Details From Rancho Tehama Shootings Come into Focus

We are finally learning details surrounding the seemingly random acts of violence that occurred in the small town of Rancho Tehama yesterday.  Naturally immediately after the incident(s), information was sketchy at best as police tried putting the pieces of complex crime scenes together.  All we really knew was that several people were killed and children at an elementary school were targeted - perhaps simply because he was driving by.  Yesterday, law enforcement officials stated that the believed this may have began with a "domestic dispute".  A neighbor of the man believed to be the gunman spoke to media yesterday and said there was an ongoing "neighborhood dispute" between he and the neighbor he identified only as "Kevin".  It was impossible to believe all this violence was the result of a neighborhood dispute but not much else had been reported.

Kevin Neal

What we now know is the shooter was 44 year old Kevin Janson Neal of Bobcat Lane.  We know many of the 911 calls were initiated from that area.  Neal killed 4 adults before opening fire at random on children at Corning Union Elementary School.  Thankfully none of the children or teachers were killed, however several children were injured badly enough to require air lifts out of the area. 

It appears Neal's initial target was indeed his wife who has not been publicly named by officials (to my knowledge).  The Sheriff's Department attempted to locate Neal's wife - even going as far to "ping" her cellphone.  Unfortunately everyones worse fears were realized when they searched the Neals' residence and found his wife deceased in the home. It appears Neal killed her the night before and cut a hole out of their floor in some crude attempt to hide the body.

We know early Tuesday morning he got into his car and went on a shooting spree.  Among the 4 other adults shot & killed, one of the deceased was a female neighbor he had been accused of attacking during an "ongoing dispute". It sounds like Mr. Neal had disputes with more than one neighbor.  Shortly after Tuesdays incident began, Neal shot and killed two more neighbors and stole a pickup truck and drove through the small town and fired at will.

We know Neal was armed with a semi-automatic rifle and pistol from the reports yesterday.  While driving through town, he ended up behind a Ford 250 pickup truck driven by a mother and her son.  He fired 8 rounds into the truck, seriously injuring both mother and son.  The woman was on her way to drop her son off to school.  She had a concealed weapon permit, but never had time to draw the weapon to defend herself and her son.  

Thankfully this was a small town, because by the time Neal arrived at the school in the stolen pickup the school was already on "lockdown".  That didn't deter Neal - he rammed the truck through the gates and began firing into the school.  As far as I know one child was shot in the foot and chest but is expected to recover.  If the school hadn't been heard about what was happening and wasn't  prepared or it could have been a lot worse.

After busting through the gates of the school, Neal reportedly calmly stepped out of the truck and began randomly shooting.  It doesn't appear he had any particular target(s) in mind - just your basic act of domestic terror.  After his attempt to kill innocent elementary school kids failed, Neal sought other targets and he found them.

Neal began following a couple driving down the street and deliberately hit them. As the couple exited the vehicle, he shot both of them.  The woman died but the man survived the shooting.  A good Samaritan who witnessed the accident and shooting pulled over to help; Neal took aim at him as well and shot at him however he was able to escape on foot before Neal stole his car.

Neal's crime spree wasn't over yet - he was in the process of pursuing his next target and attempted to ram that car and shoot into it when law enforcement finally caught up with him.  A gunfight ensued and finally it was over. Neal was shot dead by a sheriff's deputy.  What a story.  The thing that stands out to me out of all I just wrote is that we still don't know what the original dispute with his wife was that set this into motion.  His wife was believed to be his first victim so she can't contribute to the motive - however hopefully she told somebody in her life what was happening at home.  

Solely based on what has been reported, it seems that Neal was a hot headed time bomb ready to explode.  He had troubles with his wife, he was feuding with his neighbors. I'm willing to bet there's an employer out there who is breathing a sigh of relief that they weren't on his hit list.  Or perhaps he was a normal man who just lost it?

