Detroit PD Murder-Suicide: More on Lethal IPV

A Detroit Homicide detective, Edward Williams, shot and killed his wife (and fellow Detroit police officer) Patricia Williams yesterday in the parking lot of the public library near their suburban Canton home:

A woman's lifeless body lay on the cement. The man who had shot her was down, too, a self-inflicted gunshot to his head, his breathing too shallow to detect.

"Someone's shooting in our parking lot ... please hurry, hurry, hurry!" a caller pleaded with a 911 dispatcher. "Come on, hurry!"

The pleas were useless: Canton police said that 33-year-old Patricia Williams, a Detroit police officer, was already dead, and her killer and husband -- Detroit homicide Detective Edward Williams, 36 -- had fatally turned the gun on himself.

The Tuesday morning deaths were a marriage of two endemic problems plaguing police departments nationwide, experts said: domestic violence and suicides.

I was just lecturing on lethal IPV in my Women & Crime class on Monday, explaining that male-to-female intimate partner homicides are much more likely to involve either filicide and/or suicide than female-to-male intimate partner homicides.

This tragic case also raises issues of intimate partner violence among police officers:

"Police officers have unique jobs where they're instructed to keep their family life separate from their work life," said Eric Lambert, a professor with Wayne State University's department of criminal justice. "In reality, that's impossible."

According to data compiled by WSU, Detroit officers face a higher suicide rate than most police, at 28 per 100,000 police officers, nearly twice as many as New York City police.

Also, marriages involving police officers are two to four times more likely to involve domestic violence.

Finally, a sort of morbid tidbit about this story: Edward Williams had appeared on A&E's homicide-investigation reality show "The First 48". It's strange to think about someone who investigated murders for a living and who routinely interacted with victims' devastated families and friends actually killing another person (let alone his wife). Inexplicable, senseless, and truly sad.

Totally Unshocking Crime Headlines, Vol. 17

"Chris Brown asks for forgiveness for assault"

a.k.a.: "Please forgive me for decimating my public image as a wholesome, clean-cut, O.C.-starring, guy-you-can-bring-home-to-mom anti-thug by choking my beloved pop-star ex-girlfriend to the point of unconsciousness and threatening to kill her as she sat in the passenger seat of my rented Lamborghini. Oh, and please, please, PLEASE still buy my records."

Details Emerge in McNair Slaying

If you happened to successfully wade through the incessant media coverage of MJ's memorial services and Sarah Palin's "quitting-so-I'm-not-a-quitter" resignation, you may have seen that the police have released several details about the slaying of ex-NFL quarterback Steve McNair:

• McNair was shot four times: twice in the head and twice in the chest;
• McNair's girlfriend, Sahel Kazemi, also was fatally shot once in the head;
• The semiautomatic pistol found at the scene was lying underneath Kazemi's body, and was purchased by her two nights before the killings;
• Kazemi and McNair -- married father of four -- were pulled over late Thursday night, hours before she reportedly purchased the gun. Police charged her with a DUI; Kazemi reportedly told officers that she had been "high" from a "hookah situation;"
• Authorities do not believe that the crime scene had been "cleaned up" between the time of the shootings and the discovery of the bodies.
  

Hmmm. Although Kazemi's death has not yet been classified pending ballistics tests, it certainly appears to be a murder-suicide. If that proves to be true, this case would be highly unusual as intimate partner murder-suicides are far more commonly perpetrated by men against women, rather than the other way around. I will update as more details emerge. (P.S. This story makes me miss our former contributor The NY Kid, whose "beat" was stories about sports and crime. Shout out to you, Kid!)

P.S. Speaking of MJ, it only seems apropos for the GBOC to honor the King of Pop by...what else? Linking to his "Smooth Criminal" video.

Update: Just as we suspected.

GBOC Lightning Round: Looooong Overdue Edition

Hello, loyal readers. Please enjoy another GBOC lightning round. As always, please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

Item 1: Rick Rosenfeld on the Economy & Crime
In several prior posts we've considered what effect (if any) the recession will have on patterns and rates of offending, especially violent crime. Recently, ASC President-elect (and Velma's colleague) Rick Rosenfeld spoke to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about this very topic:

Reports of crime were down across the nation last year — especially in the Midwest — but the St. Louis area saw a mixed bag, according to figures released by the FBI on Monday and other available data.

The national crime rate continued a downward trend started in 2007. But an expert who tracks local and national crime statistics said the data provide few clues about how the global recession might have influenced crime rates.

"If one were going to see crime increases, one would have expected to see them later in the year last year and into the first part of 2009," said Richard Rosenfeld, a criminologist with the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and president-elect of the American Society of [Criminology].

I don't have much to add, other than that I appreciate Rosenfeld's clear, consice discussions of crime statistics. For more of his media commentaries, see here and here.

Item 2: "AG Holder Vows Science-Based Crime Policy"
I saw this headline about Holder's remarks to the NIJ in my Ted Gest e-mail a few weeks ago and was ecstatic! Here's an excerpt:

President Obama has renewed our nation’s commitment to rely on science in the development of public policy. He understands, as do I, that sound judgment derives from solid evidence. Moreover, we understand that the production of such evidence requires resources. As a result of this understanding, the President’s 2010 budget calls for increased investment in scientific research, including criminology.

