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.

[ArGee]

This was not a happy home.

I think the clue to this story lies in the ages of the children who were shot and the ages of the children who were not.

I've heard of stair-step families, but this first step is a lulu!

Shalom.

[xzins]

Another Homeschool mom

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!)

[ArGee]

Nevermind. Only a few years. I misread and thought the younger kids were in elementary school.

Time to get back to work I guess.

Shalom.

[xsmommy]

i know you are quite reasonable, tx, and i agree that she was a nutcase and that there was much more going on here, but i have troubles with those that think that if you choose not to homeschool you are 1. lazy or 2. a feminazi.

my teenager recently told me that she has given this some thought and while she thinks homeschooling is the best, she would not want her father or i doing it, and would prefer a private tutor.... yea, dream on, girlie!

[CWRWinger]

Public schools are not an alternative to home schooling. This woman wanted their children to be dumbed down in public schools.

[Aggie Mama]

I agree. I have a good friend that homeschools her children, and I debated long and hard about whether to do the same for mine. Luckily, where I live, the public school is an old-fashioned school, and actually is better than the Catholic school at our church.

Last night at the cirriculum meeting, they even started with the Pledge and an Invocation. I can't tell you how astounded I was at "Heavenly Father" coming out of the little Girl Scout that led the prayer. The parental involvement is tremendous and the cirriculum is challenging.

[CholeraJoe]

Well she technically was not a homeschool mother when she made the decision to shoot them

And you're clairvoyant? How do you know when she decided to shoot them? They were found dead at 6 am yesterday morning. If she decided to shoot them Sunday night, they weren't attending public school either.

[glory]

Nope read it the same as you. Like I said, she was a ps mother at the time of the shooting and didn't sound like she had the desire to continue homeschooling. The father was sleeping elsewhere so this sounds more to me like thier were some big marital problems, homeschooling AT ONE TIME was the least of thier problems. I could see this being related to her homeschooling if she had continued against her wishes, but apparently she won the argument since they were attending ps. So why did she shoot them? Apparently not because she lost the argument and had to homeschool them against what she actually wanted to do.

[TxBec]

ditto... :: ignoring all future pings and peeling myself away from FR ::

[glory]

The mother didn't want to send them, they were going--or did you miss one of the final lines that said they had started attending an Augusta school last week?

[CholeraJoe]

These children were not homeschooled...they were in public school.

WRONG. They had been homeschooled for years. They started public school last week.

[lizma]

our teachers don't make jacksh*t

I know. My mom's a teacher in NC.

Look on the bright side. At least you're not living in The Peoples Republic of Maryland.

[glory]

I'll agree with you on that observation of NOW!

[xsmommy]

This woman wanted their children to be dumbed down in public schools.

You know her? didn't think so....

i wouldn't send my kids to public school, but i do not judge those that do. NUTS, STUPID PEOPLE, and PEOPLE WHO LACK SUFFICIENT PATIENCE should not homeschool their children. period.

[Intimidator]

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

Wrong Sherlock, parents who kill their kids kill them because they are WACKJOBS, nothing else. Its not a schooling issue. People may try to make it a schooling issue but the real reason is because the parent is a WACKJOB.

[xsmommy]

i live in No.VA and the public schools here are nightmarishly PC and i would not send my kids there. The Catholic school we send them to is very good and my husband is on the diocesan school board in the Arlington diocese. There are good things going on in Catholic education here, i know that is not the case everywhere. You are lucky to live in such a school district. i have nieces and a nephew that live in OH and attend public school and it sounds quite similar to what you describe.

[glory]

No kidding(and not that I want to start getting a salary)
;-)

[Aggie Mama]

I live in Tom Delay's district, so perhaps that has something to do with it. =)

[CholeraJoe]

but the real reason is because the parent is a WACKJOB.

Lotta wackjobs in Montana. Unabomber, Freemen, Child-Eating Cannibals, Prince-poisoners, lesbian arsonists...etc...etc.

[glory]

That's starting pay out in some districts in Arizona. You may not see it there friend, but believe me, many districts are paying pretty darn well.