
NORWALK — A city man was formally sentenced to seven years in prison Friday at Stamford Superior Court for shaking his 3-month-old infant daughter to death.
Justin Smith, 31, of 8 Highland Court, had accepted a plea deal in May after nearly taking his case to trial. He pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and risk of injury to a minor in exchange for a sentence of seven years in prison and five years of probation. He also has to perform 100 hours of community service for each year of his probation, undergo mental health and substance abuse treatment and attend parenting classes should he choose to father another child.
A first-degree assault charge was dropped in exchange for the plea.
Hugging and kissing family members before approaching the court, Smith did not exercise his right to speak at sentencing. His mother Suzanne Kipphut said her son is still mourning the loss of his daughter, who died in what she called a “terrible, terrible accident.”
Smith’s attorney Eugene Riccio said Smith’s family is still trying to heal after the child’s death and called the disposition “a fair sentence.”
“The death of an infant is an immeasurable tragedy,” he said.
Detectives from the Youth Bureau of the Norwalk Police Department began investigating the suspected child abuse case after being informed that Hailey had been admitted to Stamford Hospital with serious injuries on July 27, 2011, police said. Investigators soon learned that Hailey had also been admitted to the hospital July 2 with a skull fracture.
Smith told investigators, family members and friends that the family dog, a boxer weighing an estimated 80 to 100 pounds, had accidentally caused the July 2 skull fracture, police said. Smith claimed that the dog had been sleeping with him on the foldout couch bed, and Hailey had been sleeping on the floor on a nesting pillow for infants, police said.
He claimed the dog leapt off of the bed and landed on the baby's head, police said. Detectives interviewed Smith at his residence and noted that the family dog was "friendly and non-aggressive," according to the affidavit.
Smith initially told police that the child's second skull fracture happened after the child projectile vomited while Smith was feeding her, the affidavit states. He said he panicked and may have used too much force when he placed the child on the ground, according to police.
The child's mother, who has not been charged in connection with the case, reported that she was sleeping when the alleged incident occurred, and she was awoken by a loud "bang," according to the affidavit. Smith explained that he made the noise when he accidently kicked a piece of furniture, police said.
The accident occurred at 10 p.m. on July 26, but the child was not admitted to the hospital until 10:30 p.m. on July 27, court documents show. The child was finally taken to the hospital after a visitor held the child and noticed that the baby "kind of plopped against her chest," court documents show. The visitor influenced the child's mother to take the child to the hospital, police said.
As the investigation progressed and detectives probed Smith's story, they found several inconsistencies, and witnesses said that Smith had told them different stories to explain the child's injury, according to the affidavit. Smith also changed his story during follow-up interviews, telling investigators that the baby rolled off of his lap, police said.
One witness said that she saw Smith handle the child "in a rough manner," the affidavit alleges.
Several witnesses told police that Smith was a frequent cocaine user, and at least one witness said that Smith may have been under the influence on the night that the child's skull was fractured, police said. Detectives found out that Smith "acts wild" when under the influence of cocaine, and he did not handle the infant carefully, police said.
Smith also allegedly made incriminating statements while at the hospital, investigators learned.
While Smith was in the hospital, a security guard reported that Smith was crying uncontrollably, and he told the security guard that his child "had brain damage and it was all his fault," the affidavit alleges.
A DCF investigator told detectives that after being informed of Hailey's death, Smith allegedly "kept mumbling, 'Please come back and tell them we didn't do this to you," according to court documents.
Hailey's death was ruled a homicide on Nov. 8, 2011, and the medical examiner said that the baby's death was not caused by a fall, court documents show. In addition to the two skull fractures, the child had hemorrhaging along her spinal column consistent with being shaken, according to State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo, who prosecuted the case.
“Throughout my years as a prosecutor, I’ve handled many of these cases,” Colangelo previously told The Hour. “The injuries that (Smith’s daughter) Haley had could only have come from intentional abuse, based on the examination and review of medical literature. It’s unfortunate that this tragedy happened. The best thing a parent can do when they’re frustrated with their young infant is to put the baby in a crib and walk away.”
Smith was arrested on Nov. 18, 2011 after Detective Michael Murray obtained a warrant for his arrest.
Dad is identified as JUSTIN SMITH.
http://www.thehour.com/news/nw-courts/norwalk-man-sentenced-to-years-in-prison-for-shaking-baby/article_e88ff87a-45a2-11e4-b11b-0017a43b2370.html
Norwalk man sentenced to 7 years in prison for shaking baby to death
Posted: Friday, September 26, 2014 1:31 pm | Updated: 1:54 pm, Fri Sep 26, 2014.
By STEVE KOBAK Hour Staff Writer
NORWALK — A city man was formally sentenced to seven years in prison Friday at Stamford Superior Court for shaking his 3-month-old infant daughter to death.
Justin Smith, 31, of 8 Highland Court, had accepted a plea deal in May after nearly taking his case to trial. He pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and risk of injury to a minor in exchange for a sentence of seven years in prison and five years of probation. He also has to perform 100 hours of community service for each year of his probation, undergo mental health and substance abuse treatment and attend parenting classes should he choose to father another child.
A first-degree assault charge was dropped in exchange for the plea.
Hugging and kissing family members before approaching the court, Smith did not exercise his right to speak at sentencing. His mother Suzanne Kipphut said her son is still mourning the loss of his daughter, who died in what she called a “terrible, terrible accident.”
Smith’s attorney Eugene Riccio said Smith’s family is still trying to heal after the child’s death and called the disposition “a fair sentence.”
“The death of an infant is an immeasurable tragedy,” he said.
Detectives from the Youth Bureau of the Norwalk Police Department began investigating the suspected child abuse case after being informed that Hailey had been admitted to Stamford Hospital with serious injuries on July 27, 2011, police said. Investigators soon learned that Hailey had also been admitted to the hospital July 2 with a skull fracture.
Smith told investigators, family members and friends that the family dog, a boxer weighing an estimated 80 to 100 pounds, had accidentally caused the July 2 skull fracture, police said. Smith claimed that the dog had been sleeping with him on the foldout couch bed, and Hailey had been sleeping on the floor on a nesting pillow for infants, police said.
He claimed the dog leapt off of the bed and landed on the baby's head, police said. Detectives interviewed Smith at his residence and noted that the family dog was "friendly and non-aggressive," according to the affidavit.
Smith initially told police that the child's second skull fracture happened after the child projectile vomited while Smith was feeding her, the affidavit states. He said he panicked and may have used too much force when he placed the child on the ground, according to police.
The child's mother, who has not been charged in connection with the case, reported that she was sleeping when the alleged incident occurred, and she was awoken by a loud "bang," according to the affidavit. Smith explained that he made the noise when he accidently kicked a piece of furniture, police said.
The accident occurred at 10 p.m. on July 26, but the child was not admitted to the hospital until 10:30 p.m. on July 27, court documents show. The child was finally taken to the hospital after a visitor held the child and noticed that the baby "kind of plopped against her chest," court documents show. The visitor influenced the child's mother to take the child to the hospital, police said.
As the investigation progressed and detectives probed Smith's story, they found several inconsistencies, and witnesses said that Smith had told them different stories to explain the child's injury, according to the affidavit. Smith also changed his story during follow-up interviews, telling investigators that the baby rolled off of his lap, police said.
One witness said that she saw Smith handle the child "in a rough manner," the affidavit alleges.
Several witnesses told police that Smith was a frequent cocaine user, and at least one witness said that Smith may have been under the influence on the night that the child's skull was fractured, police said. Detectives found out that Smith "acts wild" when under the influence of cocaine, and he did not handle the infant carefully, police said.
Smith also allegedly made incriminating statements while at the hospital, investigators learned.
While Smith was in the hospital, a security guard reported that Smith was crying uncontrollably, and he told the security guard that his child "had brain damage and it was all his fault," the affidavit alleges.
A DCF investigator told detectives that after being informed of Hailey's death, Smith allegedly "kept mumbling, 'Please come back and tell them we didn't do this to you," according to court documents.
Hailey's death was ruled a homicide on Nov. 8, 2011, and the medical examiner said that the baby's death was not caused by a fall, court documents show. In addition to the two skull fractures, the child had hemorrhaging along her spinal column consistent with being shaken, according to State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo, who prosecuted the case.
“Throughout my years as a prosecutor, I’ve handled many of these cases,” Colangelo previously told The Hour. “The injuries that (Smith’s daughter) Haley had could only have come from intentional abuse, based on the examination and review of medical literature. It’s unfortunate that this tragedy happened. The best thing a parent can do when they’re frustrated with their young infant is to put the baby in a crib and walk away.”
Smith was arrested on Nov. 18, 2011 after Detective Michael Murray obtained a warrant for his arrest.
Friday, September 12, 2014
Dad who ADMITS stabbing to death his two young children during visitation granted bail (Saint-Jerome, Quebec, Canada)
We've followed this story since 2009. Dad GUY TURCOTTE strikes me as a shrewd sociopath who is skilled at milking the system. Somehow he was able to convince all these people that he was deeply mentally ill and depressed--even though he apparently had no documentable mental illness prior to the murders and was able to carry out his job just fine. In reality, he's the classic revenge killer. He was pissed because the mother left him, so he punished her in the most effective way possible--by killing her children. He should spend his life rotting in prison. But no, now he's free to roam around and torment his poor ex-wife. Sickening.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/09/12/quebec_doctor_who_killed_his_kids_granted_bail.html
Quebec doctor who killed his kids granted bail
A judge ruled that Guy Turcotte should be freed pending his new first-degree murder trial next year.
By: The Canadian Press, Published on Fri Sep 12 2014
SAINT-JEROME, QUE.—A former Quebec doctor who admitted to stabbing his two children to death has been granted bail. A judge ruled Friday morning that Guy Turcotte should be freed pending his new first-degree murder trial next year.
Turcotte is charged in the slayings of his children Olivier, 5, and Anne-Sophie, 3, at a rented family home north of Montreal in early 2009.
A jury found Turcotte not criminally responsible in 2011 and he was released from a psychiatric institution in December 2012. The Quebec Court of Appeal overturned the verdict last November, citing errors by the trial judge in his instructions to the jury.
The higher court ordered a new trial, leading to Turcotte’s rearrest in late 2013.
Turcotte told the court during his bail hearing he should be freed because it is his right and that he could be of more use to society as a caregiver to some of his relatives instead of spending time in prison.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/09/12/quebec_doctor_who_killed_his_kids_granted_bail.html
Quebec doctor who killed his kids granted bail
A judge ruled that Guy Turcotte should be freed pending his new first-degree murder trial next year.
By: The Canadian Press, Published on Fri Sep 12 2014
SAINT-JEROME, QUE.—A former Quebec doctor who admitted to stabbing his two children to death has been granted bail. A judge ruled Friday morning that Guy Turcotte should be freed pending his new first-degree murder trial next year.
Turcotte is charged in the slayings of his children Olivier, 5, and Anne-Sophie, 3, at a rented family home north of Montreal in early 2009.
A jury found Turcotte not criminally responsible in 2011 and he was released from a psychiatric institution in December 2012. The Quebec Court of Appeal overturned the verdict last November, citing errors by the trial judge in his instructions to the jury.
The higher court ordered a new trial, leading to Turcotte’s rearrest in late 2013.
Turcotte told the court during his bail hearing he should be freed because it is his right and that he could be of more use to society as a caregiver to some of his relatives instead of spending time in prison.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
"Really good" custodial dad murders five children and dumps their bodies in the woods (Wilcox County, Alabama)
You know what really makes me sick? When some f***er like this one, who slaughtered his five kids, is praised as a "really good dad." Guess we set the bar pretty low, eh? Just what do you have to do to be a not-so-good dad? Slaughter 20 people?
I don't buy that this guy "snapped" for one minute. In almost all these kinds of cases, IF it involves mental illness, there is a history of mental illness. So either one of two scenarios happened.
1) Some judge gave a drug-addicted, deeply mentally ill, and demented father custody of five young children because?
2) Some judge gave a drug-addicted, deeply violent, and abusive father with custody of five children because?
Either way, we're not told who gave this piece of sh** custody or why the mother was shoved out of their lives. Probably just another example of an abusive and violent daddy (with an enabler father) who set out to punish/control the mother by stripping her of her kids, and then killed the kids like so many rabid dogs.
I want to see the judge's name.
