Another Restraining Order Unserved, Rodney Morris-El Sr Shoots His Children's Mother in Front of Them, then Himself

A woman seeking court protection against the father of her four children was fatally shot in front of the youngsters in what police called a murder-suicide.

Melissa Amerson, 26, was loading the children into her minivan just after 8 a.m. Friday when she was shot.

Police said her attacker, Rodney Morris-El Sr., 37, then walked about 30 feet into the yard and turned the weapon on himself.

Officials said the children, who range in age from 10 to 5, weren't harmed.

Neighbor Aaron Foster said he heard children screaming and the oldest child ran to his apartment and said, "Please help me. My mom has just been shot."...


**Blog Author Note: This is the second story in 2 days involving an unserved restraining order.

Note to certain commentors on the original article: Mothers cannot BOTH protect themselves and their children (natural instinct and given right) AND foster a relationship between the children and their father (as ordered by the family court system and promoted by social service agencies and the rest of "the system"). Which is it going to be?

Charles Edwin Gordon Tried to Kill His Wife So She Wouldn't Testify Against Him in a Domestic Violence Case; Restraining Order in Place

A South Salt Lake man is accused of trying to kill his wife after he tackled her outside a building and attempted to strangle her at her workplace earlier this month.

Charles Edwin Gordon, 35, was charged in 3rd District Court on Tuesday with first-degree felony attempted murder, first-degree felony aggravated burglary, second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse and stalking, a second-degree felony, in connection with assaulting his wife Sept. 8 in West Valley City.

According to charging documents, Gordon went to his wife's workplace at the Discover Card Building, 2500 South Lake Park Blvd., to confront her. The couple had separated and the wife had filed a co-habitant abuse case against Gordon in June, court records show.

A judge granted the woman a protective order from Gordon in July...

**Blog Author Note: Restraining Orders, Restraining Orders...see previous notes...

Carl Martin Shots His "Estranged" Wife, and then Himself; Restraining Order Unable to be Served

A woman and a man are dead in an apparent Flagler County murder-suicide after she was shot as she ran to a neighbor's house, then again when she was inside.

The shooting just before 7:15 a.m. Wednesday also caused a nearby school to lock down, authorities said.

Shannon Martin, 35, had been granted a restraining order on her estranged husband, Carl Martin, 50, but deputies had not been able to find him to serve the paperwork, Flagler County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Debra Johnson said. They had an incorrect address, she said...

**Blog Author Note: As if the restraining order would have stopped him. Apparently, he had her address. Florida has had a numerous amount of murder-suicides this year. Something different needs to be done.

Frank Frisco Killed His Former Fiance, and Himself, After Being Released from Jail on a Restraining Order Violation

A day after he got out of jail, a 36-year-old Toms River man killed his former fiance before committing suicide in the home the couple had once planned to share, authorities said yesterday.

Investigators said Frank Frisco killed 30-year-old Letizia Zindell, also of Toms River, at her King George Layne residence early yesterday afternoon, then returned to the home they once shared on Lafayette Avenue and hanged himself in a garage detached from the home.

A family friend hoping to borrow cleaning supplies from Zindell discovered her body in the back seat of her 2005 Acura around 2:30 p.m., Toms River Police Chief Michael Mastronardy said.

The chief was not sure how Zindell was killed and that remained unknown as of last night, pending an autopsy by the Ocean County Medical Examiner's Office.

After Zindell's friend informed police of her grim discovery, authorities began a frantic search for Frisco, said Mastronardy. Police discovered his body around 4 p.m...


**Blog Author note: This is at least the second restraining order violation in the news this week. This murderer was a repeat offender. Restraining orders create paper trails--they don't stop murder.

John D. Orlowski Gets 22 1/2 Years for Murder for Hire

A federal judge sentenced a Beverly man to 22 1/2 years in prison yesterday for scheming to hire a cellmate to kill his estranged wife, young daughter, and mother-in-law in a “chilling’’ plot that only failed because the would-be hit man cooperated with authorities.

Federal Judge Douglas P. Woodlock said the egregiousness of John D. Orlowski’s offense called for harsher sentencing than recommended by federal guidelines, which would have required him to serve at least 20 years in prison. Woodlock had also rejected a tentative plea agreement in April, whereby Orlowski would have served 12 years in federal prison.

“The short of it is that I cannot conceive a more heinous crime that was not in fact carried out but was a planned attempt,’’ Woodlock said at a morning hearing in US District Court in Boston...


