Mother Battles To Keep Sons Away From Child Killer
By Wisselman, Harounian & Associates
Oct. 24, 2011 8:56a
Court Allows Stepmother To Live With Boys Over Parental Protestations
The mother of two boys was shocked earlier this month when a family law court moved to allow her sons to live with their stepmother, who fatally shot her daughters twenty years ago.
The ruling was the result of a complicated family history stretching back to 1991, when an Orange County "super-mom" shook her community to the core. While her husband, a marine pilot, was overseas on a tour of duty, she took his handgun and killed her 4- and 8-year old daughters while they slept in their beds. During the trial, the jury heard testimony arguing that she had been driven temporarily insane by Prozac, the prescription anti-depressants she was taking to cope with the stress of being a de-facto single mother. They declared her not guilty, and sentenced her to spend time in a mental institution.
Her husband, now retired, married his second wife in 1995, with whom he had two sons before they split up in 2004. According to the child custody agreement, the younger son lives with his father in Seattle while the older spends most of the year with his mom in Silverton, OR. The boys spend vacations and holidays together, splitting time between both parents.
Mother Discovers Truth About Ex-Husband's Remarriage
The deal was working smoothly until the mother began to suspect that her ex-husband was involved with his first wife without telling her. She had been released from psychiatric care in 2005, having been declared completely cured and no longer a threat to anyone. When the mother confronted her ex about his relationship in 2007, he admitted that he had re-married his first wife, but that they were getting divorced.
Despite initial filings, the divorce was never finalized and the father continued living with the woman for years while the boy's mother remained unaware. After discovering the truth in June of 2011, she filed for and was granted emergency custody of her sons for a month, after which she would be granted a hearing to argue for an alteration to the original custody agreement.
At the hearing, which took place in early August, the court denied her request, arguing that the boys were in no danger from their stepmother. She has filed for an appeal, which will began hearings on August 25th.
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