Mass Shooting Rocks Small Northern CA Town - Rancho Tehama

Rancho Tehama Elementary School  (Photo by Google screenshot)

Another mass shooting has occurred.  It feels like every day there are reports of similar senseless shooting all around our country.  When is this going to end? Have we seen enough to saddle our outrage into political action and put the pressure on the people who can actually help change the gun laws?  I know it sounds cliche, but if we all ban together I truly do believe we can make a difference. Something has to be done - the worst thing we can do is wait around for somebody else to take action.

Although calls began flooding 911 operators just after 8AM this morning reporting shots fired, details about the shooter and motive are still very sketchy.  It's unclear to me if law enforcement is holding back information or they are more than likely still trying to piece together as many as 7 crime scenes.  The most specific information I've come across comes from a man named Brian Flint who believes the gunman is his neighbor - a felon identified only as "Kevin".

Apparently there has been an ongoing neighborhood feud between the two for some time.  Flint told the media that recently Kevin had been firing off "hundreds and hundreds" of gunshot rounds.  They believe he is crazy.  It's unclear if the shooting incidents were ever reported to the police.  Flint also says he was the target of near constant harassment by "Kevin" which made living near him "hell".  Flint's truck was allegedly stolen and his roommate was injured in the shooting.  Could this be the "domestic" issue law enforcement believes started the spree?

The shooter took off and drove around the small community, reportedly firing rounds out of the window of the vehicle he was driving.  The shots and victims appeared to be random but that has not been confirmed. Phil Johnston with the Rancho Tehame County Sheriff's Department  reported their department received multiple calls for shots fired in the area of Bobcat Lane and Fawny Lane in the city of Corning.

After the initial shooting incident occurred and the suspect was fleeing while continuing to shoot out of his vehicle, he encountered two responding officers and a gunfight ensued in which the suspect was killed by one of the officers.  I'm sure many more details will be released throughout the news cycle and we should know a lot more by tomorrow. 

Rancho Tehama is a tiny town approximately 120 miles from Sacramento.  The last census information available puts their population at just 1,485 residents  The Sheriff's Department believes there may be up to seven crime scenes involved in today's incident.  One crime scene that HAS been all over the news was an elementary school where thankfully no children were killed (*at the time of this writing) however several children were injured badly enough to be airlifted out to a hospital.  No names have been released of the injured at this time.

What else do we know?  

• 5 people were reportedly killed, including the gunman
• as many as 10 people were injured, including children at the school
• the shooting reportedly began around 8AM on Tuesday morning
• a semi-automatic rifle and 2 handguns used in the shooting were recovered 
• law enforcement has as many as 100 personnel working in Rancho Tehama on this incident
• multiple witnesses reported hearing over 100 gunshots during the incident(s)
• a woman and man were found shot in the road; believed to be driving ahead of and shot by the gunman near the school.  The woman is believed to have died from her injuries at the scene
• Several parents dropping their children off for school reportedly witnessed the shooting as it unfolded

One such witness named Coy Ferreria who is a father of an elementary school student told KCRC News Channel 7 that while dropping off his daughter at school he heard the shots begin to be fired.  School officials were hurrying students into classrooms where Ferreria followed. He quickly realized bullets were being fired through the windows of the crowded classroom he was trapped in.  One boy was hit in the foot and chest by gunfire.

Another parent was dropping his three children off at school when he saw the gunman begin shooting at the truck in front of him.  He quickly put the car in reverse and told his children to get down and he drove to safety.  As he was driving away he reportedly saw a woman lying dead in the street with a man who was injured next to her.

This information seems sketchy at best.  It seems a lot of pertinent information is missing from the story.  This really couldn't be the result of a neighbor on neighbor dispute could it?  It's a sad reality that many times a small thing can escalate and quickly spiral out of control, but this doesn't seem like that.  If so, why did the gunman continue to drive around shooting at other seemingly random targets?

There isn't enough concrete information to go on at this time to tell this story, however it's another example of the human toll that gun violence is taking on our communities.  Haven't we seen enough of these makeshift memorial scenes, with candles, flowers, cards, stuffed animals, crying and praying for the dead and injured?