Blog Author Note: Had the protection order, which John violated, had not been taken seriously (he had to serve 60 days), and had the inmate not "snitched," we would have been reading about another "sudden" and "tragic" murder of an "estranged" wife. These murders are calculated...premeditated.

Repeat Domestic Violence Offender Shawn Sinclair Assaults Two Women and Shoots Two Police Officers

Police have identified a man who they say wounded two city officers in a shootout Saturday as Shawn Sinclair, a 34-year-old West Baltimore resident with a history of domestic assault accusations. Sinclair, who was also injured in the shootout, remained hospitalized Sunday but was expected to be charged with attempted murder and domestic violence-related counts, said Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

The shooting happened before noon Saturday in the 2400 block of Harlem Avenue, as police tried to arrest Sinclair on charges that he assaulted two women he knows earlier that day.

Police on Sunday also identified the wounded officers. A 17-year veteran of the force, Officer Jerome Shaurette, 44, remained in stable condition Sunday night at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, said Officer Nicole Monroe, a police spokeswoman. He was shot three times, once in the abdomen.

Officer Curtis McMillion, 42, who has been on the force for three years, was shot once in the buttocks and was released from the hospital Saturday night. Both officers were wearing protective vests, police said...

**Blog author note: Police forces are known to use domestic violence monies (grants) for equipment to protect themselves when they respond specifically to domestic violence calls. However, in 2005 the Supreme Court determined that police are not obligated to protect victims with restraining orders (Castle Rock v Gonzales).

The most dangerous time for a woman is when she finally decides to leave the relationship.

Restraining orders are just pieces of paper, without enforcement.

Domestic violence does hurt everyone.

Daddy Joseph L. Warnock Stabbed Mommy on Father's Day and is On the Lam

Police searched Monday for a man wanted for allegedly killing his wife as she slept with their two daughters, one of whom told a 911 dispatcher, "Daddy stabbed mommy."

Joseph L. Warnock, 41, faces an arrest warrant alleging murder in Sunday's death of Angela Warnock, 38, who police said was fatally stabbed in her bed.

He remained at large Monday night after police scoured the area around the couple's home just west of Indianapolis, using a bloodhound at one point in their search, said Lt. Roger Call of the Hendricks County Sheriff's Department...

Matthew Morris Kills His Wife, Who Had Been Hiding from Him, and Himself

For the second time in less than a month, Henderson County Sheriff’s deputies are investigating an apparent murder suicide where a estranged wife was killed by her husband.

Sheriff Ray Nutt said deputies were dispatched to 11276 Loop 60 in LaRue in reference to a shooting about 4:30 p.m. Monday.

“When they got there they found a female victim who had been shot and witnesses said a white male had run into the woods armed with a rifle and a handgun,” he said...

“They have been having some family issues and had been separated. We don’t know why she came back to the area, but we do know that Anderson County has been looking for him to serve him with a protective order,” he said....

The couple had been having marital problems and were separated...

**Blog author note: Second story this morning in which the victim was trying to leave**

Pinellas County couple's death a murder-suicide

William Brown Wood Jr. said if he ever took his own life, something might also happen to his ex-wife.

Wood also told his longtime girlfriend that if he killed himself he wouldn't burden her by leaving behind his body — or his two beloved dogs.

Tragically, authorities say he was a man of his word.

His ex-wife, Donna Aline Havard Wood, 54, was found shot to death in her Snell Isle home at 1927 Brightwaters Blvd. NE on Friday night, St. Petersburg police said...

Attempted Murder-Suicide in North Tonawanda

An attempted murder-suicide sends a North Tonawanda woman to the hospital with eight gunshot wounds. Police later found her ex-boyfriend dead.

Buffalo Police found 48-year-old Richard Hance's body inside his car, which was parked in a parking lot off the I-190 near the Niagara River. North Tonawanda police tracked him down by triangulating his cell phone signal. They say he had shot himself after attempting to kill his ex-girlfriend.

A desperate 9-1-1 call from a woman at an apartment on Falconer Street in North Tonawanda came in early this morning. "She gave us the name of who her shooter was. When officers arrived we found her with multiple gunshot wounds to the torso," said North Tonawanda Police Chief Randy Szukala....

