I don't know what to think about this case sometimes. I'm waiting for the trial to be over to see if the jury will uphold the law and not base their decisions on emotions.
This is an extremely emotional case. I knew it would be exploited from day one.
Rusty was NOT a good Christian husband. He did not "Agape" his wife as the Lord commanded him. Andrea was a very, very, very, very sick woman and I do pity her. Killing is wrong and she must be punished. There is no justification. I don't want to see her put to death and I sincerely doubt she will be. But she must go to prison and receive justice. If they do not punish her fairly, any depressed mother with a rotten life can get away with killing her children.
I don't have a degree yet in Psychology, and I doubt I'll ever finish. It was my major in college for three years but I decided it wasn't for me for this reason. I couldn't handle listening to whining adults the rest of my life who had no desire or will to change their situation.
With that said, it is my unprofessional third party diagnosis *cough* that this was a severe and sick act of passive agressive behavior in the most horrific form. I do believe she knew what she was doing at the time and knew it was wrong. I believe she hated her life and hated her husband. To be crass, passive agressive behavior is mostly just shooting the finger at someone with your behavior. She basically did that to her husband. She was justifiably angry. You can look at it this way...this may be a sick think to suggest, but at least she is free from him. Maybe for the first time in 10 years she is free. Perhaps that's what her sick mind figured out. I don't know. Rusty is just as sick too. Sick people find each other and attatch.
Sick working, non-Christian mothers, who have their children in schools murder also. I hate to see those of us who go to church on Sundays, depend on their husbands for bread and homeschool their children to be painting unfairly. I didn't see too many over generalizations in this thread, but I just wanted to remind others that being a SAHM Christian, homeschooling mother doesn't put you in a hire risk catagory of murdering your children.
I feel sorry for Andrea. I really do. I think she suffered a lot. But I will not allow myself to forget 5 human beings are dead at the hand of their mother (and father). I can't forget her dragging her older son. I can't forget that she waiting for her husband to leave for work. If she was sane enough to know that dialing 911 would bring help, then she was sane enough to pick up a yellow pages and find a number for an abuse shelter.
What bothers me about this case also is if it were her husband who did this, he would be a cold blooded monster. When it's a woman who kills, we find ways to justify or feel sorry for her. Why don't men get the same? They shouldn't!! A murderer doesn't deserve "understanding". They deserve punishment.