The debate goes on.  Those who strongly believe and support the right to bear arms contend that PEOPLE kill, not guns. That statement is not false, but it's not as simple as that.  Many of these mass shootings are being done using stolen weapons, weapons bought illegally or on the black market etc.  Many of the weapons have been illegally modified in order to deliver more shots in less time or in silence.  Some of the ammunition being used by the bad guys is to inflict as much damage to the inside of the human body that recovery is a long shot.  

I personally believe we have the right to own a gun for our protection should we feel the need to do so.  Guns aren't necessarily bad.  Guns in the wrong hands is part of the problem. Modified and illegal guns are part of the problem. Illegal ammunition is part of the problem.  I could go on and on but I won't.  Let's pray for better days and put our heads together to fight for change.am

Animal Cruelty Laws Woefully Lenient - Time for Change.org

Please help stop animal cruelty.....................

As I wrote in one of my blog postings about the church shooting in Texas, shooter Devin Kelley allegedly used dogs for "shooting/target practice" - according to one of his former friends in the Air Force.  Reportedly, Kelley even went as far as to adopt dogs from shelters with this sick and cruel task in mind.  If someone shot a dog intentionally surely they would be arrested and punished, right?  Surely that would be something that would negatively affect said person's reputation during a background check right?  You should check your own states laws, but I was shocked when I read just how little happens to people who do this or animal cruelty.

This is another subject I am passionate about.  Dogs, cats and other animals have become domesticated throughout the years and have become cherished members of our families.  We are just as happy to see them when we walk through the door at night as they are to see us.  Unconditional love, companionship, happiness, laughter are just a few things they provide to us.  Yet many people out there view them as little more than a house alarm, leaving them tied up in a yard with no shade little food and little (if any) water.  They are not viewed as family members or even pets by this group of people.

I don't know if Kelley's "target practice" on his dogs was ever reported or if he was convicted of any crime for that matter.  In the state of Texas, here is what would have happened under their laws:

This may be the federal statue around animal cruelty - laws very state by state:

"Intentionally subjecting an animal to cruel neglect, mistreatment, or killing or harming a service animal is a Class 6 Felony punishable by a fine of up to $150,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 1.5 years. Sentences can also include community service, no animal ownership for 3 years, and restitution."

Texas http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/pe/pe0004200.html#pe012.42.09 Tex. Penal Code, Title 9, Chapter 42, 42.09
Cruelty to animals is defined as: “ (1) tortures an animal; (2) fails unreasonably to provide necessary food, care, or shelter for an animal in the person’s custody; (3) abandons unreasonably an animal in the person’s custody; (4) transports or confines an animal in a cruel manner; (5) kills, seriously injures, or administers poison to an animal, other than cattle, horses, sheep, swine, or goats, belonging to another without legal authority or the owner’s effective consent; (6) causes one animal to fight with another; (7) uses a live animal as a lure in dog race training or in dog coursing on a racetrack; (8) trips a horse; (9) injures an animal, other than cattle, horses, sheep, swine, or goats, belonging to another without legal authority or the owner’s effective consent; or (10) seriously overworks an animal.”  Sections (2), (3), (4), (9), or (10) (provide necessary food, care, shelter; abandons; transports in a cruel manner; injures, or seriously overworks) are a Class A Misdemeanor with a fine up to $4000 and/or imprisonment up to 1 year.  The third conviction of the above is a State Jail Felony, with a fine up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment from 180 days to 2 years.  Sections (1), (5), (6), (7), or (8) (tortures; kills, seriously injures or poisons; animal fighting; uses as a lure; trips a horse) is a State Jail Felony with a fine up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment from 180 days to 2 years.  A third conviction of the above is a Felony of the Third Degree with a fine up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment from 2 to 10 years.  Exemptions are made for bona fide scientific research, protection of property or persons, fishing, hunting or trapping, wildlife control, and animal husbandry.  If I'm interpreting this correctly, a person convicted three times of animal cruelty faces 180 days to 2 years in a state jail - not even prison.  It's a felony with a fine up to $10,000 and imprisonment for anywhere from 2-10 years.  The same penalties exist if a person is convicted three times for abuse including killing or seriously injures an animal.

