Posted on 10/28/2003 12:44:54 AM PST by witnesstothefall
DEFIANCE, Iowa -- Townspeople knew about Scott Shanahan's temper, that he was often moody and was anti-social. Some people said they saw the bruises that his wife, Dixie, tried to hide.
But authorities say Dixie Shanahan, 36, kept her biggest secret for the 14 months that followed her husband's August 2002 disappearance. This past week, Scott Shanahan's skeletal remains were found in a spare bedroom in their house. An autopsy showed he had been shot in the head.
Dixie Shanahan has since been ordered held on a charge of first-degree murder, and her children - ages 7, 5 and 8 months - have been placed in state custody.
Her lawyer, public defender Greg Steensland, did not return a message left Saturday seeking comment on the case.
In July, nearly a year after Dixie Shanahan had reported her husband missing, she told sheriff's Deputy John Kelly that he had left her and moved to the nearby town of Atlantic.
Neighbors had already noticed a change in her.
"She was free - like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders," said Mary Schmitz.
Schmitz and her son, Doug, said that they never saw Dixie Shanahan with bruises but that there were rumors that abuse was common in the household.
"I can see what she went through, and he got what he deserved if what they say is true," Mary Schmitz said.
Court records show that on several occasions Scott Shanahan beat his wife, leaving her bloody and bruised.
In October 2000, a friend of Dixie Shanahan's told deputies that he had dragged her to the basement, tied her hands with a coat hanger and told her he could leave her there for weeks and "no one would know the difference," court records show. She went to a women's shelter in Texas, near relatives, but soon returned.
Resident Mickey Kloewer said people knew of the abuse. "But you didn't want to intrude in their business," Kloewer said.
Dixie Shanahan had moved in with Scott Shanahan and his mother, Bev, in this western Iowa town of 350 people when she was a foster child about 14 years old. They married about eight or nine years ago and stayed in the same house, which his mother had left to him when she died.
Doug Schmitz and other neighbors described Scott Shanahan as moody and anti-social.
No one thought much about his disappearance until several months had passed and they noticed he had left his pickup truck and dog behind, Doug Schmitz said.
"People joked about it, that he was buried in the back yard, or buried in concrete in the basement," Doug Schmitz said.
Karen Kloewer said the case has shaken the town.
"It's heartbreaking to think she didn't think she could turn anywhere for help," she said. "I think the whole town stands behind her and is feeling for her and her children. I just wish she would have turned to the community for help."
As you leave the ATM, a woman walks up to you, pulls a kife, and demands all your money. Whatchagonnado?
Nothing bolder than a prosecutor after a "vicious felon". ;-)
Cowards
Fascinating choice of words...
You posted an unsupportable absolute statement. I replied with an unlikely, but possible, situation in which your ideas are really stupid. Assault with a deadly weapon and armed robbery are as much violent crimes when committed by Bonnie as when committed by Clyde. Bonnie deserves no more consideration during her crimes than Clyde (or after, for that matter), the extra "X" chromosome notwithstanding.
In other words, they both deserve two in the chest and one in the head.
Deal with it.
And consider what sort of creature inhabits womens' prisons. That should clarify the matter somewhat.
Now if you'd said "Any man who strikes a lady is not a man", I'd agree with you. There is a difference.
Go ahead, Mr. Toad, and puff yourself up and bloviate. It should be amusing...
So a woman can threaten lethal harm to a man, in the form of a knifepoint robbery, but men cannot respond with lethal force? Funny, I've read the self-defense statutes from several states, and I've never seen a gender differentiation in those statutes.
Let me ask you - if a female pulled a knife on you, was threatening to kill you and was making active attempts to stab you and you were blocked off from getting away from her, and you were carrying a gun, would you use it? How is a response to a self-defense situation a "violence on women" fantasy?
FWIW, not all women are the weak defenseless types. My wife could probably kick the rump of half the men on the planet.
You posted an idiotic statement; I called you on it. It's no big deal. Or it shouldn't be. A gentleman would graciously admit it, and go on with life.
But nooooooo, that's not good enough! Instead, you have to regurgitate a steaming heap of hardcore feminist drivel. I almost feel sorry for you. Did you marry Katherine MacKinnon?
OBTW, Bustards don't have knuckles.
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