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.

[ValerieUSA]

oops - watch=witch

[BnBlFlag]

A lot of these guys wouldn't think of attacking a man in a bar fight but they can sure go home and beat the hell out of their wives. Totally disgusting not to mention cowardly.

[RightWingConspirator]

An article in today's Austin American-Statesman reports on a local divorcee who tried to hire a hit man to kill her ex-husband. The few details about the woman indicated that she was somewhat of a nut case--50 dogs in the house at one time or another--and of 4 kids, the ex had sole custody of the two youngest. So it is not always men who are the perps.

[purereason]

Sounds like you want to legislate morality?

[oldvike]

I think you're right.

[pillars]

OH PLEASE!! Let's not get into that "he just made a bad choice" mentality again. Give it up! If we could all see into the future and know BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT that the person we're contemplating marrying, would never do anything bad, hurtful, wrong or whatever, we'd probably never marry. You get no such guarantees in life.

This woman, however, has children with different last names, and she has a last name different from any of the kids. My bet is that she is a narcissistic, man-user, NOW member, who marries them, has kids with them, decides she's "not happy" in the marriage (and of course it MUST be all his fault!), divorces him, soaks him for everything she can get, talks him down to his children, then remarries and starts the whole agenda over again.

I'd guess that the guy felt so helpless, so used, missed his daughter so badly, and could find no way out of the legal morasse his ex has put him in. It happens over and over in this country. Until our government learns to look at each incident fairly, and starts requiring some guidelines for these women, not just the men, and stops using our children as pawns, and begins to look at men as valued individuals, entitled to a life as well, and not just as sugardaddies for all these self-absorbed women, we are going to continue to see this kind of tragedy. Men may not suffer from post-partum depression, but they sure as heck suffer from post-divorce depression; and so do the people in their lives who love them.

So stop the crap of whining for the poor woman. Hurt for the lost children, definitely, but understand that often times it's the man who is the initial victim. And our society, and government, are condoning it.

[tomkat]

here, here !
(or hear, hear ??)

[quitwhining]

No, no, I knew Dr. McFadden, she was my friend and vet the four years I lived in Merced, many years ago. She was a wonderful friend, a devoted mother, and kind and empathic vet....my God. She certainly didnt drive this guy nuts...no..no..Pray for her, all of you. God, her suffering is unimaginable.

[tomkat]

if that's true,
my humble retraction is offered in this instance.

[PoisedWoman]

This poor woman! Vets are usually very good people; she must be devastated to say the least. Prayers for her.

[krogers58]

Wonder why he spared his wife?

The chinese have a proverb, and I'm paraphrasing, which states that there can be no greater curse upon a man ( and in this case, a woman ) than to have to bury his child. For me, as it would be for all decent people, it would be a far greater pain than death itself. I can think of no greater pain that could be wrought upon me.

[Go Gordon]

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.

That doesn't mean our judicial system should crucify him just because he's a man. Don't even go there. And yes, the judge (assuming facts not yet in evidence) forced him to fork it over.

By the way, why do you not think she's a witch. She apparently had 3 kids from a previous marriage or marriages, meaning she was at least a two-time loser. Care to reconsider the possibility?

[quitwhining]

I have certainly seen men abused by women emotionally and financially but not here. Dr. Chris had a long and successful vet practice; she wouldnt have been after his money, that would never have been the issue (if anything perhaps the factor went the other way) she would have had plenty of her own. Wouldnt be keeping him from the daughter, if that was the case, unless there was some deeply compelling reason. No, she is a wonderful woman and well loved by her patients and friends. This is tragic, beyond comprehension.

[tomkat]

as i said, in this case my retraction of the above is humbly offered.

i too have always admired veterinarians ...

[quitwhining]

Not every failed marriage makes a person a 'two time marriage loser'..she had a long marriage to another vet, Dr. Willis; they shared a practice in Merced. They had their three kids and the marriage failed but not for lack of effort on Dr. Christines part. She is mid 40's. The fact that she had these three great kids from one long first marriage, and a young child from this second one, certainly isnt enough for you to classify her as some serial marriage loser type. Your anger, perhaps often justified, is not in this case. This is just an awful, awful event. Redirect your spleen at the killer, and give this mom your pity.

[RobRoy]

As I said in a similar thread a few weeks ago, we are going to see a lot more of this. That is one of many social reasons many states are making it harder for women to unilaterally throw out their husbands while keeping the car, the house, the kids, and a fair share of his income for the forseeable future - often without cause or even trumped up "abuse" charges.

Maybe only .01% of the men treated like this will pop, but that's enough to get us good headlines like this quite often.

Mankind is the most wonderful and dangerous creature on the planet, but if you stick one in a "cage" and poke him with a hot stick enough times, don't come crying to me when he finally snaps and lashes out violently, in a fit of what he sees as self defence and/or, final ending of pain.

Don't get me wrong. What this guy did was definitely a no-no, but that belief and about $3 will get you a double tall latte.

[fnord]

just watched the trailer ... what an ugly looking film. So PC it looks like a DNC campaign ad, lol. Bet it dies quickly.

[RGSpincich]

Wonder why he spared his wife?

He didn't.

[ValerieUSA]

I did not "whine" for the poor woman. I have compassion for her - her children were brutally murdered. I will make NO excuse for the murderer. So shoot me. I made no excuses for Andrea Yates, either.

[ValerieUSA]

Why would I assume this woman is a witch? She tried to remove the children out from under the thumb of this disturbed, out-of-control beast that was her husband, yet he found them and brutally murdered the children anyway. Why should I automatically blame her for his crime? Is that being a man is all about - blaming bitchy women?