The first time a person is convicted of animal cruelty is considered a Class A Misdemeanor! It appears it only becomes a felony after the third conviction. what sense does any of this make?  The lawmakers have made the appropriate exceptions around "killing" around livestock and foods that we eat.  I live in California and here are our laws:

California http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=pen&group=00001-01000&file=594-625c Cal Penal Code 596-597
Cruelty to animals is defined as “Maliciously and intentionally mains, mutilates, tortures, or wounds a living animal, or maliciously and intentionally kills an animal; or overdrives, overloads, drives when overloaded, overworks, tortures, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance, drink, or shelter, cruelly beats, mutilates, or cruelly kills any animal or causes or procures any animal to be so treated.”  Animals shall be seized and impounded and ownership forfeited.  These crimes may be charged as either a misdemeanor or felony, with punishment of a fine up to $20,000 and/or imprisonment up to 1 year.  If a defendant is granted probation for a conviction, the defendant must pay for and successfully complete counseling as determined by the court.  It is also a misdemeanor to “Carry or causes to be carried in or upon any vehicle or otherwise any domestic animal in a cruel or inhumane manner.”  Exemptions are made for farming, hunting and research.

So in California, animal cruelty up to and including torture and death of an animal may be charged as a misdemeanor OR felony and the punishment may contain a fine of up to $20,00 0 and/or imprisonment for up to one year! I think this is outrageous. 

who will work with me to strengthen these laws and up the punishment to be more appropriate with the crime?  Something must be done, and now.  Dog fighting rings are still in operation although they may have mostly gone underground ever since Michael Vick got busted and the ugly world of dog fighting was front page news.  They are still out there. 

If you've ever watched Animal Planet's "Pit Bulls and Parolees" you have seen the damage to the dogs, both physically and emotionally.  Yet many of these does who should fear and dislike humans recover and learn to trust and love again.  We need to protect animals from their human predators. I cannot imagine doing anything to harm an animal, unless it was a wild animal who was looking at me as their dinner.  We need to make many of these "cruelty" behaviors and make them felonies on the first conviction.  Torture, starvation, beating, leaving dogs in an inappropriate environment which could cause them great bodily harm (i.e. - chaining a dog to an item that provides no shade from the sun, leaving no water or food etc.)

Strict laws are needed for commercial animals and our beloved pets. Here, I am specifically speaking for our personal companion pets protection.  Something happened here in the neighborhood I'm living in two summers ago.  There was a bit of a stray cat problem - it was summertime, and that's usually when the feline population explodes.  People were feeding them (not JUST me) and they were fairly shy because they were basically born feral and didn't trust many humans.  We had two indoor/outdoor cats that both had collars, were fixed and micro chipped and vaccinated.  I believed I was a responsible cat owner. 

I should have never let those cats outside of the house because one of the neighbors on this street is a cat hater.  One summer a few years ago the residents began noticing their own cats were "lost" or "missing".  One by one, the stray/feral cats were disappearing and then our personal pets were all gone.  Every last indoor/outdoor cat was gone.  I went out of my mind, I created and posted a flyer with a generous reward.  Later I found out that I actually gave the man responsible for the missing cats a flyer - handed it right to him.  I was enraged, as were other members of this community we live in.  The man's wife finally caved in to the pressure and guilt she musts have been feeling hearing people calling their cat's names and searching the streets for them and she got her husband to confess to trapping ONE of the cats that were missing.

Sure, he only trapped ONE cat.  The others must have simply followed his car to where ever he dumped them off.  I've heard many versions of the story on where he took them and I'm not sure I believe any of them. He said that after he trapped a cat, he would drive them out to a secluded unpopulated area and let them loose.  How did he expect a house cat to survive in that type of environment after being cared for it's entire life?  I would call that animal cruelty.  I was heartbroken, as were others whose cats disappeared that summer.  The man responsible still lives a few houses down - I don't like him, but I won't disclose his name here.  HE knows what he did.  He told one person he dropped the cats off in a field near a Raley's market, he told others he took them to the Amtrak train station where there are fruit fields.  Whatever he did, none of us were able to recover our loved ones.  You would think one of them would end up in a shelter where the microchip would reunite them with us.  He removed their collars, in an effort to ensure they were never coming back.

