Augusta kids killed (Another Homeschool Killing)

Helena Independent Record ^ | 8/27/2002 | CAROLYNN BRIGHT

[CholeraJoe]

Augusta kids killed
By CAROLYNN BRIGHT, IR Staff Writer - 08/27/02

Swanson faces 2 counts of murder.
A 46-year-old Augusta mother allegedly shot and killed two of her four children as they slept in their beds at the family ranch about 15 miles southwest of Augusta early Monday.
Jeanette Swanson faces two counts of deliberate homicide in connection with the shootings and is being held in the Lewis and Clark County Jail without bond.
Swanson was placed on suicide watch at the jail Monday afternoon while the bodies of her children — a 10-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy — were brought to the State Crime Lab in Missoula, where an autopsy will be conducted, said Undersheriff Cheryl Liedle.
According to Liedle, emergency responders flocked to the Swanson Ranch just before 6 a.m. after Swanson called 911, reporting that she had shot her two children.
Swanson’s other two children — boys, ages 16 and 20 — were in the house at the time of the killing, but were unharmed in the incident.
Swanson’s husband, Gene, was sleeping in a camp trailer outside the residence when the shootings occurred, Liedle said.
According to reports, Swanson was waiting at the door of the residence when emergency crews arrived.
Her children were located in their beds inside — both were dead at the scene, Liedle said.
Liedle said a firearm believed to have been used in the shootings was recovered at the family home, but officials will await the results of the autopsies to determine whether it was, in fact, the murder weapon.
Court documents indicate that Swanson’s 20-year-old son reported to authorities that his mother had a .38 Smith and Wesson gun in her possession when she placed the 911 call, but Liedle would not confirm whether that was the same make of gun seized at the scene.
Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Sam McCormack said Monday morning that a motive for the killings was sketchy.
However, he said that Swanson and her husband had argued last week about Swanson’s decision to enroll the two children in school in Augusta — Gene Swanson wanted his wife to continue to home school the kids on the ranch while she wanted them to attend public school.
The children attended their first classes at school in Augusta last week.

[Intimidator]

This woman did NOT want to homeschool. These children were not homeschooled...they were in public school. And, of course, because they argued on that subject the week before, that makes this the reason for their death....that she GOT her request; not that she was denied it and forced to continue homeschooling them. I'm firmly of the opinion that any parents with public school kids who kill their kids are doing so BECAUSE they're kids are publicly schooled. All headlines should read: Kids Killed (Another Killing Due to Public Schooling!)

Here is your entire post. I do not see a single hint of sarcasm. Tell me where the sarcasm is? Why don't you have the spine to stand up for what you believe? Just admit it, this is what you believe.

[xsmommy]

Is it based on anything solid?

the fact that he resides there?

[Vic3O3]

Keep some marbles in the freezer,toss 'em under the sheets in the morning. Cold marbles will chase you anywhere you move to in bed.

Oooh, you're NASTY! My mom's favorite way to roust me was to turn on the lights, yank open the blackout curtains, and pull down the covers...that was bad enough!

[CholeraJoe]

That's a funny observation. Is it based on anything solid?

1) I live in Montana. See it every day.
2)Unabomber
3) Freemen
4) Woman in Vaughn, MT mails cyanide-laced sodas to Teddy Kennedy and has others ready to go to Prince William
5) Cannibal in Great Falls cooks and eats little boy from neighborhood
6) Lesbians in Missoula burn down own house and portray it as hate crime

Are you convinced?

[mikhailovich]

We teach 4 year-old Sunday school.....by and far the children of stay-at-home moms and/or future homeschoolers are the snottiest, sassiest, least behaved children in our group, day-in, day-out. When we get a new child, we can tell nearly instantly if he/she has a stay-at-home mom. Funny thing is, their mommies have a smug, "holier than thou" attitude to anyone not in their little mold.

There is something to be said about socialization (or the lack thereof.)

[Vic3O3]

In most cases, we were the ones pushing for it, while our husbands had some serious questions.

