Posted on 08/27/2002 5:47:49 AM PDT by 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.
I hope you don't think I support such a notion. My comment was intended as sarcasm toward those who think parents SHOULD put their children in daycare, even though in reality most probably can't really afford it. Just wanted to make that clear in case it wasn't clear already...
For now. The elk have chronic wasting disease in a few places. Mad elk disease?
Maybe, Maybe not, but you are presenting a fine argument for syphilitic brain damage impairing the ability to perceive HUMOR !!!!!
Thank you, too.
Yeah. That's the ticket.
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.
I don't think the article is spinning the homeschooling aspect in this case. After all, since comments made by the sheriff indicate a known (most recent?)argument between husband and wife was about homeschooling, It is fair to mention it.
...now if the wife had just submitted to her husband and continued to homeschool the kids, this might not have happened.
Oh, yes, and P.S. someone with actual Reading Ability, would have discerned from reading the thread, that the person actually implied it was Excess Pressure from an Overbearing husband that begat a murderess....quite a shame, Penicillin could have cured that, if it had been caught in time Capone....
naaaaah, i like the idea of shooting him better.
You know, Love, Honor, and OBEY!
Do I hear another Barefoot, Pregnant and in the kitchen rant in the offing?
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