If they were going to the bathroom in their yard or gardens, all he had to do was ask us to keep our cats inside or out of his yard.  I would've done my best to keep both cats away from his home.  I'm stills sad about Patches and Jasper. However, I've found room in my heart to adopt two STRICTLY INDOOR cats.  Maddy and Oscar don't seem to mind being in the house at all - and I rest assured they are safer inside than in the outside world.  I'm only living here another few months. I'd love for my next place to have a screened in cat area outside for them, so they could safely enjoy the fresh air and see the birds.

I'm sure there are many petitions on Change.org around animal cruelty. I'm going to do some homework before I create a new one or find a good one to promote here.  If you too are bothered by the lack of real consequences for animal cruelty, please check back here next week.  How can torture be a misdemeanor in any state in America?  Thank you for taking the time to read this. I'm not going to post any sad photos of abused animals on this blog.  Instead, I'm posting a few cute pics to remind us all of what we are looking to protect.

  

Have a great weekend!  PS - the dogs highlighted in this post were on various adoption websites and may still be available!  I used PetFinder.

Air Force Collegue Reports Devin Kelley Used Dogs For Target Practice Prior to Texas Church Shootings

AirCould this story get any worse?  The Huffington Post is reporting that Texas church shooter Devin Kelley told a Air Force colleague he bought dogs on Craigslist,with the express purpose of shooting them.  Jessika Edwards talked to CNN about her experience in working with Kelley and reported the dog shooting issue.  The pair worked together at an air force base in New Mexico for two years, prior to Kelley's "bad conduct" discharge for domestic battery/assault on his former wife and stepson.  What a scumbag!

Edwards can't say for sure if Kelley was lying about executing the dogs, but the thought was enough for her to wisely cut off all contact with him.  Many serial killers begin their "killing careers" by killing small innocent animals and it appears Kelley was no different.  In 2014, Kelley was caught and cited for cruelty to animals after many witnesses reported seeing Kelley punching a Husky with his fists before dragging the dog away by the collar. What a bully.  The responding officer also noted that the dog appeared to be underfed - probably being starved by this sadomasochistic moron.

Kelley's neighbors also reported to animal control that Kelley's dog(s) were often times left out in the hot Texas sun with no food, shade or water.  Another act of animal cruelty.  The domestic violence charge that ultimately ended Kelley's career was severe enough to where he fractured the skull of his stepson who was then a toddler.  Let's just say this was a bad guy; and the world has got to be a better or at least a safer place without him in it.  I'm sure he has family who care about him and may be shocked at his actions.  It's difficult to believe nobody knew this was coming - he was a ticking time bomb ready to explode - which he eventually followed through with.

If the dog killing allegations are true, this just goes to show what a complete and utter lack of respect for life this man had.  What happened to him? was he always an angry man with a chip on his shoulder or was he driven to these acts by some event we are not yet aware of?  Again, in my heart there are no reasons remotely valid enough to justify what he die and what he allegedly did;  He will get his when he meets his maker. All we can do is offer support, prayers and donations to this church to help this Texas community heal and rebuild their church.

Better times are coming - keep the faith.

EMT who responded to Texas Church Shooting lost family members there

AP File Photo

The sight of Sunday's deadly mass shooting is reportedly going to be demolished.  The memories of what happened there are too painful for the community to bare.  Pastor Frank Pomeroy was not in attendance during Sunday's shooting, however his 14 year old daughter was reportedly among the dead.

Pomeroy told church leaders it would be too devastating for the congregation to worship there after what happened.  No decision will be made without discussing it with the congregants, but Pomeroy envisions constructing a memorial at the site to remember the victims.  Other potential rebuilding sites are being reviewed.

Devin Kelley is the one man responsible for destroying the place dozens of people in this small town came to worship and give back to the community they call home.  What gives him the right?  Why a church?  Why, period?  I'll never understand people who feel the need to take out as many people as they can because they are unsatisfied with their life, feel slighted by the world or any other number of reasons that are just not legitimate.  Mental illness may explain some of these incidents but they still are not justified in any way.

