Posted on 12/04/2004 5:15:05 AM PST by marktwain
Sheriff: No charge for wife in intruder-husband killing
Protective order issued; wife's door forced open
EMILY S. ACHENBAUM
Staff Writer
The Anson County Sheriff's Office will not press charges against a woman who killed her husband Wednesday after weeks of domestic violence against her.
Joy Burgess had a protective order against estranged husband Brian Gathings. Gathings had been convicted of threatening Burgess before, and jailed several times for charges of violence against her. But as with other recent domestic violence killings, none of it was enough to keep her safe.
When Gathings broke down his wife's back door with a shovel Wednesday, Burgess had reason to fear him, said Anson County Sheriff Tommy Allen. Burgess shot Gathings once in the chest, killing him.
The district attorney is still reviewing the case, but agreed charging Burgess wouldn't be appropriate, Allen said.
"There's such strong evidence of self-defense," Allen said.
District Attorney Michael Parker said he wouldn't comment on the case until he finalized his decision.
Allen said a family member of Burgess' gave her a large-caliber handgun after Gathings tried to break into her home Nov. 22.
Another relative drove screws into her windows for reinforcement.
"They had done things to protect her from him coming back," Allen said.
Gathings, 29, had been arrested five times since July on charges against his wife that included harassing phone calls and assault on a female.
The couple, who have a 6-year-old child, had been separated for about a year.
On Nov. 16, Gathings was released on a $5,000 bond after police charged him with pointing a gun at Burgess.
On Nov. 22, Gathings was charged with criminal trespass, and his parents signed a $15,000 bond.
On Wednesday, Gathings is believed to have disconnected the phone in his wife's home, Allen said. He broke down her back door with a shovel. Burgess, who works at an Anson County prison, shot him.
The couple had been scheduled for a hearing on the protective order Thursday.
"This is a sad case for all involved. There was a pattern here that tended to escalate," Allen said.
Domestic violence experts say violence typically escalates when a victim tries to leave an abuser, and that laws aren't strong enough to help.
The results can be devastating.
On Oct. 28 in Union County, David Wyzanowski killed his wife, three others and himself within 24 hours of being released from jail on a $1,000 bond. He had been charged with violating a protective order barring him from his wife. Two weeks earlier, he had been accused of raping and kidnapping her after luring her to his home with the promise of child support money.
According to the N.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence, at least 56 people have been killed in domestic violence-related homicides this year statewide. -- STAFF RESEARCHER SARA KLEMMER CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT.
-- EMILY S. ACHENBAUM: (704) 289-6576; EACHENBAUM@CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
P S I need a smoke, we can play more when I get back it you still want too.
Of course. That is why in our rather large organization, that woman now is one of the top paid five people out of 1,500. That is why no one is willing to complain about her obvious incompetence. That is why she gets away with bullying behavior that no one else can.
No question, it is because of fear of losing her job and not being able to feed her children. Sarcasm off.
The fact is, women have it both ways. Sleep your way to the top, keep quiet about it, no problem. After all, it is a time honored way for a woman to advance herself. If it doesn't work out, sue and claim sexual harassment.
And yes, it is possible for men to do this too (Consider John Kerry), but for the huge majority, this only works for women (unless you happen to live in San Francisco ;-).
The most egregious example of this "newjobspeak" was an attempt by some branch of the government several years ago to decide the "true" value of various occupations relative to one another. Under that regime it would have been viewed as discriminatory if a the pay for a female dominated occupation were less than the pay for a male dominated occupation that the government had determined to be of equal "value". So I've learned to be a stickler on this issue.
You said, as quoted above, that Wal Mart is facing a class action law suit.
You did not say that Wal Mart had lost a class action lawsuit.
The two claims are quite different.
If her incompetence was showing, she would lose the business money. Businesses or in the business of making money, not losing it.
No woman should sleep her way to the top. It should be unnecessary. She should make it with her business skills and work ethic, period.
Well there are "shotgun weddings", why not "shotgun divorces"?
I don't believe in affirmative action. It should be struck down. Two applicants for same job, hire the best qualified regardless of gender.
Bye all. Gotta go try to make some money.
In a word, yes. A great many women put family, convenience, and safety ahead of their career. This is not bad. It just is.
That't the way I've always done it. At one point it led me to end up with a department composed solely of Filipinos. What can I say? They were the best people I could find for the job, and they did damn fine work.
The Wal Mart claim has not come to trial yet. There are hundreds of thousands of employees in the suit. Where there is that much smoke, a fire can't be too far behind.
Sorry about the delay in responding. I lost my server and had to come back.
This may sound screwy, but have a friend shout at you loudly while you're shooting. This will add some 'stress'.
Shooting holes in paper is good, but it's better to know you can place your rounds accurately under stress.
Take care, and watch your back.
L
I'm a housewife of nearly 33 years. I chose home and children over outside work. That was my choice. A lot of women don't have that choice, they must work.
Only the best need apply. I agree.
The only trouble with that (Barrett 82A1) is that it could take out the husband AND six neighbors with one shot!
A lot of them even initiate contact again thinking that "it will be different this time."
It depends on the woman's attitude. In this case she faced reality and dealt with it. Considering that he was willing to break the door down to get to her I doubt moving would have done the trick. So staying put and facing him on her ground where the police knew what was going on and the restraining order was in place was probably the wisest choice.
That is simply silly. Find one specific job description where men are paid more than women for the same job, and you have a thousand affirmative action lawyers willing to take the case.
You made the claim that this is so. No one can prove a negative. Show us just one specific job where an employer is willing to pay a man more than a woman for the same job. It should be easy with your claim.
But, you won't be able to do it, because it doesn't exist. All you will be able to come up with is some nebulous "study" that shows that women in a given profession are not earning as much as men, even though they haven't the same years of experience in the job. More likely, the "study" isn't even comparing apples to apples, even if they ignore experience. I've seen at least one of these where they compare completely different jobs, then claim that they are the same.
How dare they stand there and claim to speak for me.
Silly, hmph....I haven't had that thrown at me I was a little girl.
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