Man kills four kids and himself in Murder Suicide, Merced

KSEE-NBC ^ | March 26, 2002 | KSEE-NBC

[FresnoDA]

Man kills four kids and himself in Merced murder-suicide
Four Merced children are dead after what police believe was a murder suicide. Just after 7 a.m. Tuesday, a man went to the home of his ex-wife at Lecco and Piedmont Streets in Northeast Merced, where he allegedly shot his own child, three other children in the home and himself. Merced County Sheriff's Deputies say the man's ex-wife, Christine McFadden, came back from a morning walk to find her ex-husband and her five-year-old daughter lying dead on the floor. McFadden went to a neighbor's house to call police, then returned home to find her three other children dead in other bedrooms. Authorities say the dead include the five-year-old girl, a 17-year-old girl, and 14- and 15-year-old boys. Those three teenagers were not children of the man who apparently committed the murders. Police say the man had been living in Kern County. How, why and when he arrived in Merced are unanswered questions at this time.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Unfortunately, so many women daily live with the fear in the back of their mind that he could appear out of nowhere to kill or maime them. Its a horrid existance.

[spectre]

You are probably correct. She will most likely go insane...I would.

sw

[ValerieUSA]

He didn't "spare" his wife - he punished her by killing all the kids. That's what the man in BC did a couple of weeks ago, too. Set the house on fire with all the kids inside and held his estranged wife back from rescuing them while she lost her 6 children and everything she owned in an arson inferno.

[spectre]

"It's a pathological thing"...

Oh...I hate it when that happens.

sw

[oldvike]

We've probably all known men that terrorize their ex-wives/girlfriends. They're the same guys that would confront a complete stranger in public if they thought that stranger was "lookin' at their woman". These guys usually have the IQ of a toad and looks to match. They make me sick.

[drew]

Yeah, I'm sure NOW, Rosie, and Katie Couric will come out with statements of support and say they know how he felt!

[Wil H]

Postpartum depression.

Post depart 'em depression...are we now going to blame the ex-wife ala Russell Yates? If not, why not?

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Wonder why he spared his wife?

My bet is that he didn't kill his ex wife because he wanted her to feel the lifelong pain about having all of her children murdered.

[Diddle E. Squat]

The only possible solution I could see(and it would only help in some cases) is changing the law to equate repeated threats the same as completed actions. Not for a single threat(many people say things in heated arguments or under the influence that they later regret), but perhaps repeated death threats should be prosecuted as attempted murder or worse.

Frankly I've never completely understood why shooting at someone and missing results in a lesser charge than actually hitting them. The intent to murder(or at least aim in that direction and risk murder) is clearly evident, yet its not a matter of reading someone's mind(unlike hate crimes) since the action of pointing, aiming, and pulling the trigger revealed intent.

[concerned about politics]

Unfortunately, so many women daily live with the fear in the back of their mind that he could appear out of nowhere to kill or maime them. Its a horrid existance.

I feel sorry for her, but especially the kids, but darn it, some ex-wives are visious wolves capable of putting any man over the edge.
I'm not saying she was, but I've workd with women who's pastime is looking for ways to torturer their ex, using the kids as tools.
Divorce is a horrable war sometimes.
I'm female, but sometimes the guy is the nicest person you want to meet, but gets stabbed in the heart so many times, he just can't take it anymore, and has a total breakdown.
There's always two sides to a story.

[Lazamataz]

MERCED, Calif. (AP) - A retired sheriff's deputy shot to death

Giving lie to the premise that only police, or former police, should have firearms.

[lormand]

"Wonder why he spared his wife?"

I could only guess. Maybe to make her suffer for the rest of her life?

I just lost my job today. My wife stays home and raises our 2 year old and 5 month old. However, reading this story puts my troubles in perspective. Also, I could never think about harming my wife and kids, which would include keeping myself alive for as long as possible.

[Go Gordon]

Unfortunately, so many women daily live with the fear in the back of their mind that he could appear out of nowhere to kill or maime them.

I'm not defending the guy, but a plausible explanation could be that the ole lady was squeezing him for every nickle the guy had. As I understand it, the woman lived in an affluent neighborhood, and he was a retired sheriff's deputy. With the help of our wonderful family court, this guy was probably paying his entire income to her for alimony and child support. Who knows, maybe she even turned the kids against him.

He was probably looking at another 13+ years (one kid was only 5) of forking all his money over to her, so she could live like a queen. Being already retired, that was pretty near the rest of his life. So rather than live the rest of your life in financial ruin, I can understand the guy wanting to off himself. However, killing your own kid is insane.

[VRWC_minion]

Unfortunately, so many women daily live with the fear in the back of their mind that he could appear out of nowhere to kill or maime them. Its a horrid existance.

Men too. My ex is/was a nut. I used to have secretary on notice to advise me if my ex came to the office, I had an escape plan worked out.

[spectre]

I AM so sorry you lost your job today. Went over to your homepage, and you look the picture of someone who could easily get another job. I wish I were in Austin and could hire you, whatever you do....I'm praying you will find another job when I get done with this post.

Be well....sw

[ValerieUSA]

Even if she was a watch (which I doubt) he married her - he asked her out, dated her, married her, made a baby with her. That was his own judgement that got him into this pickle. Nobody forced him.

[GuillermoX]

www.brilliantpeople.com

[Diddle E. Squat]

Sorry to hear of your job loss. Its no fun, but you can get through it. Hang in there and good luck.

[american spirit]

Killing defenseless kids is definitely beyond the pale. I agree that there are two sides to these horrendous endings that stem from a brutal divorce. We can only hope that men and women in similiar circumstances (perhaps contemplating the unthinkable) will stop the pettiness, bickering, and pure hatred towards each other in order to save their children... mentally,physically and spiritually.

[Protagoras]

Absolutely horrible. They should allow the men in the community to bludgeon the bastard's corpse and toss it in a field for the birds and rats to devour the remains.

Just when you think it can't get any worse, along comes someone like you with an idea like this and proposes to make other uninvolved people as mentally ill as the perpetrator.

Absolutely horrible.