Dad is identified as TIMOTHY RAY JONES JR.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bodies-five-children-found-alabama-woods-police-n199466
Bodies of Five Children Found in Alabama Woods: Police
By Tracy Connor
The bodies of five young children were found in the woods of Alabama on Tuesday, and police said they are believed to be siblings who were reported missing in South Carolina a week ago.
The children’s father, Timothy Ray Jones Jr., 32, was in custody in Mississippi, where police stopped his blood-soaked Cadillac Escalade over the weekend, a prosecutor told NBC News.
“God help me and God help my son,” Jones Jr.’s father told NBC News after learning that police had found the five bodies in an undeveloped clearing off Highway 10 in Wilcox County, Alabama.
His son has not been charged in connection with the deaths of the children, who ranged in age from 1 to 8. He was being held on a charge of driving under the influence while the investigation continued, said Daniel Jones, the district attorney of Smith County, Mississippi.
The DA said it was likely he would be prosecuted in South Carolina.
“What we believe has occurred is he killed the children in South Carolina and drove to Alabama with them,” he said.
He said that the father, who was allegedly high on synthetic marijuana when he was detained in Mississippi, made incriminating statements and gave investigators the information that led them to the bodies in Alabama. Notes referring to violence against the children were also found, he said.
“I wouldn’t say he made a full confession, but he said enough,” the DA said.
Asked about a motive, the prosecutor said the suspect — who was described as a computer genius — claimed the children were plotting to kill him.
“I think he probably just went mad,” he said.
Timothy Jones Sr. said the last time anyone had seen his son at work or the children at school in Lexington County, South Carolina, was Aug. 28.
The six of them were supposed to travel to Mississippi for a family gathering on Labor Day weekend but never arrived, he said. He said that on Sept. 3, he made a missing persons report.
Meanwhile, the mother of the children also reported them missing on Sept. 3 after she could not reach her ex-husband, who had custody of the kids, according to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office.
Jones Jr. was not heard from until Sept. 6 when he was stopped at a checkpoint, where he encountered a sheriff’s deputy who “had been around long enough to know the smell of death,” the DA said. “He picked up on it immediately.”
The deputies opened the doors of the Escalade and “saw he had taken bleach and poured it all over the back of the Escalade,” the DA said. “You could tell where it bleached the carpet but the blood was still there and there were maggots. They took him into custody at that time and as he came off the synthetic marijuana he began to talk about what happened.”
The elder Jones said his son had no history of violence or emotional problems. He had primary custody of the children after his divorce was finalized a year ago.
“He’s been a really good dad,” he said shortly before getting the tragic news from Alabama.
I don't buy that this guy "snapped" for one minute. In almost all these kinds of cases, IF it involves mental illness, there is a history of mental illness. So either one of two scenarios happened.
1) Some judge gave a drug-addicted, deeply mentally ill, and demented father custody of five young children because?
2) Some judge gave a drug-addicted, deeply violent, and abusive father with custody of five children because?
Either way, we're not told who gave this piece of sh** custody or why the mother was shoved out of their lives. Probably just another example of an abusive and violent daddy (with an enabler father) who set out to punish/control the mother by stripping her of her kids, and then killed the kids like so many rabid dogs.
I want to see the judge's name.
Dad is identified as TIMOTHY RAY JONES JR.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bodies-five-children-found-alabama-woods-police-n199466
Bodies of Five Children Found in Alabama Woods: Police
By Tracy Connor
The bodies of five young children were found in the woods of Alabama on Tuesday, and police said they are believed to be siblings who were reported missing in South Carolina a week ago.
The children’s father, Timothy Ray Jones Jr., 32, was in custody in Mississippi, where police stopped his blood-soaked Cadillac Escalade over the weekend, a prosecutor told NBC News.
“God help me and God help my son,” Jones Jr.’s father told NBC News after learning that police had found the five bodies in an undeveloped clearing off Highway 10 in Wilcox County, Alabama.
His son has not been charged in connection with the deaths of the children, who ranged in age from 1 to 8. He was being held on a charge of driving under the influence while the investigation continued, said Daniel Jones, the district attorney of Smith County, Mississippi.
The DA said it was likely he would be prosecuted in South Carolina.
“What we believe has occurred is he killed the children in South Carolina and drove to Alabama with them,” he said.
He said that the father, who was allegedly high on synthetic marijuana when he was detained in Mississippi, made incriminating statements and gave investigators the information that led them to the bodies in Alabama. Notes referring to violence against the children were also found, he said.
“I wouldn’t say he made a full confession, but he said enough,” the DA said.
Asked about a motive, the prosecutor said the suspect — who was described as a computer genius — claimed the children were plotting to kill him.
“I think he probably just went mad,” he said.
Timothy Jones Sr. said the last time anyone had seen his son at work or the children at school in Lexington County, South Carolina, was Aug. 28.
The six of them were supposed to travel to Mississippi for a family gathering on Labor Day weekend but never arrived, he said. He said that on Sept. 3, he made a missing persons report.
Meanwhile, the mother of the children also reported them missing on Sept. 3 after she could not reach her ex-husband, who had custody of the kids, according to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office.
Jones Jr. was not heard from until Sept. 6 when he was stopped at a checkpoint, where he encountered a sheriff’s deputy who “had been around long enough to know the smell of death,” the DA said. “He picked up on it immediately.”
The deputies opened the doors of the Escalade and “saw he had taken bleach and poured it all over the back of the Escalade,” the DA said. “You could tell where it bleached the carpet but the blood was still there and there were maggots. They took him into custody at that time and as he came off the synthetic marijuana he began to talk about what happened.”
The elder Jones said his son had no history of violence or emotional problems. He had primary custody of the children after his divorce was finalized a year ago.
“He’s been a really good dad,” he said shortly before getting the tragic news from Alabama.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Dad admits he assaulted 1-month-old daughter twice, causing catastrophic brain injuries (Canberra, Australia)
UNNAMED DAD
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/father-admits-to-shaking-his-baby-causing-brain-injury-20140903-10bop1.html
Father admits to shaking his baby, causing brain injury
Date September 3, 2014 - 10:59AM
Megan Gorrey and Michael Inman
A father has pleaded guilty to shaking his one-month-old daughter on two occasions, causing "catastrophic" brain injuries.
The Canberra man, 23, pleaded not guilty to recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm on the baby in December 2010 and a trial was set to start in the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday.
But it did not go ahead after the man instead pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of negligently causing grievous bodily harm.
Court documents said the father had been left alone with the three-week-old girl in December 2010 while the mother went shopping.
The baby's mother returned home and became concerned about her daughter when she was still, pale, cold, and crying but not opening her eyes.
The child was rushed to hospital where she started having seizures.
Medical tests indicated the baby had suffered a lack of oxygen to her brain and parts of the tissue had died.
She was airlifted to a Sydney hospital.
The symptoms suggested the baby had suffered significant acceleration injury, consistent with being shaken.
In January 2011, the offender admitted to family he had shaken his child on two occasions when he had become frustrated by her crying.
He then made further admissions to shaking the baby in text messages with the baby's mother and an unknown person, and had said he was ashamed of what happened, court documents said.
During a committal hearing, a doctor described the baby's brain injury as "catastrophic" and said there had been further damage and continuing decay to the brain.
He said the baby was likely severely disabled as a result of the injury.
The court heard on Tuesday that the man had a history of mental illness.
The current medical condition of the baby is unknown.
Justice Murrell ordered a pre-sentence report and continued the offender's bail.
He will next face court next month.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/father-admits-to-shaking-his-baby-causing-brain-injury-20140903-10bop1.html
Father admits to shaking his baby, causing brain injury
Date September 3, 2014 - 10:59AM
Megan Gorrey and Michael Inman
A father has pleaded guilty to shaking his one-month-old daughter on two occasions, causing "catastrophic" brain injuries.
The Canberra man, 23, pleaded not guilty to recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm on the baby in December 2010 and a trial was set to start in the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday.
But it did not go ahead after the man instead pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of negligently causing grievous bodily harm.
Court documents said the father had been left alone with the three-week-old girl in December 2010 while the mother went shopping.
The baby's mother returned home and became concerned about her daughter when she was still, pale, cold, and crying but not opening her eyes.
The child was rushed to hospital where she started having seizures.
Medical tests indicated the baby had suffered a lack of oxygen to her brain and parts of the tissue had died.
She was airlifted to a Sydney hospital.
The symptoms suggested the baby had suffered significant acceleration injury, consistent with being shaken.
In January 2011, the offender admitted to family he had shaken his child on two occasions when he had become frustrated by her crying.
He then made further admissions to shaking the baby in text messages with the baby's mother and an unknown person, and had said he was ashamed of what happened, court documents said.
During a committal hearing, a doctor described the baby's brain injury as "catastrophic" and said there had been further damage and continuing decay to the brain.
He said the baby was likely severely disabled as a result of the injury.
The court heard on Tuesday that the man had a history of mental illness.
The current medical condition of the baby is unknown.
Justice Murrell ordered a pre-sentence report and continued the offender's bail.
He will next face court next month.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Dad charged with murder in fatal stabbing of 3-year-old son; dad to get "psychiatric assessment" (Adelaide, Australia)
That shuffling sound you hear is a mental health card being played.
Notice that there is no mention of prior mental illness issues, and that people emphasize how "normal" he seemed. We're even told he's a "nice guy"--the biggest cliché ever for a dad who murders a little kid.
But despite all the lies about how women utilize this the most, men are the most successful in playing the "card." Somebody like Andrea Yates, the famous Texas mother who drowned her kids, had an EXTENSIVE history of psychiatric problems and a husband who just kept impregnating her anyway. She is put away for life, and he assumes no responsibility at all.
But then you have a guy like Canadian GUY TURCOTTE who stabbed his two kids to death, had no prior history of mental illness, and walked out of the psych hospital in a matter of months.
Dad is identified as DAVID JANZOW.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/adelaide-landscaper-david-janzow-to-be-psychiatrically-assessed-after-he-faced-court-charged-with-murdering-threeyearold-son/story-fni0fee2-1226982633241
Adelaide landscaper David Janzow to be psychiatrically assessed after he faced court charged with murdering three-year-old son
Police Reporter Steve Rice, Ken McGregor
The Advertiser
July 09, 2014 7:10PM AN
Adelaide father alleged to have fatally stabbed his three-year-old son will be hospitalised for up to a week as he undergoes psychiatric assessment, a court has heard today.
David Janzow, 36, of Stepney, appeared in a bedside hearing at the Royal Adelaide Hospital which was connected via phonelink to the Adelaide Magistrates Court.
Speaking via mobile phone from the hospital, Janzow’s lawyer Stephen Ey, today made no application for his client to be bailed.
Mr Ey said Janzow, who has been charged with murder, has been detained under psychiatric advice while he is mental condition is assessed.
Janzow has undergone surgery on a neck wound at the hospital, which police believe was self-inflicted.
Magistrate David Whittle also ordered he be remanded in custody once the report is completed in one week.
The court was empty apart from court staff, prosecutor Lucy Boord and media.
Emergency services were responding to a minor two-car crash at Athelstone about 9am on Tuesday when Janzow flagged down police.
Police say he approached officers and stated he had injured his son, who was in a nearby black VW dual cab utility.
SA Ambulance Service crews were called and treated the boy for multiple stab wounds before he was rushed to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, where he died.
Janzow, a landscaper and former Prince Alfred College student, was taken to the RAH for a possibly self-inflicted neck wound.
Police confirmed that his son had been stabbed multiple times in the ute.
Superintendent Graeme Adcock, the police officer in charge of eastern Adelaide, said on Tuesday afternoon that Janzow had been charged with murder.
“Understandably the boy’s mother is overcome by grief and police have not yet been able to take a statement from her,” he said.
“At this stage of the investigation there is no indication of any history of domestic violence.”
He said the investigation was still at an early stage and “we’re not able to say exactly whether it is mental health issues (that led to the tragedy)”.
“Everyone is involved in this, as you can imagine — the mother and very close relatives and friends are extremely distraught, police officers involved are very upset and ambulance officers are very upset,” he said.
“We’re fairly confident that the vehicle is the actual crime scene.”
Earlier, at the scene in Athelstone, Inspector Seamus McDaid said the boy’s mother reported her son had been taken from the family’s Stepney home about 8.25am.