To highlight how small this community must be, one of the EMT's responding to the 911 call realized her family was at the church she was racing to as a first responder.  Can you imagine the shock and disbelief she must have felt when that call came in and the location was read?  EMT Torrey MacCallum said at that moment "her heart sank".  MacCallum's sister in law Crystal Holcombe and three of Holcombe's children (Emily, Megan & Greg) died during the shooting.  Crystal had been married to Torrey's brother before his death.  She had remarried following the death of her first husband and reportedly has children with her second husband.  To make this unthinkable tragedy a little more awful, MacCallum was pregnant at the time of her death.

I can't think of any words that would be powerful enough to comfort EMT Torrey MacCallum.  I only hope that she has a strong support structure in place because this is so devastating it would be hard for even the most devout to recover.  My thoughts and prayers are with Torrey, her family as well as all of the first responders who race into dangerous situations to keep the public safe and provide medical attention in stressful situations.

It's unfortunate the shooter responsible for this destruction is among the dead. He should have had to stand trial, before a Judge and jury to answer for his heinous acts.  Texas is a death penalty state and they aren't afraid to execute people for killing innocent people.  I'm not necessarily pro death penalty, however it's there for a reason.  Reasons like this.  If the death penalty isn't used in these sorts of crimes, we might as well abolish it altogether.

Let's all pray for better days ahead.  Thanks to the brave men and women who responded to this nightmare that day and will forever have the awful memory ingrained in their heads.  Nobody should have to endure that.  We are in your debt and forever thankful people like you exist.

Jodi Arias Files Lawsuit Against Attorney Kirk Nirmi

Radar Online is reporting that boyfriend annihilator Jodi Arias is filing a lawsuit against the attorney who represented her in the murder trial that made her a household name.  Nurmi tried numerous times to withdraw as her attorney, however Judge Stephens would not allow him to as the time and money it would have taken to get another attorney up to speed was astronomical.  In addition, Arias petitioned the court to have Nurmi remain on her team as she believed he knew her case better than anybody.  She is now suing him claiming he had "utter hatred for her".

Jennifer Willmott and Kirk Nurmi had the impossible task of trying to defend Jodi Arias against a prosecutor who had an enormous mountain of direct and circumstantial evidence against her.  They had to get creative on their defense, so why not call Jodi a battered woman?  That's a popular defense when there are no witnesses to the physical abuse and no police reports.  Why?  Because there are countless law enforcement officials and shrinks who will tell a jury that most victims never report their abuse because they fear the abuse will get worse.

This trial was the reason I started writing this blog. The case fascinated me.  It was fairly obvious that Mr. Nurmi didn't care for his client and Willmott had a better rapport with Jodi Arias.  But Nurmi did the best he could, consider he was being forced to represent someone he didn't particularly want to be in the same room with.  There have been rumors (via Kirk Nurmi himself) that Arias acted "inappropriately" with him and flirted with him.  Jodi however claims in her suit that Nurmi "had an unprofessional and prurient preoccupation with the sexual nature of the case, as well as the Plaintiff herself".  Oh yes, everyone WANTS you Jodi ("no jury will convict me - mark my words....." Jodi Arias)

Kirk Nurmi denies all of Arias' claims and looks forward to defending each and every allegation in a court of law.  Arias is probably also peeved at the title of Kirk Nurmi's book about the trial - "Trapped with Ms. Arias" doesn't make her sound like a plaintiff he was enamoured with!!  

Arias' defense team may have made a fortune defending her, but it clearly took a toll on Kirk Nurmi.  He was disbarred after releasing his book - he never fought it.  He reportedly wanted to be disconnected from Jodi Arias, and knew he never would be as long as he practiced law.  He was diagnosed with cancer after the trial - something he believes is connected to the experience he had defending someone like Jodi Arias.  This explains why he lost so much weight.

Arias' suit claims that Nurmi exposed confidential and privileged information for the express purpose of financial gain.  She may have some valid points - we all knew we hadn't heard the last of Jodi Arias!

