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 went to publik skul, kant reed.
This mother had been homeschooling these children for years and had enough. Just like Andrea Yates.
Pure speculation on my part but I believe that the father had insisted that they go back to homeschooling. She oughta shot him instead.
I'll have more details once I can call my buds over at the L&C county sheriff's office later.
This was not a happy home. Why would she shoot the children if her argument was with the husband? Sounds like she wanted her children out of her life, they were inconvenient and causing problems between her and her man.
I've been a homeschooling mom since 1990 and in most of the homeschooling families I know it is the mother who is pro-homeschooling and the father who worries about it.
Cold marbles will chase you anywhere you move to in bed.:)
Would It be as funny If I Implied the same thing about your mother ?
Just Asking....
These children had been homeschooled for years and attended public school for one week. The woman was being forced to resume homeschooling and didn't want to.
Same here. That's why I never understood the stereotype that homeschoolers are oppressed women under their husbands' thumbs. I don't know one homeschooling mom who doesn't want to be a homeschooler. In most cases, we were the ones pushing for it, while our husbands had some serious questions.
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.
but Tx, it was the issue. HE wanted HER to do it.
Well then leave the sucker for crying out loud, don't shoot your babies.
If this is true, why was the father sleeping outside the house? If he is the one in charge, why did he leave his "castle?" Just asking.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.