Inspector McDaid said the mother had concerns for the safety of her child.
“This is a tragic set of circumstances and a tragic incident and our sympathy goes out to the family,” he said.
“It was also a difficult incident for the police and the ambulance officers to deal with when they arrived on scene.
“(The father) approached the police ... and told them his child had been injured.”
Insp McDaid said police were yet to establish where Janzow was driving to and when the child had been injured.
“Anything to do with a young child is really tragic for everybody involved, both for the family and the witnesses who were on the scene and of course the police and ambulance officers who had to deal with this situation.”
He said the family had lived together at the home in Stepney.
Family and friends gathered at the family’s home to console the boy’s mother.
The couple is believed to have one other child.
Only on Saturday Janzow uploaded a picture to his Facebook page of him and his two sons exploring shallows of a pond. The caption read “unforgettable moments in a frog pond”.
Other photos posted by Janzow and his wife show a seemingly happy family.
Photos of their children, including one of the boys fishing with his mother in a tinnie, depict cute smiles and laughter.
A former business colleague of Janzow described him as a normal, positive guy with an entrepreneurial streak.
Premier Jay Weatherill said the tragedy “would shock all South Australians”.
A neighbour of the family said he was shocked and saddened by the news. “I’m shaking, I mean for a child to die, I’m freaked out,” he said.
“They (SAPOL) have spoken to me but they didn’t tell me what was going on.”
The man, who has lived near the family for “about five to 10 years”, described Janzow as “such a nice guy”. “
Something must have happened for him to (do this),” he said.
“She (the wife) comes across as just a normal, everyday sort of girl and he comes across as a normal, everyday nice guy.”
The man said he never suspected something like this could happen in their eastern suburbs street. He said he often heard the family playing in the backyard.
“Every now and then the kid’s football is over the fence, so (we throw it back) … no problems,” he said.
“Not that I’ve been introduced, but I’ve seen other people, probably other parents (coming in and out of the house) and everything is above board.”
Police took items away from the family home in bags.
A Gorge Rd resident said the scene at Athelstone where the boy was found was tragic.
“It’s horrific for everyone and it’s horrible to think that it happened in this area,” he said.
A Families SA spokesman confirmed to Advertiser.com.au that the family “has no history of contact” with the child protection agency.
The boy’s death will be investigated by the Child Death and Serious Injury Review Committee once all criminal proceedings are finalised.
Mr Weatherill said he would seek briefings on the family’s history and contact with government agencies.
He was “horrified” when he heard about the stabbing. “It’s almost unthinkable that an event such as this could occur,” he said.
“Any violent crime perpetrated on a child is absolutely abhorrent and it’s difficult to even understand or comprehend.”
Anyone who has information or who saw the ute en route to Athelstone is asked to contact police via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or on the website here .
Janzow will next appear in court in September.
Notice that there is no mention of prior mental illness issues, and that people emphasize how "normal" he seemed. We're even told he's a "nice guy"--the biggest cliché ever for a dad who murders a little kid.
But despite all the lies about how women utilize this the most, men are the most successful in playing the "card." Somebody like Andrea Yates, the famous Texas mother who drowned her kids, had an EXTENSIVE history of psychiatric problems and a husband who just kept impregnating her anyway. She is put away for life, and he assumes no responsibility at all.
But then you have a guy like Canadian GUY TURCOTTE who stabbed his two kids to death, had no prior history of mental illness, and walked out of the psych hospital in a matter of months.
Dad is identified as DAVID JANZOW.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/adelaide-landscaper-david-janzow-to-be-psychiatrically-assessed-after-he-faced-court-charged-with-murdering-threeyearold-son/story-fni0fee2-1226982633241
Adelaide landscaper David Janzow to be psychiatrically assessed after he faced court charged with murdering three-year-old son
Police Reporter Steve Rice, Ken McGregor
The Advertiser
July 09, 2014 7:10PM AN
Adelaide father alleged to have fatally stabbed his three-year-old son will be hospitalised for up to a week as he undergoes psychiatric assessment, a court has heard today.
David Janzow, 36, of Stepney, appeared in a bedside hearing at the Royal Adelaide Hospital which was connected via phonelink to the Adelaide Magistrates Court.
Speaking via mobile phone from the hospital, Janzow’s lawyer Stephen Ey, today made no application for his client to be bailed.
Mr Ey said Janzow, who has been charged with murder, has been detained under psychiatric advice while he is mental condition is assessed.
Janzow has undergone surgery on a neck wound at the hospital, which police believe was self-inflicted.
Magistrate David Whittle also ordered he be remanded in custody once the report is completed in one week.
The court was empty apart from court staff, prosecutor Lucy Boord and media.
Emergency services were responding to a minor two-car crash at Athelstone about 9am on Tuesday when Janzow flagged down police.
Police say he approached officers and stated he had injured his son, who was in a nearby black VW dual cab utility.
SA Ambulance Service crews were called and treated the boy for multiple stab wounds before he was rushed to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, where he died.
Janzow, a landscaper and former Prince Alfred College student, was taken to the RAH for a possibly self-inflicted neck wound.
Police confirmed that his son had been stabbed multiple times in the ute.
Superintendent Graeme Adcock, the police officer in charge of eastern Adelaide, said on Tuesday afternoon that Janzow had been charged with murder.
“Understandably the boy’s mother is overcome by grief and police have not yet been able to take a statement from her,” he said.
“At this stage of the investigation there is no indication of any history of domestic violence.”
He said the investigation was still at an early stage and “we’re not able to say exactly whether it is mental health issues (that led to the tragedy)”.
“Everyone is involved in this, as you can imagine — the mother and very close relatives and friends are extremely distraught, police officers involved are very upset and ambulance officers are very upset,” he said.
“We’re fairly confident that the vehicle is the actual crime scene.”
Earlier, at the scene in Athelstone, Inspector Seamus McDaid said the boy’s mother reported her son had been taken from the family’s Stepney home about 8.25am.
Inspector McDaid said the mother had concerns for the safety of her child.
“This is a tragic set of circumstances and a tragic incident and our sympathy goes out to the family,” he said.
“It was also a difficult incident for the police and the ambulance officers to deal with when they arrived on scene.
“(The father) approached the police ... and told them his child had been injured.”
Insp McDaid said police were yet to establish where Janzow was driving to and when the child had been injured.
“Anything to do with a young child is really tragic for everybody involved, both for the family and the witnesses who were on the scene and of course the police and ambulance officers who had to deal with this situation.”
He said the family had lived together at the home in Stepney.
Family and friends gathered at the family’s home to console the boy’s mother.
The couple is believed to have one other child.
Only on Saturday Janzow uploaded a picture to his Facebook page of him and his two sons exploring shallows of a pond. The caption read “unforgettable moments in a frog pond”.
Other photos posted by Janzow and his wife show a seemingly happy family.
Photos of their children, including one of the boys fishing with his mother in a tinnie, depict cute smiles and laughter.
A former business colleague of Janzow described him as a normal, positive guy with an entrepreneurial streak.
Premier Jay Weatherill said the tragedy “would shock all South Australians”.
A neighbour of the family said he was shocked and saddened by the news. “I’m shaking, I mean for a child to die, I’m freaked out,” he said.
“They (SAPOL) have spoken to me but they didn’t tell me what was going on.”
The man, who has lived near the family for “about five to 10 years”, described Janzow as “such a nice guy”. “
Something must have happened for him to (do this),” he said.
“She (the wife) comes across as just a normal, everyday sort of girl and he comes across as a normal, everyday nice guy.”
The man said he never suspected something like this could happen in their eastern suburbs street. He said he often heard the family playing in the backyard.
“Every now and then the kid’s football is over the fence, so (we throw it back) … no problems,” he said.
“Not that I’ve been introduced, but I’ve seen other people, probably other parents (coming in and out of the house) and everything is above board.”
Police took items away from the family home in bags.
A Gorge Rd resident said the scene at Athelstone where the boy was found was tragic.
“It’s horrific for everyone and it’s horrible to think that it happened in this area,” he said.
A Families SA spokesman confirmed to Advertiser.com.au that the family “has no history of contact” with the child protection agency.
The boy’s death will be investigated by the Child Death and Serious Injury Review Committee once all criminal proceedings are finalised.
Mr Weatherill said he would seek briefings on the family’s history and contact with government agencies.
He was “horrified” when he heard about the stabbing. “It’s almost unthinkable that an event such as this could occur,” he said.
“Any violent crime perpetrated on a child is absolutely abhorrent and it’s difficult to even understand or comprehend.”
Anyone who has information or who saw the ute en route to Athelstone is asked to contact police via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or on the website here .
Janzow will next appear in court in September.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Dad with violent criminal history murders mom over child custody (St. Paul, Minnesota)
Another lowlife hero for the fathers rights movement: dad TIMOTHY HENDRICKS.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2608230/I-hearing-voices-Teen-recently-released-jail-shots-mother-child-head-infant-son-sits.html
'I was hearing voices': Teen recently released from jail shots the mother of his child in the head as their infant son sits between them
Timothy Hendricks allegedly shot girlfriend Michelle Ploetz in the head after a dinner arguing over custody
Hendricks had a history of drug abuse
Older sister Jennifer Hendricks claimed he was denied treatment and needed mental health care
By Peter Rugg
Published: 23:42 EST, 18 April 2014 | Updated: 11:00 EST, 19 April 2014
Timothy Scott Hendricks had only been out of jail a month when he took a pistol, pointed it girlfriend Michelle Marie Ploetz's head, and pulled the trigger with the couple's infant son sitting in a car seat between them.
The details of that horrific Wednesday afternoon in St. Paul, Minn., are detailed in a criminal complaint filed Friday in which Hendricks is charged with second-degree intentional murder as well as second-degree attempted murder with intent for shooting at Ploetz's father.
According to the criminal complaint, officers were on their way to respond to a report of a fight on White Bear Avenue and East Seventh Street Wednesday when Ploetz's father, John Ploetz, 54, called to report that his daughter had been shot and the armed gunman was on the run.
Police found the girl with a gunshot wound to the head, unconscious but breathing in the back of a Toyota SUV.
The infant, still in his car seat, was removed so paramedics could treat her.
Ploetz, 20, was taken off life support on Friday.
According to John Ploetz's account, as quoted in The Pioneer Press, the couple had been at dinner at The Little Oven, a restaurant roughly four blocks from the scene of the shooting.
Hendricks, 19, had just been granted a conditional release from jail after a January charge for felony assault. He'd allegedly pointed a rifle at his 13-year-old nephew and pled not guilty.
At the time of his January arrest, he told police he was addicted to 'pot, benzos, and opiates,' with a 'bottle-a-day' habit.
The meeting at The Little Oven was for Hendricks to see the couple's baby. But both Michelle and her father were worried about the encounter, and John Ploetz came too.
At one point during the meal Hendricks asked: 'Why can't this be like it always was?'
However the John and Michelle told him 'he needed to take it one step at a time' and urged him to get into a treatment program for his addiction. Maybe they would get together again in a week.
The four left together with John Ploetz behind the wheel, and the pair in the backseat with their baby. Hendricks was behind the driver's seat.
Ploetz said that he heard a 'pop' from the back, followed quickly by another 'as something flew past his head breaking the car's windshield.
John Ploetz believed Hendricks was trying to kill him, so he stopped the car, got out, and attempted to open the rear door and get the gun away from him.
Hendricks fired at him twice more before John Ploetz fled, the father of his grandson chasing after him with a pistol.
The bereaved father would later tell authorities he had attempted to have Hendricks committed on three occasions for fear of exactly this situation.
The complaint read that John Ploetz 'expressed fear that Hendricks would kill the rest of his family if not apprehended or if he ever gets out of custody.'
Later that day, Hendricks turned up at Regions Hospital, where he was arrested.
While he was on the run, police found an unidentified woman at his address who told them that the troubled teen had talked about his plan to kill Michelle a day earlier. But as he had threatened Michelle in the past without acting the woman 'didn't think he would follow through.' He also threatened to hurt himself, promising 'he wasn't going back to jail.'
After his arrest, Hendricks told police that the family had discussed his son's custody arrangement at dinner and that 'despite the fact that he is on the boy's birth certificate they wanted full custody and he wouldn't be able to see the boy.'
He also said the gun had been in his front pocket, and he'd withdrawn it on the ride home after demanding that they stop arguing so he could see his son.