I guess I am lucky. My husband fully supports the idea of me staying home to raise our kid(s), and of formal homeschooling when that age is reached. (Technically, I am already homeschooling our infant, as I am a stay-at-home mom.)

[glory]

So what, that means there was a power struggle going on--again, the issue of the power struggle is unimportant. Anyone willing to shoot thier kids over it, was a bomb waiting to explode. The issue could just as easily have been getting pepperoni pizza vs. cheese.
The point is that these folks probably disagreed about even trivial things, but all we are hearing about is homeschooling. Again, the issue is not important, just the point that these two had a major tug of war going on in thier marriage.

[CholeraJoe]

You don't believe that Mr. Yates bears some culpability in the deaths of his children?

Of course not. He was raising his family as God intended. A mother in the home, schooling the children, having a baby every 13 months. /sarcasm.

[asformeandformyhouse]

"Let's not bring Rengade Homosexual Priests into this", you indicted a whole organization

If you had said Renegade Homosexual EX-priests I would agree. As long as they remain, they truly might be said to have the "One Free Grope" mentioned in the comment to which I responded.

[Sangamon Kid]

...i live in No.VA which is a HQ of sorts for homeschoolers.

I think living too close to D.C. has gone to your head. Just because some national Home School organizations are based in your area, does not make you guys the center of the universe.

[Intimidator]

Dude, I hope you have your flamesuit on because the 'mommies' are coming for you. hehehehe

[xsmommy]

you guys the center of the universe

well dang it all, you've crushed me now... all this time i thought we were the heartbeat of the nation....

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

=;^) You had me going 'til I saw the tag at the end.

[ward_of_the_state]

Bottom line is we've now got two dead kids. The adults in the situation are beyond help at this point. The two older siblings that made it are going to be messed up for quite some time.

[MotleyGirl70]

How about a statistic of children in public schools (or private) murdered by their parents?

I doubt the media would ever report it. I don't hear about too often. Yes, the spin is very obvious.

[AAABEST]

Of course this one happened in Montana where wacko is a way of life.

"Of course" the above idiot-speak was posted by someone with the email addy "waterydiarrhea@hotmail.com" in his profile who thinks homeschooling somehow begets a murderess.

[xzins]

You aren't worth the trouble.

[glory]

Hmm..you will not judge her based on her reasons not to homeschool, yet you have judged the husband already as some pushy bastard forcing her to homeschool. How generous of you.
Again, it does not matter the issue, the lady is a loon if this is her way of dealing with it. A husband can tell you that you have to stand on your head and spin around and if he persists when you say no repeatedly, the door is open. She had grown children, surely they would have helped her if things got rough.
You are right, not everyone is cut out to homeschool, but in this instance, I don't know if this is the woman you want to be aligning yourself with as the champion of making a reasoned decision not to homeschool.

[summer]

Now, we're going to hear again how homeschooling "is too stressful for parents to handle"

Not everyone is cut out to be a teacher or a homeschooler. That is a simple fact.

For some parents, homeschooling is too stressful to handle, just as for some people, teaching in a school of whatever kind (public,private, etc.) is also too stressful of a job. People do not realize the amount of stress involved in this responsibility of teaching, no matter where the location.
If the father was so intent on homeschooling, perhaps there was another way this could have been achieved rather than try to make his unwilling wife believe she could do it when she had already concluded she could not. Maybe the father could have homeschooled. In some wealthy communities, the parent will hire a certified teacher or tutor to teach in the home. But, in any event, teaching is not as easy as it appears to some people.

This is a tragedy. It is not that homeschooling is wrong, but that attempting to force anyone to homeschool who does not want to is not the way to go. Not every parent wants this responsibility, believe it or not. Just as: not everyone wants to be a teacher.

And, for those who misunderstand me: I am very much in favor of homeschooling FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO DO IT.

[Sangamon Kid]

well dang it all, you've crushed me now... all this time i thought we were the heartbeat of the nation....

Glad you have a sense of humor. I couldn't resist getting a "dig" in.