This week, two more young people lost their lives and two more small children are without parents because of a senseless act of domestic violence. One block away from the bank where my husband worked until his recent retirement and only a few blocks from where we live, a man pulled up in front of a 3-story office building, went in, pulled his 21- year old ex-girlfriend out from behind the reception desk she shared with another girl and dragged her into an elevator. The girl happened to have their 5 year old son with her that day at work. She pushed him aside. The child stood there hearing his mother's screams. Her ex ignited a can of gasoline and blew up the elevator, killing both of them.

This woman had recently been kidnapped by the guy at knifepoint and threatened. He was charged with kidnapping and whatever, but was not put away. She had a restraining order out on him but recently stopped it "for the sake of their children."

Red flags were hitting the judge over the head on this one and because the man had no previous record, he let him go. He showed suicidal tendencies and still, they did nothing. When are they going to stop these maniacs? The girl had been mixed up with him since she was 16.

Another woman in the building was seriously injured and hospitalized from the explosion. The building housed dentists and lawyers, etc. My insurance agent was in the adjoining building. Restraining orders are worthless.

restraning orders don't work too efficently heer either....
maybee the order first then, something a bit more or something thats taken more seriouslie......but what?

anyway thats stories just wild....do you know how the child that saw heard all this going on is?

I heard this on the news. Restraining orders seem to make some men go wild. I had one out on my X husband and it didn't stop him...and neither did anyone else. That was a long time ago. Nothings changed much in 30 years. So sad the child had to be there.

chick

This article was just in my local paper today. The complete link is below, but here are a couple of interesting high lites:


The national figures show that nonfatal attacks against intimate partners fell by about 65 percent from 1993 to 2005. Homicides among intimate partners dropped by roughly a third.

The figures are based on the annual National Crime Victimization Survey, which counts criminal abuse against spouses, girlfriends, boyfriends and former spouses, whether it's been reported to police or not. The information, collected in thousands of confidential interviews, is the most widely used instrument for charting U.S. crime trends. The latest numbers reflect the lowest abuse rate since the crime survey began in 1973. They differ from tallies of what is considered domestic violence because that typically includes violence against children.

Nationally, the effectiveness of legislative efforts shows most clearly, analysts said, in a seemingly perverse trend: a sharp drop in the number and proportion of men killed by female partners. Thirty years ago, women and men were killed by intimates in nearly equal numbers. By 2004, however, 1,159 women were killed by intimates but only 385 men were.

The disproportion in fatalities, while seemingly adverse to women, reflects a major gain, said Richard Gelles, the dean of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy and Practice: Abusive men are killed less often now because women can get free of them more easily.

http://www.startribune.com/484/story/1061143.html

What are your thoughts?

I don't know, Anno. It's hard to believe the numbers have gone down. Seems more like they have escalated.

Chick,
She had stopped the restraining order before this. I think it does make matters worse with some guys, but for the most part, I think it's no more than a piece of paper. Honestly, if a person is capable of killing someone, of stalking them, of crimes of such violent nature, ain't no piece of paper gonna stop 'em. This guy was bananas long before the restraining order anyway. He had a violent history, but that didn't prompt a judge to do more than let him out on bail?

I don't know how the child is doing, Celtic. But, she had a 1 year old at home as well. I'm not sure if he was the father of both or not. I think he was.

I live in a suburb of Baltimore. Our nightly news is scattered with these miserably sad stories. I seems like it's getting worse to me too.

Same here, I listen to our nightly news and it seems to be getting worse. Maybe it is being televised more. Years ago, what happened in a home was only known by neighbors when the police were called.

chick

I agree with Anno. There is hope!

Today, on our front newspaper page a huge black heading stated that the crime rate has dropped 50% in Bavaria, Germany within the last three years! They assume it's because the police catch about 90% of the criminals! Wow, I never knew they were so successful in catching the culprits. (rapists, breaking and entering, murderers….the whole gambit)

Of course, you can't prevent crime done by mental cases...but obviously a criminal does think twice about committing a criminal act, if he knows he will probably get caught.

can someone double cheek those figures, thats unbeliveable when you put them side by side...

the amount of women killing has decressed by such a large drop and still theirs STILL 90% of women in prison due to self-defences murders...Whats the pecentage of men in prison due to self-defence by or from partner or otherwise...anyone know...

I do agree that the abilitie to escape from an abosive partner decrisses the incidences of murder, as violence in the home esculates more often or not...so the male and female are both better off when the relashionship can be terminated. Can anything else be responcible or be a variable in theas figures being lower...