Michelle Ploetz said he would never see the boy, he put the gun 'right at her head,' and fired.
'I was hearing voices in my head and I just snapped and I couldn't tell you what really happened,' he told police.
When pressed he clarified that the voices 'took over' before he fired, but admitted that he himself wanted Michelle dead as he 'didn't want to lie' to police.
He said he blacked out after the shooting and had no memory of firing on John Ploetz. He was placed in Ramsey County jail on suicide watch. Despite the guards, he broke his pelvis and jaw while jumping over a railing Thursday night.
He went into surgery for the injuries Friday.
Jennifer Hendricks, Timothy's older sister, believes the system failed her brother when he tried to get help. She told reporters that he needed to be treated in a mental health facility.
'Had Timothy got the help we were asking for, this would never have happened,' she said.
Along with her fiance, Jennifer raised Timothy and another brother after their father died in 2004.
'Timothy is not a criminal,' she said. 'He has been dealing with some mental demons. ... We loved Michelle, we fought for Michelle, and we fought for Timothy.'
She said her brother was taking Xanax by prescription to treat anxiety and panic disorders when he developed an addiction.
He tried to end his dependency but failed. Jennifer said he would call her while going through withdrawals, crying: 'My body hurts so bad without the drugs.'
A once promising student, Hendricks graduated from Central High School in 2013 with straight A's.
He met Michelle through mutual friends in 2010 and remained 'absolutely inseparable until recently,' Jennifer said.
John Ploetz and wife Dianne Ploetz released this statement mourning their daughter: 'Michelle was full of life and passions, including Korean drumming and dance, her son, and her many friends. Michelle was a very generous person. And in her spirit of generosity, she will be an organ donor, giving hope to others in need.'
She was also in her first semester at St. Catherine University.
'Michelle had already overcome so much in her life, and to have such a senseless act cut her life short, for no reason at all, has left our community without words,' said friend Christopher Byrd. The two knew each other through a small community for adults struggling with Fanconi anemia, a rare genetic blood disorder of Fanconi anemia since Ploetz was diagnosed with at 6.
Byrd said Michelle had become an inspirational figure in the group because often women with Fanconi anemia are unable to have children.
'I know that she spent every minute with her son; she loved her son so very much,' he said, remembering how Michelle Byrd proudly displayed pictures of the boy at a meeting for adults with Fanconi anemia last month in Baltimore.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2608230/I-hearing-voices-Teen-recently-released-jail-shots-mother-child-head-infant-son-sits.html
'I was hearing voices': Teen recently released from jail shots the mother of his child in the head as their infant son sits between them
Timothy Hendricks allegedly shot girlfriend Michelle Ploetz in the head after a dinner arguing over custody
Hendricks had a history of drug abuse
Older sister Jennifer Hendricks claimed he was denied treatment and needed mental health care
By Peter Rugg
Published: 23:42 EST, 18 April 2014 | Updated: 11:00 EST, 19 April 2014
Timothy Scott Hendricks had only been out of jail a month when he took a pistol, pointed it girlfriend Michelle Marie Ploetz's head, and pulled the trigger with the couple's infant son sitting in a car seat between them.
The details of that horrific Wednesday afternoon in St. Paul, Minn., are detailed in a criminal complaint filed Friday in which Hendricks is charged with second-degree intentional murder as well as second-degree attempted murder with intent for shooting at Ploetz's father.
According to the criminal complaint, officers were on their way to respond to a report of a fight on White Bear Avenue and East Seventh Street Wednesday when Ploetz's father, John Ploetz, 54, called to report that his daughter had been shot and the armed gunman was on the run.
Police found the girl with a gunshot wound to the head, unconscious but breathing in the back of a Toyota SUV.
The infant, still in his car seat, was removed so paramedics could treat her.
Ploetz, 20, was taken off life support on Friday.
According to John Ploetz's account, as quoted in The Pioneer Press, the couple had been at dinner at The Little Oven, a restaurant roughly four blocks from the scene of the shooting.
Hendricks, 19, had just been granted a conditional release from jail after a January charge for felony assault. He'd allegedly pointed a rifle at his 13-year-old nephew and pled not guilty.
At the time of his January arrest, he told police he was addicted to 'pot, benzos, and opiates,' with a 'bottle-a-day' habit.
The meeting at The Little Oven was for Hendricks to see the couple's baby. But both Michelle and her father were worried about the encounter, and John Ploetz came too.
At one point during the meal Hendricks asked: 'Why can't this be like it always was?'
However the John and Michelle told him 'he needed to take it one step at a time' and urged him to get into a treatment program for his addiction. Maybe they would get together again in a week.
The four left together with John Ploetz behind the wheel, and the pair in the backseat with their baby. Hendricks was behind the driver's seat.
Ploetz said that he heard a 'pop' from the back, followed quickly by another 'as something flew past his head breaking the car's windshield.
John Ploetz believed Hendricks was trying to kill him, so he stopped the car, got out, and attempted to open the rear door and get the gun away from him.
Hendricks fired at him twice more before John Ploetz fled, the father of his grandson chasing after him with a pistol.
The bereaved father would later tell authorities he had attempted to have Hendricks committed on three occasions for fear of exactly this situation.
The complaint read that John Ploetz 'expressed fear that Hendricks would kill the rest of his family if not apprehended or if he ever gets out of custody.'
Later that day, Hendricks turned up at Regions Hospital, where he was arrested.
While he was on the run, police found an unidentified woman at his address who told them that the troubled teen had talked about his plan to kill Michelle a day earlier. But as he had threatened Michelle in the past without acting the woman 'didn't think he would follow through.' He also threatened to hurt himself, promising 'he wasn't going back to jail.'
After his arrest, Hendricks told police that the family had discussed his son's custody arrangement at dinner and that 'despite the fact that he is on the boy's birth certificate they wanted full custody and he wouldn't be able to see the boy.'
He also said the gun had been in his front pocket, and he'd withdrawn it on the ride home after demanding that they stop arguing so he could see his son.
Michelle Ploetz said he would never see the boy, he put the gun 'right at her head,' and fired.
'I was hearing voices in my head and I just snapped and I couldn't tell you what really happened,' he told police.
When pressed he clarified that the voices 'took over' before he fired, but admitted that he himself wanted Michelle dead as he 'didn't want to lie' to police.
He said he blacked out after the shooting and had no memory of firing on John Ploetz. He was placed in Ramsey County jail on suicide watch. Despite the guards, he broke his pelvis and jaw while jumping over a railing Thursday night.
He went into surgery for the injuries Friday.
Jennifer Hendricks, Timothy's older sister, believes the system failed her brother when he tried to get help. She told reporters that he needed to be treated in a mental health facility.
'Had Timothy got the help we were asking for, this would never have happened,' she said.
Along with her fiance, Jennifer raised Timothy and another brother after their father died in 2004.
'Timothy is not a criminal,' she said. 'He has been dealing with some mental demons. ... We loved Michelle, we fought for Michelle, and we fought for Timothy.'
She said her brother was taking Xanax by prescription to treat anxiety and panic disorders when he developed an addiction.
He tried to end his dependency but failed. Jennifer said he would call her while going through withdrawals, crying: 'My body hurts so bad without the drugs.'
A once promising student, Hendricks graduated from Central High School in 2013 with straight A's.
He met Michelle through mutual friends in 2010 and remained 'absolutely inseparable until recently,' Jennifer said.
John Ploetz and wife Dianne Ploetz released this statement mourning their daughter: 'Michelle was full of life and passions, including Korean drumming and dance, her son, and her many friends. Michelle was a very generous person. And in her spirit of generosity, she will be an organ donor, giving hope to others in need.'
She was also in her first semester at St. Catherine University.
'Michelle had already overcome so much in her life, and to have such a senseless act cut her life short, for no reason at all, has left our community without words,' said friend Christopher Byrd. The two knew each other through a small community for adults struggling with Fanconi anemia, a rare genetic blood disorder of Fanconi anemia since Ploetz was diagnosed with at 6.
Byrd said Michelle had become an inspirational figure in the group because often women with Fanconi anemia are unable to have children.
'I know that she spent every minute with her son; she loved her son so very much,' he said, remembering how Michelle Byrd proudly displayed pictures of the boy at a meeting for adults with Fanconi anemia last month in Baltimore.
Dad poisons 16-month-old son, smothers him, throws him off bridge (China)
The police account doesn't pass the smell test.
We're supposed to believe that this guy's wife just up and left him and their son because of disagreements over "parenting issues" and because she "didn't make an effort to look after the family."
Then within MERE DAYS of this alleged occurrence, this supposedly normal father (if not being highly intelligent) is a depressed homicidal maniac who poisons the boy with pesticides and him, before dumping him in a bag which he throws off a bridge.
Bull crap.
First of all, this is a classic abuser accusation. She didn't take good care of me. Pure narcissism.
Plus, in the vast majority of cases, these kinds of killers don't suddenly snap. They have been violent and abusive all along.
And how do we know all this about the mother? Daddy's say so? I would just about bet that the mother was abused as well, and driven out of the home. That is, if she was not killed as well....
Dad is identified only as FENG.
http://shanghaiist.com/2014/04/20/young-father-poisons-toddler.php
Young father poisons toddler, smothers him and throws him from bridge
A 16-month-old toddler named Yu was murdered by his own father, Feng, when the man fed his son pesticides then smothered him with tape to suffocate him upon finding that he was still alive. Wanting to make sure that his son was definitely dead, he put Yu in a bag and threw the bag from a 5-meter-high bridge, according to local reports.
In the early morning of 9th of Sep 2013, a few construction workers, who were working under a bridge in Shenyang, Liaoning province, found a bag containing the body of a baby whose nose, eyes and mouth were all covered by tape.
The police arrived soon after and confirmed the baby’s death. People who were at the scene told reporters that the baby was around 2 years old with chubby cheeks. He was wearing a striped coat and a pair of jeans. Some of his other clothes were inside the bag as well. The police immediately issued a search notice for the dead baby’s relatives. Ten days later, they shockingly confirmed that it was Yu’s father who had killed him.
This horrible killing happened only a few days after Feng’s wife Hong left the family. Feng and Hong got married in 2011 and had baby Yu, who was born with congenital clubfoot in June 2012. The couple had been constantly arguing with each other since Yu was born. Feng had argued with Hong because of her frequent visits to Internet cafes and over parenting issues. He claimed that Hong didn’t make an effort to look after the family. So, not wanting to deal with the volatile marriage, Hong chose to leave Feng and her baby. After Hong left, Feng became very anxious and depressed. Raising the son on his own apparently contributed to the anxiety and depression. On September 8, when Yu was sick and crying all day, Feng felt that he couldn’t deal with the baby anymore and decided to end the crying by killing Yu.
After police questioned Feng and he admitted the crime, they suspected he may have psychological problems. They sent him to Liaoning Forensic Hospital Mental Health Department where doctors were unable to diagnose any apparent mental issues. However, they found that his intelligence level was slightly lower than normal peoples’, and suspected that’s why he couldn’t control himself when he felt the impulse to kill his son. Although Feng confessed to murder, he lacked remorse and, at the time of the killing, he was not aware of the consequences of committing such a horrible crime.
The police concluded that Feng’s unhappy marriage with the boy’s mother Hong and the boy’s congenital clubfoot led to the father’s anxiety, depression and loss of faith in life. The child’s crying had, at the time, fueled his depression and anxiety symptoms more.
Feng has been prosecuted for intentional homicide.
By Mandy Yang
We're supposed to believe that this guy's wife just up and left him and their son because of disagreements over "parenting issues" and because she "didn't make an effort to look after the family."
Then within MERE DAYS of this alleged occurrence, this supposedly normal father (if not being highly intelligent) is a depressed homicidal maniac who poisons the boy with pesticides and him, before dumping him in a bag which he throws off a bridge.
Bull crap.
First of all, this is a classic abuser accusation. She didn't take good care of me. Pure narcissism.
Plus, in the vast majority of cases, these kinds of killers don't suddenly snap. They have been violent and abusive all along.
And how do we know all this about the mother? Daddy's say so? I would just about bet that the mother was abused as well, and driven out of the home. That is, if she was not killed as well....