This incident, however, is just the latest one in a strong of violent and deadly domestic violence attacks on women here in Western New York. "Since last July of 2008, we've had 13 murders in Erie and Niagara counties and now this latest attempted murder," said Linda Ray, Executive Director of the Family Justice Center in Erie County....

"What we know is that the economy, poverty, crisis doesn't cause domestic violence, it certainly can exacerbate it, which may be the case in these situations," said Ray.

Family begs judge to send dad to prison

Family member after family member stood up and railed against Ronald A. Dority at his sentencing Friday, telling Erie County Common Pleas Judge Tygh Tone that Dority must go to prison for the brutal kidnapping of his estranged wife.

The words carried weight with Tone, who sentenced the 44-year-old Bellevue man to 12 years in prison. He faced a maximum of 23 years behind bars.

Dority terrorized his now ex-wife Beth the night of June 16. He broke into her Herr Road home in Margaretta Township, where he found Beth in bed and choked her, according to police. He then dragged her to the garage, wrapped a chainsaw chain around her wrists, pushed her into a Chevrolet Suburban, then drove her around until he needed to stop for gas...

Alabama police kill man they say killed 3, wounded 1

A man who blamed his estranged wife for their 4-year-old son's death in a traffic accident shot her and killed three people she'd been staying with, then died in a gunbattle with police, authorities said Monday.

The initial shootings late Saturday happened within sight of a small white cross on the side of a rural highway marking where the boy had chased a skateboard into the path of a neighbor's pickup truck.

William Odell Wood II tried to elude officers who spotted him a county away Sunday and opened fire on them after getting out of his car on Interstate 10, Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran said...

Police suspect murder-suicide in deaths of Laval couple

A 15-year-old Laval boy discovered the bodies of his parents Tuesday in what police are calling a murder-suicide.

Police said Mahmoub el-Hage and his estranged wife Jinane Ghannoum were found dead in the basement of the family home on De Mézières Place in the Laval-des-Rapides neighbourhood.

They both had gunshot wounds to their heads. Police are still investigating who fired the weapon that was found at the scene.

Laval police Sgt. François Dumais said the couple had been going through a messy divorce and had a history of domestic violence.

"The separation was difficult and we had to [answer calls] at the address about domestic violence since August of last year," said Dumais...

Glouco husband and wife dead in apparent murder-suicide

A Gloucester County man shot his wife and killed himself over the weekend, authorities believe.

Donna Harbula and her husband, Walter Oswald, both 52, had a history of domestic violence, according to the Gloucester County prosecutor's office.

They apparently were living apart at the time of the murder, Harbula in Logan Township and Oswald in Greenwich Township.

Harbula was last seen alive on Saturday. Police were called to her house that afternoon for a domestic violence incident. Oswald was removed and Harbula obtained a temporary restraining order against her husband, authorities said...

Oakland man who killed wife in church parking lot gets 35-to-life prison sentence

The first time Matthew McCall killed someone, almost 20 years ago, he was convicted of manslaughter and received one year in prison.

But for McCall's second killing, conducted in a church parking lot as dozens of parishioners were headed to Sunday service, the 43-year-old may spend the rest of his life behind bars.

McCall, who pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder in the slaying of his estranged wife, Tanya McCall, was sentenced Friday to 35 years-to-life in prison, a punishment that, at the very least, makes him eligible for parole when he is 78 years old...

D.C. firefighter wounds 3, kills self

A D.C. firefighter shot his girlfriend, who is also a D.C. firefighter, and her parents before killing himself Wednesday afternoon, police and fire officials said.

The shooting occurred at about 4 p.m. at a home in the 6700 block of Hastings Drive in Seat Pleasant, Prince George's County police said. The girlfriend, who was not identified but said to be in her 20s, was taken to an area hospital in critical condition.

Officer Henry Tippett said the parents, both in their 60s, were expected to survive...

Family of Montclair murder victim seeks legal protection for women in domestic violence cases

The family of Monica Paul, the woman murdered at the Montclair YMCA last June, is circulating a petition to enact "Monica's Law," which would restrict child visitation by fathers in case of documented domestic violence, according to a report on Baristanet...

Lori DeKleine remembered

In the months before her murder, Lori DeKleine began to “branch out.”

She started to confide in her sister and others about the abuse and manipulation she was subjected to by her husband, who at the time was a Holland police officer.

That’s why last summer, members of Holland Heights Christian Reformed Church decided that the best way to remember Lori, who loved gardening, would be to plant a tree outside the church...More Here...