Men Who Murder Their Families

It happens at an alarming rate - men who kill multiple members of their family.  It's happened again, this time in Modesto California.  Modesto has had it's share of high profile murder cases during the last twenty years.  There was the murder of Laci and Conner Peterson, the murders of 3 tourists in Yosemite that Cary Stayner was convicted of (although he was NOT related to those he killed).  

Martin Martinez will soon be facing two murder trials in Stanislaus County.  In one case alone he has been charged with 5 counts of first degree murder with special circumstances of lying in wait and using a knife in the commission of two of the killings.  The other case involves the death of a 2 year old boy named Christopher Ridley who suffered a severe head injury while in the care of Martinez.  He is charged with first degree murder and aggravated child abuse.

In the mass murder case, the state has announced their intention to seek the death penalty.  The 5 murders were discovered on July 18, 2015 and the victims were all well known to Martinez.  Among the deceased:  Martinez's girlfriend (or ex-girlfriend) Dr. Amanda Crews, Crews' 6 year old daughter Elizabeth (with her ex husband Timothy Ridley), Martinez and Crews' 6 month old daughter Rachel, Martinez's own mother and his niece.  It doesn't get more personal than that.  As mentioned in prior posts not many details have been released about evidence discovered at the crime scene, how the 5 were killed or a potential motive for the extreme violence that occurred in the house on Nob Hill Court in Modesto.

Through court documents I can see special circumstances of using a knife against the two adult victims, Amanda and his mother.  I can only imagine how terrifying this event was for everyone in that home as the madness unfolded.  It takes a special kind of coward to kill a 6 month old child, let alone a 5 and 6 year old.  This is something that is too difficult for most of us to comprehend.  If Martinez is truly guilty, he deserves the death penalty.  Or maybe rotting away for the rest of his days in San Quentin is punishment enough?  Potentially facing the death penalty, I thought I'd see what I could find out about who his defense attorney is.  Court documents list his name as Sandip Sandhu, and he is listed as the "Chief Deputy Public Defender".  He must be death penalty qualified although I am not able to locate much information on his courtroom record.

Depending on the strength of the State's evidence, Sandhu's main focus here may be to convince a jury to spare Martinez's life.  That will be a tall order, given the number of people he allegedly murdered, their ages and relation to him.  I can't think of a single reason why murder was the answer to any problem he may have been having.  I'm sure they will have a psychiatric evaluation of Martinez, or many evaluations - as we witnessed in the Jodi Arias trial they can take just about any event and try to turn it into a mental illness to explain away their clients' actions.  I hate the idea of "expert witnesses".  The problem with these type of witnesses is for the most part they are getting a paycheck for their testimony.  I believe if that were not the case, their testimony might be more credible in my eyes.

I understand people need to get paid, and these types of cases can take a lot of time away from the "experts" normal clientele. However it seems that each side is able to find an expert willing to testify in a way that benefits their theory of the crime.  The "he/she simply snapped" excuse isn't good enough in a case like this.  You can have a momentary lapse of conscious and lash out in a violent way that you may immediately regret - but to act out violently and kill a person and do it again, and again, and again and again....that isn't snapping.  That is purposeful and intentional murder.  Did he want to ensure he left no witnesses behind after killing the first victim?  Again, I have no details on the case but it would seem logical that the target of his violence was Amanda Crews.  Everyone else in the house knew "Marty", so did he kill them to eliminate witnesses?  That explanation works for everyone with the exception of the 6 month old child.  Unless she knows how to say "da da" or "daddy", how would she identify him as the killer?  Was she in a crib when this all happened or was she being shielded by her mother or grandmother?

I simply can't imagine the horror of this crime and the scene law enforcement must have walked into.  How do you forget about a scene like that?  This reminds me of the Chris Coleman case where he killed his entire family as they slept in their own beds.  Coleman was found to be having an affair with his wife's best friend from high school and was allegedly pressing Coleman to get a divorce.  Coleman worked for Joyce Meyer Ministries, and if it came out that he was having an adulterous affair he would have lost his six figure a year job.  His solution?  His wife Sherri and his two young sons Gavin and Garrett had to go.  He strangled them all, then left for the gym early in the morning in a lame attempt to establish an alibi.  