Dad is identified only as FENG.
http://shanghaiist.com/2014/04/20/young-father-poisons-toddler.php
Young father poisons toddler, smothers him and throws him from bridge
A 16-month-old toddler named Yu was murdered by his own father, Feng, when the man fed his son pesticides then smothered him with tape to suffocate him upon finding that he was still alive. Wanting to make sure that his son was definitely dead, he put Yu in a bag and threw the bag from a 5-meter-high bridge, according to local reports.
In the early morning of 9th of Sep 2013, a few construction workers, who were working under a bridge in Shenyang, Liaoning province, found a bag containing the body of a baby whose nose, eyes and mouth were all covered by tape.
The police arrived soon after and confirmed the baby’s death. People who were at the scene told reporters that the baby was around 2 years old with chubby cheeks. He was wearing a striped coat and a pair of jeans. Some of his other clothes were inside the bag as well. The police immediately issued a search notice for the dead baby’s relatives. Ten days later, they shockingly confirmed that it was Yu’s father who had killed him.
This horrible killing happened only a few days after Feng’s wife Hong left the family. Feng and Hong got married in 2011 and had baby Yu, who was born with congenital clubfoot in June 2012. The couple had been constantly arguing with each other since Yu was born. Feng had argued with Hong because of her frequent visits to Internet cafes and over parenting issues. He claimed that Hong didn’t make an effort to look after the family. So, not wanting to deal with the volatile marriage, Hong chose to leave Feng and her baby. After Hong left, Feng became very anxious and depressed. Raising the son on his own apparently contributed to the anxiety and depression. On September 8, when Yu was sick and crying all day, Feng felt that he couldn’t deal with the baby anymore and decided to end the crying by killing Yu.
After police questioned Feng and he admitted the crime, they suspected he may have psychological problems. They sent him to Liaoning Forensic Hospital Mental Health Department where doctors were unable to diagnose any apparent mental issues. However, they found that his intelligence level was slightly lower than normal peoples’, and suspected that’s why he couldn’t control himself when he felt the impulse to kill his son. Although Feng confessed to murder, he lacked remorse and, at the time of the killing, he was not aware of the consequences of committing such a horrible crime.
The police concluded that Feng’s unhappy marriage with the boy’s mother Hong and the boy’s congenital clubfoot led to the father’s anxiety, depression and loss of faith in life. The child’s crying had, at the time, fueled his depression and anxiety symptoms more.
Feng has been prosecuted for intentional homicide.
By Mandy Yang
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Dad may play mental health card in 2011 murder of 3-year-old son (Syracuse, New York)
Dad is identified as MARCELL WASHINGTON.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/04/will_syracuse_man_who_killed_son_to_rid_him_of_the_shatan_plead_insanity.html
Will Syracuse man who killed son to rid him of 'the Shatan' plead insanity?
By Douglass Dowty on April 10, 2014 at 9:26 AM
Syracuse, NY -- A Syracuse man who admitted to police he killed his 3-year-old son to rid him of "the Shatan" could plead not guilty by reason of mental illness.
But that wouldn't spare Marcell Washington from custody in the death of Ameen, who Washington admitted drowning to death in the shower in November 2011.
In fact, Washington could face a lifetime in a psychiatric hospital, instead of 25 years to life in prison if convicted of murder. Under state law, his sentence would be determined by mental health workers and not a judge.
Washington said he thought the devil, or Shatan, had entered his toddler son.
"I did this because I wanted to kill the Shatan that I believed was in my son," Washington explained later. "I thought by killing a portion of Ameen, it would kill the Shatan in him."
After forcing the child under cold water for 10 minutes, Washington put the limp boy's body in the bedroom.
Washington's case was delayed two years as mental health doctors examined the suspect while in jail. To accept a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, County Court Judge Anthony Aloi has to be convinced Washington isn't faking his condition.
Defense lawyer Thomas Ryan has said that Washington was "nearly incomprehensible" after the arrest, but has improved with mental health treatment.
The judge today adjourned the case until May 12, noting a possible resolution to the case at that point.
Washington was indicted on a murder charge.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/04/will_syracuse_man_who_killed_son_to_rid_him_of_the_shatan_plead_insanity.html
Will Syracuse man who killed son to rid him of 'the Shatan' plead insanity?
By Douglass Dowty on April 10, 2014 at 9:26 AM
Syracuse, NY -- A Syracuse man who admitted to police he killed his 3-year-old son to rid him of "the Shatan" could plead not guilty by reason of mental illness.
But that wouldn't spare Marcell Washington from custody in the death of Ameen, who Washington admitted drowning to death in the shower in November 2011.
In fact, Washington could face a lifetime in a psychiatric hospital, instead of 25 years to life in prison if convicted of murder. Under state law, his sentence would be determined by mental health workers and not a judge.
Washington said he thought the devil, or Shatan, had entered his toddler son.
"I did this because I wanted to kill the Shatan that I believed was in my son," Washington explained later. "I thought by killing a portion of Ameen, it would kill the Shatan in him."
After forcing the child under cold water for 10 minutes, Washington put the limp boy's body in the bedroom.
Washington's case was delayed two years as mental health doctors examined the suspect while in jail. To accept a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, County Court Judge Anthony Aloi has to be convinced Washington isn't faking his condition.
Defense lawyer Thomas Ryan has said that Washington was "nearly incomprehensible" after the arrest, but has improved with mental health treatment.
The judge today adjourned the case until May 12, noting a possible resolution to the case at that point.
Washington was indicted on a murder charge.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Killer dad ruled insane in decapitation of 7-year-old son (Thibodaux, Louisiana)
Insane? I'm not sure about that. Past postings have clarified that dad JERMIAH WRIGHT was an unemployed, "stay-at-home" (i.e. deadbeat) dad who was supported by the mother. Yet all he did was whine and complain. Notice that Daddy didn't kill the boy till the mother announced she was leaving--the telltale sign of a domestic violence retaliation murder.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/02/14/5341046/lawyer-father-ruled-insane-in.html
Lawyer: Louisiana father ruled insane in child's decapitation
ASSOCIATED PRESS
February 14, 2014
NEW ORLEANS -- A Louisiana father accused of cutting off the head of his disabled 7-year-old son has been ruled not guilty by reason of insanity, his defense attorney said Friday.
Kerry Cuccia said the ruling by state District Judge John LeBlanc came Friday in the case against Jeremiah Wright, 32, of Thibodaux.
Cuccia said Wright will be returned to the state mental hospital in Jackson where he had been held.
Wright has been in custody since August 2011, when Jori Lirette was killed and his head left in the yard of the home Wright was sharing with Lirette's mother, Jesslyn Lirette. The boy had required around-the-clock care and was fed through a tube.
Cuccia said prosecutors agreed to the ruling.
A call seeking comment from District Attorney Cam Morvant was not immediately returned.
Wright faced a first-degree murder charge in the Aug. 14, 2011, death. The boy's head was found in the driveway. His other body parts were found in nearby trash bags.
According to a sworn police statement, Wright told investigators he had recently seen signs that made him believe he was living with a CPR dummy rather than his son.
Those signs, he said, included being defecated and urinated on the morning he decapitated and dismembered the boy, whom he referred to throughout the statement as "the dummy."
He also told police he and Jesslyn Lirette had fought the evening before, and that she had told him she was moving him out of the house.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/02/14/5341046/lawyer-father-ruled-insane-in.html
Lawyer: Louisiana father ruled insane in child's decapitation
ASSOCIATED PRESS
February 14, 2014
NEW ORLEANS -- A Louisiana father accused of cutting off the head of his disabled 7-year-old son has been ruled not guilty by reason of insanity, his defense attorney said Friday.
Kerry Cuccia said the ruling by state District Judge John LeBlanc came Friday in the case against Jeremiah Wright, 32, of Thibodaux.
Cuccia said Wright will be returned to the state mental hospital in Jackson where he had been held.
Wright has been in custody since August 2011, when Jori Lirette was killed and his head left in the yard of the home Wright was sharing with Lirette's mother, Jesslyn Lirette. The boy had required around-the-clock care and was fed through a tube.
Cuccia said prosecutors agreed to the ruling.
A call seeking comment from District Attorney Cam Morvant was not immediately returned.
Wright faced a first-degree murder charge in the Aug. 14, 2011, death. The boy's head was found in the driveway. His other body parts were found in nearby trash bags.
According to a sworn police statement, Wright told investigators he had recently seen signs that made him believe he was living with a CPR dummy rather than his son.
Those signs, he said, included being defecated and urinated on the morning he decapitated and dismembered the boy, whom he referred to throughout the statement as "the dummy."
He also told police he and Jesslyn Lirette had fought the evening before, and that she had told him she was moving him out of the house.
Friday, February 14, 2014
Mom begged police for TWO DAYS before son murdered by father; dad had shared custody (Essex Junction, Vermont)
READ THIS. I can't even begin to summarize the outrages connected to killer dad LUDWIG "SONNY" SCHUMAKER.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2557066/EXCLUSIVE-Christina-begged-police-help-TWO-DAYS-son-14-strangled-husband-Then-locked-psych-ward-against-6-weeks-Here-tells-harrowing-story.html#ixzz2tLGRgNgO
EXCLUSIVE: Christina begged police for help for TWO DAYS before her son, 14, was found strangled by her husband. Then she was locked in a psych ward for six weeks. Here, she tells her harrowing story
Two weeks short of his fifteenth birthday Gunnar Schumacher was drugged and strangled by his father
Former National Guard Colonel, Ludwig ‘Sonny’ Schumacher then hanged himself in Vermont apartment
Within 24 hours grieving mother, Christina, was locked in a psychiatric unit and held against her will
Says she begged police to intervene to save her son in the days and hours before he was found murdered but they did nothing
Claims she told family court of Sonny’s violence towards Gunnar FOUR MONTHS earlier but they didn’t believe her
Says officials dismissed her fear as madness and cost her son his life
Claims 18 years of abusive marriage led her to mental breakdown
Lead detective describes meticulously planned crime as ‘complicated and unusual’ with investigation ongoing
Christina believes Sonny intended to kill her too and believes her life is still in danger
By Laura Collins In Essex Junction, Vermont
PUBLISHED: 11:16 EST, 12 February 2014 | UPDATED: 13:56 EST, 12 February 2014
Christina Schumacher knew her son was dead before she reached the top of the stairs. And she knew that his father had killed him.
The moment her eyes locked with those of the officer blocking the apartment door ahead she knew that the worst had already happened.
Forty-eight hours earlier she had pounded the desk of the local police station saying, ‘Help me my son is in danger.’ She had called family and friends. Finally she had called Amber Alert.
She had done everything she could to prevent this moment and now it was too late. She let out a scream that seemed endless.
On Wednesday December 18, Christina’s estranged husband, Ludwig ‘Sonny’ Schumacher, 49, and their fourteen year old son, Gunnar, were found dead in Sonny’s Essex, Vermont, apartment. Sonny drugged and strangled Gunnar before hanging himself several hours later.
But for Christina, 48, that wasn’t the end of the nightmare. Within 24 hours she had been involuntarily admitted to a secure psychiatric unit.
She stayed there for five-and-a-half weeks before a judge ruled that the grieving mother should never have been locked up in the first place. He released her with an apology for all that she had gone through.
Now in an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Christina, has revealed the litany of systematic failures that she blames for her son’s death.
She has told how her fears and pleas for help were dismissed as the rantings of a madwoman.
She has revealed the truth of the abusive marriage that led her to mental breakdown and despair.
And she has shared the chilling knowledge that on the night that he murdered their son, Sonny had intended to kill her too.
She said: ‘He invited me over for dinner that night too. That same day he changed his will to cut me out and leave everything, including my daughter and the house, to his sister because he thought I was going to be dead with them. He planned on murdering me.
‘I’m numb to it now.’
In a cruel twist, she said, Sonny had planned to commit his crimes and kill himself on their 17-year-old daughter, Elise’s birthday.
The sprawling house in which Christina sits in a quiet neighborhood in Essex Junction is in a state of disarray.
This was once the family home but since returning to it two weeks ago she has set about purging it of everything connected to ‘him.’
The debris of the carefully constructed façade of the Schumacher’s perfect life is all around.
Family albums and home-made calendars burst with pictures of the family posing together in Bermuda, Cape Cod, Rome, France, London, Washington, Alaska, Montana…on and on it goes.
Christina explained: ‘We would go on all these trips and Sonny would insist that I boast about where we’d been, how much we’d seen. But look at the kids in all the pictures. See how miserable they look?
