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.

[dd5339]

Hey, but at least your cows are sane!

Semper Fi

[glory]

I'll agree with you on this post. The fact that the woman would shoot her children is obvious she was not equipped to mother, forget about homeschooling. She should not have been in charge of *ANY* decisions regarding her children.

[xsmommy]

and i am aligning myself with her HOW? oh good grief. just get over the homeschooler chip on your shoulder. You agree that not everyone should homeschool, do you judge them as somehow LESS worthy of a parent for not doing so? we can agree she was a whackjob, so let's leave it at that.

[xsmommy]

ok good, friends : ) ?

[glory]

We have a winner! I agree that is was not the main issue either in this house, just one of many they disagreed on.

[xsmommy]

who says i have a sense of humor, i am unable to now go on with my life, since you burst my bubble.... ; )

[Tired of Taxes]

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.)

Interesting because, if you were to believe the anti-stay-at-home-mom/anti-homeschooling people, our children are supposed to be shy, insecure, and too reserved, not "snotty", "sassy", or ill-behaved. My own children never even met other homeschoolers until recently, but they always played sports with "schoolers". And, I assure you, my children were WELL-behaved, though, I admit, probably alittle shy. (They're just not shy with each other or me at home where they test my patience just about every single day).

On the other hand, I've noticed "schoolers" being snotty, sassy, and ill-behaved. Sigh... I guess we all just know different people, eh?

[ValerieUSA]

This mother had been homeschooling these children for years and had enough. Just like Andrea Yates.

Yates' oldest child was only 7. Homeschooling was not her problem. She wallowed in EVIL thoughts and plots for months, then carried out her scheme to murder all of her children.

[Sangamon Kid]

who says i have a sense of humor, i am unable to now go on with my life, since you burst my bubble.... ; )

Shall we send someone to watch the kids while you work through it all. ;^)

[Intimidator]

My we're a snotty one aren't we?

[xsmommy]

no, you misunderstand, i am a feminazi that WORKS while having someone ELSE school my kids (a Catholic school). While a great admirer of homeschoolers and the NATIONAL HOMESCHOOLER ORGs that are HQ'ed in the Nation's CAPITAL (aka center of the universe), i myself am not worthy ; )

[glory]

I think only one person implied the feminazi stuff, however I would add that I do think feminism and the NEA plays a big role in what women(families) think they can accomplish on the home front. When homeschooling is constantly put in a negative light and parents abilities questioned, it's no wonder people think they aren't cut out for the job whether it be homeschooling or staying home while they are little.

[Chemist_Geek]

Ten to one that NOW blames this whole thing on the husband like they did with Andrea Yates.

Probably. Of course it's his fault.

Swanson’s husband, Gene, was sleeping in a camp trailer outside the residence when the shootings occurred, Liedle said.

What's the deal with this? I mean, I've heard of being forced to sleep on the couch, but being run out of the house and into a camp trailer?

[xzins]

pot, kettle, black

begone

[OldFriend]

Wouldn't it have been easier if she just shot him??????????????????

You are one sick individual.

[glory]

BTW, that post was not to question your decision, I'm sure you considered things carefully and weighed all of your options, but I do think that *MOST* parents are discouraged from homeschooling from the get go and aren't making a well thought out decision if they even know about homeschooling at all.

[Arthur McGowan]

Very misleading headline. This was NOT a "homeschooling mom." This was a mother who wanted to send her kids to public school. Obviously deranged.

[Intimidator]

You are one sick individual.

There are definitely some sick individuals on this website period.

[glory]

No I am not clairvoyant, but apparently you are. What exactly are you trying to get at? Obviously you have this all figured out. What do you know that we don't that you are questioning the obvious in this story--that the kids were attending ps and that they were shot by thier mother. Do tell all knowing one.