Honey, I killed the kids

This guy, who has JOINT CUSTODY, kills his 3 young daughters and then calls the ex to let her know:

Slaying of 3 River Falls Girls Stokes Community Fears of Domestic Violence

Schaffhausen and his ex-wife had joint custody of the girls, and on the day of the killings, he contacted her to ask whether he could see the children, who were being watched by a baby sitter. Jessica Schaffhausen agreed, the criminal complaint states.

Less than two hours after the sitter left the girls at the home with Schaffhausen, he called Jessica Schaffhausen and said, “You can come home now because I killed the kids,” according to the complaint.

She called police, who then found the girls dead from cuts to the neck. The youngest girl also had been strangled. Schaffhausen soon after turned himself in to police.

On Friday, Wojcik said crimes such as the River Falls killings are less about violence than they are about power and control.

“He didn’t just murder them, he then called her to say (what he had done),” she said. “It’s a final act of trying to control that person and inflict the most harm they can on them.”

 

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again:  How many of these stories do we have to read before these family court judges get a clue? Joint custody is for mild to moderate conflict, which are NOT typically the cases you see in family court. It’s just re-traumatizing to keep reading these cases. The media has to do its job, too, and provide some context. This is a pattern and deserves the media’s attention.

“Nice dad” kills daughter

Okay, you know those “nice guy” kills wife stories – well, they also apply to children. In this article, the paternal grandfather says what a great guy his son was and blames the deaths on the family court system. I understand that the perpetrator was his son, but when are people going to take accountability for their actions? Killing your 2-year-old daughter does not, can not change family court. And, saying it does to the media – well, why not just tell dads to keep killing their kids?

Slain girl’s grandfather says court system pushed his son over the edge

Here’s another side to this sympathetic story – the ex-wife feared him and separated from him while pregnant

Family: Custody issue central in dad-daughter death Mother feared for her child’s safety

Court records, reviewed by KCRA, also reveal that the mother had grave concerns  about her daughter when she was not returned from a court appointed visit with  her father. Those records also confirm that a judge had previously ordered the  father to undergo anger management counseling.

“I believe (Mourad Samaan) is out of control and our daughter is in  imminent danger in his custody,” read a court document filed August 8, 2011.

The mother also asked a judge to deny Mourad Samaan further visitation  rights until a hearing on August 30, court records show.

Read more: http://www.kcra.com/news/28871771/detail.html#ixzz1VFJSbKHv

Another family court decision that resulted in death. Is the system broken, as the grandfather says? It sures is when it hands over innocent children to adults with anger issues, against the wishes of a frightened mother, and ends with the murder of children.

Father absent headlines, or my father the gunman

If this were a mother, the term “mother” or “mom” would be in every headline (and would have made national news).

In this case, a husband/father killed 6 people – his wife and her family – and injured 4 – at their son’s birthday party. Some of the articles blame the woman for not divorcing him or filing a restraining order – but, really, folks, a divorce would not have saved her – this is what angered him (and, indeed research indicates separation and divorce are the height of danger for a woman). And, a restraining order? Maybe – if it was enforced by the police.

Another activist brought this page to our attention. Notice out of the 21 articles, only  ONE  refer to him as a husband. Six refer to him simply as a “gunman.” Really? The “gunman” was the father of the little boy celebrating his birthday – and then – witnessing his father kill his mother, her family, and then the “gunman” killed himself.

Gunman =6

Man =1

Husband =1

Father/dad =0

No mention of his relationship to the victims at all =13

Google search

Here are the first three:

Grand Prairie shooting victims leave behind families, dreams

Dallas
Morning News (subscription) – ‎19 hours
ago‎

By From staff reports Trini Do worked two jobs and taught
Sunday school, as well as caring for her two children, friends said. She worked
full time doing accounting and grant management at the University of Texas at
Arlington, where she earned a …

Police Believe Gunman Planned Roller Rink
Shootings

NBC
Dallas-Fort Worth – Amanda
Guerra – ‎40 minutes ago‎

Grand Prairie police said the 35-year-old man who shot and
killed five people at Roller World in Grand Prairie planned his attack. Police
say investigators believe the deadly weekend attack at a Grand Prairie
roller-skating rink was …

Family in Shock after Birthday Party
Shooting Rampage

FOX 4
News – Tracy
DeLatte – ‎2 hours ago‎

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – The wounded who survived the shooting
rampage at a Grand Prairie skating rink are sharing their eyewitness accounts of
what happened. Hoi Ta and his family moved to North Texas from Vietnam nearly
two decades ago in search of a …

Father absent headlines

Here’s another to add to the list:

Bonds reduced for two charged in toddler’s murder

A judge reduced bonds Wednesday for the two people charged in the first-degree murder of a toddler last year.

Amy Parmer, 27, of Hiawatha, and Zyriah Schlitter, 24, of Cedar Rapids, are both charged with first-degree murder and child endangerment resulting in death. They are accused of killing 17-month-old Kamryn Schlitter, who died from head trauma. Zyriah Schlitter is Kamryn’s father and Parmer is his ex-girlfriend.

Of course he had custody:

Schlitter and Parmer had exclusive care and custody of Kamryn from March 1 through March 21, 2010 and while at a daycare center on March 8 and March 15, workers noticed bruising to her face, according to the complaint

‘Good father’ kills sons, commits suicide

A slight twist on the “nice guy” article: “Good father” kills his twin sons and commits suicide:

Rural community shocked by apparent double murder suicide  (notice no mention of ‘father’ in headline)

There really are no positive words for the victims, but plenty on the ‘good father’:

“He was a good father, he really was. You can tell he loved his boys with all his heart. I mean everything he did it was all about his boys,” Bowerman said.

One of Ables’ relatives called the Garvin County Sheriff’s Office saying Able’s had made threats on Facebook about harming his children. Court records showed Ables and his ex-wife had a divorce settlement Friday afternoon and another hearing was set for next month.

“No kids should ever have to go through that. People have differences and problem, but they shouldn’t bring in their family. Don’t let it affect your family. That’s all I see,” Bowerman said.

Many in the close knit community like Bowerman are now left wondering why this tragedy happened.

“He loved his boys a lot. I mean his boys were his whole life, you know? His boys and his wife, but I guess it just got to be too much for him,” Bowerman said.

Scientific bias

It really should come as no surprise that journals would have bias, but whenever I happen upon it, it’s still unnerving. In Parents Who Kill, the title is really a misnomer. If I counted correctly, there are 22 mentions of mother and only 11 references to fathers. It’s very apparent just a few paragraphs in that these researchers only want to talk about women that commit child abuse. However, men do, too. According to Health & Human Services data, they commit 40% of child abuse, which is high considering women provide more child care. Moreover, the rates of child abuse don’t factor whether the homes are single parents or married couples. When you compare males to females directly, males commit more child abuse. On top of this, 95% of child sexual abuse is committed by men. My point? This article should include both genders and provide recommendations for both parents – as the title would suggest – both parents kill. You can’t treat half of a problem – it will only fester and grow.