He then called his across the street neighbor who happened to be in law enforcement to check on Sherri after his calls to her went unanswered.  He had fabricated threatening letters and email messages to himself and his family to make it seem as if someone was out to get Joyce Meyer herself, but they said they would go after Chris and his family if they couldn't reach Joyce.  This was as lame as it comes.  Chris was the head of security at Joyce Meyer Ministries, and he created the fake email account and sent the threatening emails from his own work computer.  Amateur hour Chris!  Back to the story - Chris set up his poor neighbor to discover the bodies of his wife and children.  What a coward.  Chris left his home early in the morning (5 or 6AM?) and began calling his wife Sherry "to make sure she was up" at 7AM.  Why would he panic if she didn't answer the phone?  People take showers, or maybe she was in the restroom or helping one of the kids.  Chris sounded the alarm bell even though he had only been gone for around 2 hours.

Did he really think the police would believe that in that 2 hour window of time, some unknown person would break into his house, kill everyone inside and then have the time to spray paint nasty Manson style messages in red spray paint on the walls?  Not to mention the coroner was able to definitely say Sherri, Gavin and Garrett had been dead for hours by the time they were discovered.  They were dead while Chris was still in the house.  The Colemans installed security cameras after receiving the threatening messages, however the recorder was conveniently missing from the crime scene and has never been recovered.  Who knew there was security cameras and who knew where the recorder was?  Chris Coleman did.

In addition to these boneheaded mistakes he made, it appears that Sherry put up a heck of a fight before Chris overpowered her and she left scratch marks all over his arms.  Good for you Sherri.  It didn't take long for law enforcement to untangle this and arrest Christopher Coleman.  Not too bright for the head of security of a major figure in the world of ministries.  There was no evidence or indication at all that the woman Coleman was having an affair with had any knowledge of Coleman's evil plans.  Sherri and her boys were murdered on Mother's Day.  Coleman told his lover he was serving Sherri with divorce papers on the same day she was found dead.

Husbands who kill their entire families are a rare breed of evil, yet it seems to happen at an alarming rate. Coleman's motive seemed to be his desire to be with the other woman and the need to keep his high paying job.  His father was also a minister, and murder seemed to be a better option to him than divorce.  

And in a class of his own we all know about Drew Peterson, who didn't kill his entire family - just two of his wives.  It's quite possible he tried to kill a third by cutting her brake lines.  Peterson's motives appear to be different than the other family/wife killers.  He didn't want to lose half of his assets or pension.  

Prosecutors in the Scott Peterson murder trial believed his motive for murdering his wife Laci and unborn (near full term) son Conner was that he didn't want to be that tied-down family man. He wanted to be free to frolic with Amber Frey and wanted out of the family man responsibilities.  I'm not sure I buy that as the motive.  After seeing the Peterson special I'm not even 100% sure about anything in the case except someone killed Laci and Conner.  It seems likely that Scott did, however if those numerous witnesses who say they saw Laci walking MacKenzie are to be believed, he couldn't have.  The only thing that really tied him to the deaths were the fact that their bodies washed up where he was "fishing".  Hard to overcome such a coincidence.

Then you have a spoiled greedy man who had parents who adored him and gave him whatever he wanted - yet he tried to have them all killed. Bart Whitaker planned the murders with his friends, but only managed to kill his brother and mother.  Both Bart and his father were shot but survived. Bart had his friend shoot him to make it look like more of a legitimate robbery gone bad.  Is that always the setup to foil the police?  Bart and his brother would have inherited their parents wealth eventually, but he couldn't wait.  He flunked out of college while his parents believed he was graduating and he wanted them dead before they found out.  That's cold.

In my book, Christopher Coleman stands out as the most despicable of the family killers I've heard about.  His wife Sherry loved him, his children idolized him and he betrayed each and every one of them - all for the "love" (...sex) with Sherry's high school buddy.  Classy Chris.  He's lucky the death penalty was abolished or he'd be on death row in his state right now.

When will the murdering of spouses/families end?  Has it always been this bad?