‘Everything with Sonny was for show. The house, the private school, the new fence, the four-by-four, the dirt bike, the hot tub, the boat, the summers at Cape Cod, the canoe… We were the "perfect" family.’
But in reality, she said, ‘He beat and abused us for years but he was getting worse.’
Christina and Sonny married in October 1994. They met by chance at the local gym after Sonny moved to Vermont as a pilot with the National Guard.
Handsome and charming, Sonny introduced himself and said he was new in town. Christina, then a dancer, told him she was going jet-skiing that afternoon and he asked to join her.
‘I told him if he made it in time he could come. He arrived at the jetty just as we were pushing off.’
Today she can’t remember a time when the marriage was truly happy but she said, at first, Sonny's abuse was 'more verbal and emotional.’
In 1996 their daughter Elise was born and son Gunnar arrived three years later.
The physical abuse steadily escalated over the years.
She says: ‘He would do it in sly ways. With Gunnar he would say, “Let’s wrestle” but every time my son would end up crying for help. With me he would do things that wouldn’t leave marks. He had all sorts of military pinches and holds, he’d do stuff to my neck so I couldn’t breathe.
‘He would say “It’s my word against yours and I’m a military officer so who’s going to believe you?”’
Sonny was proud of his academic and military credentials. He graduated from the University of Connecticut magna cum laude and went on to study law. He served with the Vermont National Guard as an F-16 pilot and instructor while working part-time as an associate at a local Vermont law firm. He flew commercially for Delta.
He was the head of a successful, ideal family.
According to Christina: ‘He created his own identity. He created Sonny – he used to be Ludwig. His whole life was a façade. I was his Stepford Wife. And he controlled my poor kids, especially Gunnar.
‘He made Gunnar sign “the rules” before he could even write.’
Christina offers up a framed document. Once pinned to the wall of Gunnar’s bedroom it is Sonny’s, ‘House Rules.’
Among them ‘I will not tolerate anyone who lies, cheats or steals. I will keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight'.
At the bottom of the page, is the then three-year-old Gunnar’s heartbreaking attempt to please and ‘sign’ this contract with his father.
More recently Sonny had been working on his ‘manifesto’ ‘A Practical Guide to Life.’ Part military manual, part evangelical diktat the lengthy document – hundreds of pages long – was aimed at his children.
Christina says, ‘Sonny always had to be in control.’
Though she worked full time as a financial officer in GE Healthcare Corporation Sonny was in charge of all the family’s finances.
‘He kept them secret from me,’ she says. ‘He insisted I pay everything on the credit card and he checked transactions 10 times a day.
‘He wrote me a check for $3,000 every month for bills. He kept everything else locked in the safe.’
He held the purse strings. He exerted mental control and he administered beatings.
So why didn’t Christina take the children and leave?
She says: ‘Because he would kill me if I tried to leave. And if I’d tried to run with the kids he’d have hunted me down and I was afraid I’d lose them.
‘I stayed to survive and I stayed to protect my kids.’
But at the beginning of 2013 the pressure was became too much to bear.
She says: ‘I had a nervous breakdown. I literally started shutting down. I couldn’t even do laundry or go grocery shopping. I hated being in the house.
‘By January, February, I was crashing.’
It was the beginning of what would be a catastrophic end to this damaged marriage and family.
Christina left her job in February and sought psychiatric help. With Sonny always at her side she saw a psychiatrist and was prescribed medication for depression and anxiety.
She recalls: ‘They thought I might be bi-polar because we have it in our family.’
Christina claims that Sonny controlled her illness just as he had controlled everything else, keeping her medication locked in his study and administering it each evening. She became convinced he was trying to kill her.
It is impossible to know whether or not Christina’s fears then were the stuff of paranoid delusions or rooted in reality. But less than a year on Sonny did meticulously plan his suicide, and Gunnar and Christina’s murders.
Weeping openly Christina recalls how Sonny terrorized the family, subjecting Gunnar to one particularly brutal attack last Easter.
She says: ‘Because he would kill me if I tried to leave. And if I’d tried to run with the kids he’d have hunted me down and I was afraid I’d lose them. ‘I stayed to survive and I stayed to protect my kids.’
But at the beginning of 2013 the pressure was became too much to bear.
She says: ‘I had a nervous breakdown. I literally started shutting down. I couldn’t even do laundry or go grocery shopping. I hated being in the house.
‘By January, February, I was crashing.’
It was the beginning of what would be a catastrophic end to this damaged marriage and family.
Christina left her job in February and sought psychiatric help. With Sonny always at her side she saw a psychiatrist and was prescribed medication for depression and anxiety.
She recalls: ‘They thought I might be bi-polar because we have it in our family.’
Christina claims that Sonny controlled her illness just as he had controlled everything else, keeping her medication locked in his study and administering it each evening. She became convinced he was trying to kill her.
It is impossible to know whether or not Christina’s fears then were the stuff of paranoid delusions or rooted in reality. But less than a year on Sonny did meticulously plan his suicide, and Gunnar and Christina’s murders.
Weeping openly Christina recalls how Sonny terrorized the family, subjecting Gunnar to one particularly brutal attack last Easter.
Gunnar’s latest gadget was a smoke machine she had told him not to use in the house. That Easter Sunday he did just that and filled the bathroom with smoke.
She admits, ‘I was mad. I said to Sonny “Do something.”
‘Sonny just started beating the s*** out of him. I started trying to get him to stop.
‘Gunnar ran down the stairs and out the back door and Sonny chased him and pinned him down, put his knee into his back, and held him in a pinch hold - Gunnar’s screaming, I’m trying to pull Sonny off.
‘Sonny picks him up, holding him in a bear hug to bring him back in and Gunnar literally kicks the siding of the house off struggling.’
The damage is still visible today.
Back in the house, Christina recalled: ‘Gunnar tries to run away, he tried to escape through the window but Sonny gets his foot and pulls him to the ground, and beats him. It was a nightmare.’
‘I should have called the cops that day.’
By June, Christina says, she couldn’t take it anymore. She checked herself into an intensive out patient regime of therapy and psychiatric care and The Seneca Center in Burlington.
For the first time Christina spoke about the abuse she and her children endured at Sonny’s hands. She was put in contact with Women Helping Battered Women.
In July she finally summoned up the courage to leave. She filed a Relief from Abuse Order with the Family Court, which meant that for 30 days the only contact Sonny could have with her was by email to discuss childcare arrangements.
From the narrative Christina tells it is clear that both Gunnar and his older sister spent as much time with friends, staying at their houses, as they could. After their parents’ separation the shape of their living arrangements remained oddly disjointed with one sibling staying in one place, the other staying in another on a regular basis.
Christina remained in the family home while Sonny rented an apartment just five minutes away
He texted her relentlessly. He said he would attend counseling, couple therapy, seek psychiatric care himself and help her with her own.
Christina viewed every offer, in the texts which range from appeasing, to cajoling, to threatening, as a trap.
Meanwhile the wheels were well and truly coming off Sonny’s ‘perfect’ life. That summer he lost his job as Executive Director of Timberlane, a medical practice.
In August Christina went to court requesting the couple’s make-shift living arrangements be formalized and she be given full custody.
Instead a Temporary Order was put in place giving equal shared custody.
Christina’s rage flares violently to the surface as she recalled: ‘I told the judge everything. I told him about the Easter incident and he didn’t believe me.
‘I hate him. I f***** hate him. If he had listened to me my son would be alive.’
Elise, 16 at the time, was told she could decide where she wanted to live. She remained with her mother. Gunnar spent alternate weeks with his father and mother.
But, Christina said: ‘Sonny convinced Gunnar to spend more time with him. My goal was to get full custody so I was being really, really cautious with Sonny and agreed to it.’
If she hadn’t, Christina feared, Sonny would abduct their son and take him out of the country.
Every Wednesday night and every other weekend Gunnar went to his mother’s. The rest of the time the Essex High School freshman stayed with his father.
It was a tense arrangement, but Christina tolerated it and hoped for a better permanent arrangement.
Two weekends before his murder Gunnar was meant to be in Sonny’s care. But according to Christina, the boy called her repeatedly because his father was out of town and he was alone.
Christina offered to bring him to her house but Gunnar refused. ‘He was scared of what his dad would do if he came to the house. 'I said I need full custody of Gunnar now. He’s in danger. You know what they said? It’s the holidays and we’re really busy and the courts are backed up'
‘I don’t know what Sonny was saying or threatening but Gunnar was a smart kid. He knew he was in trouble and I knew it too.’
Christina’s voice breaks as she remembers arranging a clandestine meeting with her teenage son so that she could hand over a ‘secret’ phone to him. ‘I went to AT&T and got him an iPhone and told him dad didn’t need to know about this. This was his secret phone he could call me on – because Sonny checked his phone.’
On Monday 9 December Christina went to her attorney’s office: 'I said I need full custody of Gunnar now. He’s in danger.
‘You know what they said? It’s the holidays and we’re really busy and the courts are backed up. I went back to them or called them almost every day and they didn’t do s***’
That Wednesday Christina took Gunnar shopping – to his favorite clothing store Polo Ralph Lauren.
She says: ‘I bought him a whole bunch of new clothes to keep at mine so he wouldn’t always have to take a bag. He was so excited.
‘He didn’t like posing for pictures but that night he posed in one of his new shirts for me.’
It was the last picture taken of Gunnar. He stands smiling at the camera.
Christina says: ‘That was the shirt I buried him in.’
Gunnar spent his last weekend his mother. Christina recalls it as ‘awesome.’
His friend Johnny stayed and the boys messed around on the four wheeler and shot apples off the back porch with Gunnar’s potato gun.
They went skiing and on Saturday night they watched a movie.
‘He was doing what a good 14-year-old should be doing,’ Christina recalled.
On Monday morning she made him his favorite breakfast – Belgian waffles and dropped him at school. That afternoon Gunnar called Christina and asked her to pick him up as he’d left some things at her home by mistake.
Christina treated him to McDonalds, though she hated doing so, and took Gunnar to choose a keyboard for his birthday, which was two weeks away.
Gunnar was due to spend Christmas week with her and, as she dropped him back at his father’s she said: ‘In my mind he was never going back to Sonny’s after that.
‘I told Gunnar this whole thing is temporary you’re going to live with me full time. I told him he wasn’t going back to Sonny after Christmas.’
Earlier that day Sonny had left a message telling Christina they needed to talk about Gunnar and asking her to come round to dinner. She ignored it.
Instead Gunnar walked alone up the stairs to his father and his death.
At 7pm on Tuesday December 17 Gunnar’s friend Johnny called Christina.
She says: ‘He was worried. Gunnar wasn’t answering his phone or responding to texts. Gunnar literally sleeps with his phone - slept with his phone.
‘I called it and it went straight to voicemail which means it’s off. I called Sonny’s phone, straight to voicemail. I called Sonny’s mother – her home and cell, no answer.
‘I called the principal of the school and said how do I find out what the details are with Gunnar not being at school today? He said he’d have to call me first thing in the morning.’
It transpired that Sonny left a voicemail at 10pm on Monday night saying Gunnar would be out of class for a couple of days.
Christina continues: ‘I was getting really worried. I had a couple of friends over. They said let’s go to the police department and tell them. We drove by Sonny’s apartment and his truck is sitting in the lot with snow on it. It hadn’t snowed since early that morning. That was my confirmation something was up.
‘I went to the police and said: “I need help now. My son is in danger.”
‘They were like, “Woa, slow down. We need to interview you.’
Lt George Murtie, the lead detective in the homicide-suicide case, confirmed to MailOnline: ‘Christina came to the police department on the evening of December 17 and reported concerns for her son’s welfare. She spoke to a patrol officer.’
According to Christina: ‘After an hour and a half they said they were short staffed and it would have to wait until morning. I’m like, morning is going to be too late. I need help now.’
She says she called her sister, who ,Christina says, told her to go to bed. She says she called a friend who told her ‘it was late and it wasn’t a good time.’
Lt Murtie believes that it was, in truth, already too late and that Gunnar was almost certainly dead by this time, though Ludwig may not have been.
In desperation Christina contacted Amber Alert – Sonny had family in both France and Russia. But while they started an international search, Gunnar was getting killed, or already dead, just minutes round the corner from his home in Vermont.
The next day a friend of Christina’s called to tell her she was seeing reports of some sort of incident on the news, there were police at Sonny’s apartment and that she was coming over to get her.
