He let himself into the house, changing the locks might have slowed him down somewhat. Any firearm would have helped. It looks like she was a school administrator of some sort, so firearms use probably didn't occur to her.
Posted on 12/31/2002 11:37:25 AM PST by TLBSHOW
Man Accused of Ax Killing Estranged Wife
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. Dec. 31 — A man killed his estranged wife with an ax as she slept, their 2-year-old son beside her, police said.
Christopher Howard, 36, was charged with murder Tuesday and jailed without bail in the slaying of Marie M. Irons, who was found in her bed Sunday, her head nearly severed. Neither the boy, nor Irons' 13-year-old son from a previous marriage, was hurt.
Irons, 41, had taken out a protection order against her husband about a week earlier, complaining that he had threatened her and the children and that he had been hospitalized for a mental disorder.
"It appears he attacked her in her sleep. I can't imagine a more cold-blooded murder," prosecutor James Halushka said.
On Sunday morning, Howard called 911 and hung up from a room at a Romulus hotel, authorities said. Investigators found him bleeding from his wrists with wounds that were not life-threatening.
Police found the ax hidden between the hotel bed's mattress and box spring, Halushka said. They also saw the protection order and asked Southfield police to check on Irons.
Lets sue the ax maker.
Note to self: Notify as soon as possible the Liberal Democrat Media Industrial Complex.
Like a scrap of paper is going to stop him.
She'd have been better off buying a shotgun.
Wouldn't have helped her much, unfortunately, if she was in a deep sleep and never heard the intruder. There's something to be said for small yappy dogs and/or burglar alarms. At least she would have had time to reach for a firearm.
Protection orders are only good if the stalker continues to be harassing. This gives the cops the means to pick him up and jail him. It does nothing to protect a woman's life.
He let himself into the house, changing the locks might have slowed him down somewhat. Any firearm would have helped. It looks like she was a school administrator of some sort, so firearms use probably didn't occur to her.
I don't know, it led the police to the crime scene. Which is kinda scary.... Cops find attempted suicide. Cops find axe. Cops see protection order. Guess the donuts didn't stop all the neurons from firing...
Meega, Nala Kweesta!
Since she was sleeping, a firearm alone wouldn't have helped her.
New locks. Good solid 9mm. Nervous dog.
But she had a piece of paper to protect her. I simply don't understand. /sarcasm off
Geez--it seems to me that a person who was married to an ex mental patient who was threatening both her and her children, would have had the locks changed at the least. Heck, I would probably even go so far as to go to some place where he couldn't find me.
Having said all that, do not construe this to mean that I am blaming the victim. What I'm trying to get across is that self-protection is vital to all of us and we need to keep alert and do those things which will provide us with the greatest safety, expecially when a threat against us has been made.
Oh well. Tragic story.
I hope you're kidding me. This woman went to the trouble to get a protection order but not to the trouble of changing her locks?? I think I'm gonna be sick.
What happened to this woman was a terrible, horrible thing. But at some point we are responsible for our own safety and what happens to us. Not to say there are victims who truly could not have controlled the outcome, but there are victims who end up as victims because of their own stupidty.
Two cases in point:
An 18 year old girl disappeared about 2 miles from my house many years ago. She'd stopped after school to check the mailbox at the end of her driveway. Her name was Sherri Smith. (Lifetime made a movie about her kidnapping.)
Second case: A beautiful young girl in Columbia, SC, named Dale Dinwitty disappeared in the wee hours of the morning. She'd apparently left a bar, having missed her ride, to walk home and had way too much to drink. Not a trace of her has been found in over 10 years.
Sherri Smith probably could not have done anything to prevent her abduction and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Dale Dinwitty set herself up for disaster by acting irresponsibly, just as the victim in this thread did.
I hope any woman reading this thread will think seriously about her safety, and any daddy reading this thread will have a serious discussion with his daughters -- AND take them shooting often!
You can also join Second Amendment Sisters www.2asisters.org and help keep self defense a personal choice, not a government mandated privilege.
The Attorney General in South Carolina has mandated that all Criminal Domestic Violence cases will be prosecuted. This assures that all these cases are heard and keeps the woman from having a change of heart in a couple of weeks and dropping the charges.
Of course there was a big stink for a while because the local prosecutors pretty much told the Attorney General, fine, you prosecute them, we don't have the manpower.
At least maybe prosecuting these cases will give the woman some time to think about the situation she's putting herself and her children in.
Too bad our society celebrates and seems to encourage violent males through the media, instead of a man who takes care of his family and wouldn't dream of laying a hand on his wife.
I don't know what the answer is, prosecution does seem to be the only thing they understand nowadays.
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