They drove to the apartment together. Christina said: ‘There’s a bunch of police there and I go up and one officer looked at me and I just knew he was dead. I started screaming.’
Detectives took Christina home where she broke the news to her daughter. She remembers a house full of people. She remembers her sister arriving and rushing towards her. She remembers grabbing her hair, shaking her and yelling ‘You didn’t listen and now he’s dead.’
And she remembers hugging her, apologizing and weeping.
Christina had an appointment with her psychiatrist the following day which she kept. When she arrived there were four security guards there.
According to Christina: ‘My sister had called my psychiatrist and said I’d attacked her and that I was a danger to myself and others and needed to be locked up.'
Christina's sister has not responded to MailOnline's request for comment. 'There’s a bunch of police there and I go up and one officer looked at me and I just knew he was dead. I started screaming'
Christina continues: ‘The decision was made before anyone had even seen me!'
Outraged, Christina made a hell of a fuss and as a result, she yells, ‘I was put in handcuffs.’
She was admitted to Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington. In a Kafkaesque twist Christina found herself locked in the secure psychiatric unit, doped up on anti-psychotics and powerless to prevent it.
Her son’s funeral mass had to be held in the hospital chapel with just 35 people present. She was separated from her daughter at a time of intense loss when all she wanted was to comfort and grieve with her.
Today Christina credits Disability Rights Attorney Lindsay Owen with making her aware of her rights and aiding her release as a result.
She started to refuse medication and stopped co-operating with medical staff whom she saw as her jailers.
Truth be told the behavior she describes – hissing at staff, slamming doors on doctors, throwing chairs – sounds disturbing and disturbed.
But this is a mother whose son had just been murdered by his father who then hanged himself. This is a woman locked in an abusive marriage and controlled for years, now locked out of her life and grief and controlled once more. What is the appropriate or normal reaction to that? How should she have behaved?
She said: ‘I woke up one morning to an obituary that someone else wrote about my son, talking about services for him that I couldn’t be at.
‘Nobody should have to endure what I endured.’
On January 24 Vermont Superior Court Judge Kevin Griffin ordered Christina’s immediate release from Fletcher Allen Health Care.
Judge Griffin said in his ruling that he disagreed with the assessment made before Christina had arrived for her appointment that day.
He said: ‘The court did not find, by clear and convincing evidence, that the Respondent was a person in need of treatment at the time of admission…nor a patient need of further treatment at the time of hearing.’
In a statement to MailOnline Mike Noble, spokesman for Fletcher Allen Health Care responded: 'I can't speak to the specifics of this case, but I can say that in all matters such as this we make decisions that we think are in the best interests of the patient.
'Our clinicians make a judgement about risk of harm using medical standards of care. We consider in every case whether our judgement is consistent with the legal framework that governs involuntary care. These are complex decisions and there is room for disagreement. Every person detained has at least three concurring clinician opinions, and usually more.
'The judge is the ultimate decider and makes a decision based on legal standards. Where there might be legitimate differences of opinion related to risk, the judge decides. We would like the judge to make these decisions as soon as possible. That way, if the patient is entitled to leave, the patient can do so. If the patient should stay, that decision has the backing of the court.
'We welcome judicial review. For that reason we have been advocating for a speedier review system and will continue to do so during the legislative session.'
The police investigation into Sonny and Gunnar’s deaths is ongoing. Sonny sent Fedex packages containing letters and other materials to family members and law enforcement officers containing instructions and information that remains of interest to detectives.
Lt Murtie described the investigation into Sonny’s death as ‘detailed, complicated and unusual.' He said: ‘Of course one of the first things we have to do is eliminate the possibility that anyone else is involved. But I also take it as a professional responsibility to develop a timeline and figure out when planning started. It’s complicated.’
He revealed that a search warrant has been issued for the retrieval of one email and 10 subpoenas for financial documents.
Christina believes her life may still be under threat but will not elaborate further.
With remarkable compassion she said: ‘I’ve finally got to the fact that my daughter still has to live her life and it’s still her father. I decided he was a good guy that did bad stuff because he was messed up and mentally ill and HE needed help and he didn’t get it.
‘It’s taken a lot to get here. I had a lot of anger for Sonny.’
Christina still has a lot of anger. But it is directed at the people who dismissed her fears as mania and paranoia.
Shouting with unbridled fury she said: ‘Nobody ever believed me! I told the judge in the summer. I told an attorney the week before they didn’t believe me. I told the local police they didn’t believe me. ‘
And I hate them. I hate them for it. Because nobody listened and now my son is dead and they could have saved him and I couldn’t.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2557066/EXCLUSIVE-Christina-begged-police-help-TWO-DAYS-son-14-strangled-husband-Then-locked-psych-ward-against-6-weeks-Here-tells-harrowing-story.html#ixzz2tLGRgNgO
EXCLUSIVE: Christina begged police for help for TWO DAYS before her son, 14, was found strangled by her husband. Then she was locked in a psych ward for six weeks. Here, she tells her harrowing story
Two weeks short of his fifteenth birthday Gunnar Schumacher was drugged and strangled by his father
Former National Guard Colonel, Ludwig ‘Sonny’ Schumacher then hanged himself in Vermont apartment
Within 24 hours grieving mother, Christina, was locked in a psychiatric unit and held against her will
Says she begged police to intervene to save her son in the days and hours before he was found murdered but they did nothing
Claims she told family court of Sonny’s violence towards Gunnar FOUR MONTHS earlier but they didn’t believe her
Says officials dismissed her fear as madness and cost her son his life
Claims 18 years of abusive marriage led her to mental breakdown
Lead detective describes meticulously planned crime as ‘complicated and unusual’ with investigation ongoing
Christina believes Sonny intended to kill her too and believes her life is still in danger
By Laura Collins In Essex Junction, Vermont
PUBLISHED: 11:16 EST, 12 February 2014 | UPDATED: 13:56 EST, 12 February 2014
Christina Schumacher knew her son was dead before she reached the top of the stairs. And she knew that his father had killed him.
The moment her eyes locked with those of the officer blocking the apartment door ahead she knew that the worst had already happened.
Forty-eight hours earlier she had pounded the desk of the local police station saying, ‘Help me my son is in danger.’ She had called family and friends. Finally she had called Amber Alert.
She had done everything she could to prevent this moment and now it was too late. She let out a scream that seemed endless.
On Wednesday December 18, Christina’s estranged husband, Ludwig ‘Sonny’ Schumacher, 49, and their fourteen year old son, Gunnar, were found dead in Sonny’s Essex, Vermont, apartment. Sonny drugged and strangled Gunnar before hanging himself several hours later.
But for Christina, 48, that wasn’t the end of the nightmare. Within 24 hours she had been involuntarily admitted to a secure psychiatric unit.
She stayed there for five-and-a-half weeks before a judge ruled that the grieving mother should never have been locked up in the first place. He released her with an apology for all that she had gone through.
Now in an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Christina, has revealed the litany of systematic failures that she blames for her son’s death.
She has told how her fears and pleas for help were dismissed as the rantings of a madwoman.
She has revealed the truth of the abusive marriage that led her to mental breakdown and despair.
And she has shared the chilling knowledge that on the night that he murdered their son, Sonny had intended to kill her too.
She said: ‘He invited me over for dinner that night too. That same day he changed his will to cut me out and leave everything, including my daughter and the house, to his sister because he thought I was going to be dead with them. He planned on murdering me.
‘I’m numb to it now.’
In a cruel twist, she said, Sonny had planned to commit his crimes and kill himself on their 17-year-old daughter, Elise’s birthday.
The sprawling house in which Christina sits in a quiet neighborhood in Essex Junction is in a state of disarray.
This was once the family home but since returning to it two weeks ago she has set about purging it of everything connected to ‘him.’
The debris of the carefully constructed façade of the Schumacher’s perfect life is all around.
Family albums and home-made calendars burst with pictures of the family posing together in Bermuda, Cape Cod, Rome, France, London, Washington, Alaska, Montana…on and on it goes.
Christina explained: ‘We would go on all these trips and Sonny would insist that I boast about where we’d been, how much we’d seen. But look at the kids in all the pictures. See how miserable they look?
‘Everything with Sonny was for show. The house, the private school, the new fence, the four-by-four, the dirt bike, the hot tub, the boat, the summers at Cape Cod, the canoe… We were the "perfect" family.’
But in reality, she said, ‘He beat and abused us for years but he was getting worse.’
Christina and Sonny married in October 1994. They met by chance at the local gym after Sonny moved to Vermont as a pilot with the National Guard.
Handsome and charming, Sonny introduced himself and said he was new in town. Christina, then a dancer, told him she was going jet-skiing that afternoon and he asked to join her.
‘I told him if he made it in time he could come. He arrived at the jetty just as we were pushing off.’
Today she can’t remember a time when the marriage was truly happy but she said, at first, Sonny's abuse was 'more verbal and emotional.’
In 1996 their daughter Elise was born and son Gunnar arrived three years later.
The physical abuse steadily escalated over the years.
She says: ‘He would do it in sly ways. With Gunnar he would say, “Let’s wrestle” but every time my son would end up crying for help. With me he would do things that wouldn’t leave marks. He had all sorts of military pinches and holds, he’d do stuff to my neck so I couldn’t breathe.
‘He would say “It’s my word against yours and I’m a military officer so who’s going to believe you?”’
Sonny was proud of his academic and military credentials. He graduated from the University of Connecticut magna cum laude and went on to study law. He served with the Vermont National Guard as an F-16 pilot and instructor while working part-time as an associate at a local Vermont law firm. He flew commercially for Delta.
He was the head of a successful, ideal family.
According to Christina: ‘He created his own identity. He created Sonny – he used to be Ludwig. His whole life was a façade. I was his Stepford Wife. And he controlled my poor kids, especially Gunnar.
‘He made Gunnar sign “the rules” before he could even write.’
Christina offers up a framed document. Once pinned to the wall of Gunnar’s bedroom it is Sonny’s, ‘House Rules.’
Among them ‘I will not tolerate anyone who lies, cheats or steals. I will keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight'.
At the bottom of the page, is the then three-year-old Gunnar’s heartbreaking attempt to please and ‘sign’ this contract with his father.
More recently Sonny had been working on his ‘manifesto’ ‘A Practical Guide to Life.’ Part military manual, part evangelical diktat the lengthy document – hundreds of pages long – was aimed at his children.
Christina says, ‘Sonny always had to be in control.’
Though she worked full time as a financial officer in GE Healthcare Corporation Sonny was in charge of all the family’s finances.
‘He kept them secret from me,’ she says. ‘He insisted I pay everything on the credit card and he checked transactions 10 times a day.
‘He wrote me a check for $3,000 every month for bills. He kept everything else locked in the safe.’
He held the purse strings. He exerted mental control and he administered beatings.
So why didn’t Christina take the children and leave?
She says: ‘Because he would kill me if I tried to leave. And if I’d tried to run with the kids he’d have hunted me down and I was afraid I’d lose them.
‘I stayed to survive and I stayed to protect my kids.’
But at the beginning of 2013 the pressure was became too much to bear.
She says: ‘I had a nervous breakdown. I literally started shutting down. I couldn’t even do laundry or go grocery shopping. I hated being in the house.
‘By January, February, I was crashing.’
It was the beginning of what would be a catastrophic end to this damaged marriage and family.
Christina left her job in February and sought psychiatric help. With Sonny always at her side she saw a psychiatrist and was prescribed medication for depression and anxiety.
She recalls: ‘They thought I might be bi-polar because we have it in our family.’
Christina claims that Sonny controlled her illness just as he had controlled everything else, keeping her medication locked in his study and administering it each evening. She became convinced he was trying to kill her.
Weeping openly Christina recalls how Sonny terrorized the family, subjecting Gunnar to one particularly brutal attack last Easter.
She says: ‘Because he would kill me if I tried to leave. And if I’d tried to run with the kids he’d have hunted me down and I was afraid I’d lose them. ‘I stayed to survive and I stayed to protect my kids.’
But at the beginning of 2013 the pressure was became too much to bear.
She says: ‘I had a nervous breakdown. I literally started shutting down. I couldn’t even do laundry or go grocery shopping. I hated being in the house.
‘By January, February, I was crashing.’
It was the beginning of what would be a catastrophic end to this damaged marriage and family.
Christina left her job in February and sought psychiatric help. With Sonny always at her side she saw a psychiatrist and was prescribed medication for depression and anxiety.
She recalls: ‘They thought I might be bi-polar because we have it in our family.’
Christina claims that Sonny controlled her illness just as he had controlled everything else, keeping her medication locked in his study and administering it each evening. She became convinced he was trying to kill her.
Weeping openly Christina recalls how Sonny terrorized the family, subjecting Gunnar to one particularly brutal attack last Easter.
Gunnar’s latest gadget was a smoke machine she had told him not to use in the house. That Easter Sunday he did just that and filled the bathroom with smoke.
She admits, ‘I was mad. I said to Sonny “Do something.”
‘Sonny just started beating the s*** out of him. I started trying to get him to stop.
‘Gunnar ran down the stairs and out the back door and Sonny chased him and pinned him down, put his knee into his back, and held him in a pinch hold - Gunnar’s screaming, I’m trying to pull Sonny off.
‘Sonny picks him up, holding him in a bear hug to bring him back in and Gunnar literally kicks the siding of the house off struggling.’
The damage is still visible today.
Back in the house, Christina recalled: ‘Gunnar tries to run away, he tried to escape through the window but Sonny gets his foot and pulls him to the ground, and beats him. It was a nightmare.’
‘I should have called the cops that day.’
By June, Christina says, she couldn’t take it anymore. She checked herself into an intensive out patient regime of therapy and psychiatric care and The Seneca Center in Burlington.
For the first time Christina spoke about the abuse she and her children endured at Sonny’s hands. She was put in contact with Women Helping Battered Women.
In July she finally summoned up the courage to leave. She filed a Relief from Abuse Order with the Family Court, which meant that for 30 days the only contact Sonny could have with her was by email to discuss childcare arrangements.
From the narrative Christina tells it is clear that both Gunnar and his older sister spent as much time with friends, staying at their houses, as they could. After their parents’ separation the shape of their living arrangements remained oddly disjointed with one sibling staying in one place, the other staying in another on a regular basis.
Christina remained in the family home while Sonny rented an apartment just five minutes away
He texted her relentlessly. He said he would attend counseling, couple therapy, seek psychiatric care himself and help her with her own.
Christina viewed every offer, in the texts which range from appeasing, to cajoling, to threatening, as a trap.
Meanwhile the wheels were well and truly coming off Sonny’s ‘perfect’ life. That summer he lost his job as Executive Director of Timberlane, a medical practice.
In August Christina went to court requesting the couple’s make-shift living arrangements be formalized and she be given full custody.
Instead a Temporary Order was put in place giving equal shared custody.
Christina’s rage flares violently to the surface as she recalled: ‘I told the judge everything. I told him about the Easter incident and he didn’t believe me.
‘I hate him. I f***** hate him. If he had listened to me my son would be alive.’
Elise, 16 at the time, was told she could decide where she wanted to live. She remained with her mother. Gunnar spent alternate weeks with his father and mother.
But, Christina said: ‘Sonny convinced Gunnar to spend more time with him. My goal was to get full custody so I was being really, really cautious with Sonny and agreed to it.’
If she hadn’t, Christina feared, Sonny would abduct their son and take him out of the country.
Every Wednesday night and every other weekend Gunnar went to his mother’s. The rest of the time the Essex High School freshman stayed with his father.
It was a tense arrangement, but Christina tolerated it and hoped for a better permanent arrangement.
Two weekends before his murder Gunnar was meant to be in Sonny’s care. But according to Christina, the boy called her repeatedly because his father was out of town and he was alone.
Christina offered to bring him to her house but Gunnar refused. ‘He was scared of what his dad would do if he came to the house. 'I said I need full custody of Gunnar now. He’s in danger. You know what they said? It’s the holidays and we’re really busy and the courts are backed up'
‘I don’t know what Sonny was saying or threatening but Gunnar was a smart kid. He knew he was in trouble and I knew it too.’
Christina’s voice breaks as she remembers arranging a clandestine meeting with her teenage son so that she could hand over a ‘secret’ phone to him. ‘I went to AT&T and got him an iPhone and told him dad didn’t need to know about this. This was his secret phone he could call me on – because Sonny checked his phone.’
On Monday 9 December Christina went to her attorney’s office: 'I said I need full custody of Gunnar now. He’s in danger.
‘You know what they said? It’s the holidays and we’re really busy and the courts are backed up. I went back to them or called them almost every day and they didn’t do s***’
That Wednesday Christina took Gunnar shopping – to his favorite clothing store Polo Ralph Lauren.
She says: ‘I bought him a whole bunch of new clothes to keep at mine so he wouldn’t always have to take a bag. He was so excited.
‘He didn’t like posing for pictures but that night he posed in one of his new shirts for me.’
It was the last picture taken of Gunnar. He stands smiling at the camera.
Christina says: ‘That was the shirt I buried him in.’
Gunnar spent his last weekend his mother. Christina recalls it as ‘awesome.’
His friend Johnny stayed and the boys messed around on the four wheeler and shot apples off the back porch with Gunnar’s potato gun.
They went skiing and on Saturday night they watched a movie.
‘He was doing what a good 14-year-old should be doing,’ Christina recalled.
On Monday morning she made him his favorite breakfast – Belgian waffles and dropped him at school. That afternoon Gunnar called Christina and asked her to pick him up as he’d left some things at her home by mistake.
Christina treated him to McDonalds, though she hated doing so, and took Gunnar to choose a keyboard for his birthday, which was two weeks away.
Gunnar was due to spend Christmas week with her and, as she dropped him back at his father’s she said: ‘In my mind he was never going back to Sonny’s after that.
‘I told Gunnar this whole thing is temporary you’re going to live with me full time. I told him he wasn’t going back to Sonny after Christmas.’
Earlier that day Sonny had left a message telling Christina they needed to talk about Gunnar and asking her to come round to dinner. She ignored it.
Instead Gunnar walked alone up the stairs to his father and his death.
At 7pm on Tuesday December 17 Gunnar’s friend Johnny called Christina.
She says: ‘He was worried. Gunnar wasn’t answering his phone or responding to texts. Gunnar literally sleeps with his phone - slept with his phone.
‘I called it and it went straight to voicemail which means it’s off. I called Sonny’s phone, straight to voicemail. I called Sonny’s mother – her home and cell, no answer.
‘I called the principal of the school and said how do I find out what the details are with Gunnar not being at school today? He said he’d have to call me first thing in the morning.’
It transpired that Sonny left a voicemail at 10pm on Monday night saying Gunnar would be out of class for a couple of days.
Christina continues: ‘I was getting really worried. I had a couple of friends over. They said let’s go to the police department and tell them. We drove by Sonny’s apartment and his truck is sitting in the lot with snow on it. It hadn’t snowed since early that morning. That was my confirmation something was up.
‘I went to the police and said: “I need help now. My son is in danger.”
‘They were like, “Woa, slow down. We need to interview you.’
Lt George Murtie, the lead detective in the homicide-suicide case, confirmed to MailOnline: ‘Christina came to the police department on the evening of December 17 and reported concerns for her son’s welfare. She spoke to a patrol officer.’
According to Christina: ‘After an hour and a half they said they were short staffed and it would have to wait until morning. I’m like, morning is going to be too late. I need help now.’
She says she called her sister, who ,Christina says, told her to go to bed. She says she called a friend who told her ‘it was late and it wasn’t a good time.’
Lt Murtie believes that it was, in truth, already too late and that Gunnar was almost certainly dead by this time, though Ludwig may not have been.
In desperation Christina contacted Amber Alert – Sonny had family in both France and Russia. But while they started an international search, Gunnar was getting killed, or already dead, just minutes round the corner from his home in Vermont.
The next day a friend of Christina’s called to tell her she was seeing reports of some sort of incident on the news, there were police at Sonny’s apartment and that she was coming over to get her.
They drove to the apartment together. Christina said: ‘There’s a bunch of police there and I go up and one officer looked at me and I just knew he was dead. I started screaming.’
Detectives took Christina home where she broke the news to her daughter. She remembers a house full of people. She remembers her sister arriving and rushing towards her. She remembers grabbing her hair, shaking her and yelling ‘You didn’t listen and now he’s dead.’
And she remembers hugging her, apologizing and weeping.
Christina had an appointment with her psychiatrist the following day which she kept. When she arrived there were four security guards there.
According to Christina: ‘My sister had called my psychiatrist and said I’d attacked her and that I was a danger to myself and others and needed to be locked up.'
Christina's sister has not responded to MailOnline's request for comment. 'There’s a bunch of police there and I go up and one officer looked at me and I just knew he was dead. I started screaming'
Christina continues: ‘The decision was made before anyone had even seen me!'
Outraged, Christina made a hell of a fuss and as a result, she yells, ‘I was put in handcuffs.’
She was admitted to Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington. In a Kafkaesque twist Christina found herself locked in the secure psychiatric unit, doped up on anti-psychotics and powerless to prevent it.
Her son’s funeral mass had to be held in the hospital chapel with just 35 people present. She was separated from her daughter at a time of intense loss when all she wanted was to comfort and grieve with her.
Today Christina credits Disability Rights Attorney Lindsay Owen with making her aware of her rights and aiding her release as a result.
She started to refuse medication and stopped co-operating with medical staff whom she saw as her jailers.
Truth be told the behavior she describes – hissing at staff, slamming doors on doctors, throwing chairs – sounds disturbing and disturbed.
But this is a mother whose son had just been murdered by his father who then hanged himself. This is a woman locked in an abusive marriage and controlled for years, now locked out of her life and grief and controlled once more. What is the appropriate or normal reaction to that? How should she have behaved?
She said: ‘I woke up one morning to an obituary that someone else wrote about my son, talking about services for him that I couldn’t be at.
‘Nobody should have to endure what I endured.’
On January 24 Vermont Superior Court Judge Kevin Griffin ordered Christina’s immediate release from Fletcher Allen Health Care.
Judge Griffin said in his ruling that he disagreed with the assessment made before Christina had arrived for her appointment that day.
He said: ‘The court did not find, by clear and convincing evidence, that the Respondent was a person in need of treatment at the time of admission…nor a patient need of further treatment at the time of hearing.’
In a statement to MailOnline Mike Noble, spokesman for Fletcher Allen Health Care responded: 'I can't speak to the specifics of this case, but I can say that in all matters such as this we make decisions that we think are in the best interests of the patient.
'Our clinicians make a judgement about risk of harm using medical standards of care. We consider in every case whether our judgement is consistent with the legal framework that governs involuntary care. These are complex decisions and there is room for disagreement. Every person detained has at least three concurring clinician opinions, and usually more.
'The judge is the ultimate decider and makes a decision based on legal standards. Where there might be legitimate differences of opinion related to risk, the judge decides. We would like the judge to make these decisions as soon as possible. That way, if the patient is entitled to leave, the patient can do so. If the patient should stay, that decision has the backing of the court.
'We welcome judicial review. For that reason we have been advocating for a speedier review system and will continue to do so during the legislative session.'
The police investigation into Sonny and Gunnar’s deaths is ongoing. Sonny sent Fedex packages containing letters and other materials to family members and law enforcement officers containing instructions and information that remains of interest to detectives.
Lt Murtie described the investigation into Sonny’s death as ‘detailed, complicated and unusual.' He said: ‘Of course one of the first things we have to do is eliminate the possibility that anyone else is involved. But I also take it as a professional responsibility to develop a timeline and figure out when planning started. It’s complicated.’
He revealed that a search warrant has been issued for the retrieval of one email and 10 subpoenas for financial documents.
Christina believes her life may still be under threat but will not elaborate further.
With remarkable compassion she said: ‘I’ve finally got to the fact that my daughter still has to live her life and it’s still her father. I decided he was a good guy that did bad stuff because he was messed up and mentally ill and HE needed help and he didn’t get it.
‘It’s taken a lot to get here. I had a lot of anger for Sonny.’
Christina still has a lot of anger. But it is directed at the people who dismissed her fears as mania and paranoia.
Shouting with unbridled fury she said: ‘Nobody ever believed me! I told the judge in the summer. I told an attorney the week before they didn’t believe me. I told the local police they didn’t believe me. ‘
And I hate them. I hate them for it. Because nobody listened and now my son is dead and they could have saved him and I couldn’t.’
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