Woo hoo! The word "criminology" appeared in a description of President Obama's proposed budget! How exciting is that? Finally, I thought, there might be some recognition at the federal level that criminal justice policy is often divorced from empirical research, especially where drug policy is concerned. But then I wondered if my excitement wasn't a bit misplaced; after all, isn't this step just a necessary corrective? More importantly, what does it say about the state of contemporary U.S. crime policy that we are celebrating the announcement that policy decisions will now be based on actual research? It sort of begs the question: what are these decisions based on now? Intuition? Fear? Personal beliefs? A giant Magic 8-Ball?

Item 3: Chris Brown Sentenced
Chris Brown struck a deal with prosecutors earlier this week just hours before the hearing in his assault case was set to begin. Brown avoided prison time for assaulting then-girlfriend and fellow pop star Rihanna back in February. However, in exchange for pleading guilty to felony assault he was sentenced to five years' probation, a year-long domestic violence class, and six months of "community labor" . He also was ordered to stay at least 50 yards away from Rihanna for the next five years (though the restriction was lessened to 10 yards for industry events at which both singers are present).

It will be interesting to see whether or how this story develops: will the two reuinte? Will there be a lot of publicity during his community service? (I'm thinking TMZ cameras at his trash-pickup sessions or something). Stay tuned, I guess.

Totally Unshocking Crime Headlines, Vol. 16

"Drew Peterson charged with murder, authorities say"

But it's not like you didn't know it was coming.

Keira Knightley in UK Domestic Violence PSA

The UK anti-violence organization Women's Aid has launched a national domestic violence awareness campaign, the cornerstone of which is a short film called "Cut" starring Keira Knightley:

Trigger warning.



I always enjoy it when celebrities become involved with women's and/or anti-violence organizations, especially high-profile celebs like Keira Knightley (see also Ashley Judd).

For information about the new campaign, click here.

P.S. Both EW and Feministing posted about this story this morning, too!

More on Domestic Violence in the Spotlight

A while back I wrote about how the murder of Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother, and nephew by her estranged brother-in-law had thrust the issue of domestic violence into the public spotlight. More recently, the (alleged) domestic assault of pop star Rihanna by her pop star boyfriend Chris Brown has served to stimulate the public conversation about domestic violence even further. In particular, the severity of the assault -- during which Brown reportedly placed Rihanna in stranglehold and choked her to near unconsciousness -- has raised awareness of intimate partner homicide, an issue we've discussed before. For example, a recent Chicago Tribune article highlights the fact that choking is a harbinger of potentially lethal IPV:

Domestic violence victims who are choked are at significant risk for being killed. The Chicago Women's Health Risk Study, which examined how to predict domestic violence homicide, found that 12 percent of women whose partners choked them were later killed, compared with 6 percent of women who had been attacked but not choked.

I was especially pleased to see homicide researcher* (and fellow DWCer!) Becky Block quoted in the article:

There is something particularly chilling about choking, said Carolyn Rebecca Block, senior research analyst with the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority and principal investigator for the Chicago study.

"If somebody can look you in the eye and squeeze the breath of life out of you ... what kind of person could do that to someone else?" she said. "You're talking about the ultimate degree of power and control."

Though it is regrettable that Rihanna has to endure this very difficult time in a very public manner, one hopes that all of the attention will serve to educate women, and men, about the realities of domestic violence.

*Folks who are interested in homicide research should check out the Homicide Research Working Group, an organization -- along with the Division on Women & Crime -- in which Becky is an active member.

Violence against Women in Music

When I teach "Women and Criminal Justice," my students have the option of completing an extra credit project on gender and expression in music. Essentially, they have to identify a song that focuses in some way on gender and justice. The examples I use in class are:

• Bitch, Meredith Brooks: The quintessential "madonna/whore" duality expressed in pop music. Who would have thought?
• Just a Girl, No Doubt: Although not related directly to CJ, the issues of patriarchy and paternalism pervade (hooray for alliteration!).

Imagine how surprised I was yesterday to find this gem on my favorite pop culture blog:



Consider this my new example.

According to allmusic.com, this was written as a protest song. This isn't a definitive source, so we can't be sure about the intent of the song writers. We do know that Phil Spector arranged the song--given that his ex-wife Ronnie Spector made serious accusations against him about his abuse and control of her, one has to wonder...

It is good to know that even in 1962 there was protest against this song playing on the radio. I suppose the satirical nature of the song wasn't entirely obvious.

UPDATE: Dr. Huginkiss points out that Carole King was a writer on this song, so I think we can definitively place this in the "protest" category. Also, Hole did a cover of this song. There's something about Courtney Love singing it that removes all trace of satire.

Good Commentary on Domestic Violence

Currently CNN.com is running a commentary by author Leslie Morgan Steiner in which she draws parallels between Chris Brown's alleged assault of girlfriend Rihanna and her own abusive marriage. As someone who researches and works closely with battered women, I appreciated this passage from Steiner's essay the most:

What's hardest for outsiders to fathom is how lethal a cocktail love, hope and sympathy can be. I first fell for my husband the night he confided how he, like Chris Brown, had been traumatized as a young boy by domestic violence in his home...

Our culture encourages women to nurture men, making it predictable that many experience a seductive empathy for abusive men, as well as the misguided hope that love can obliterate an ugly past. (emphasis mine)

As any IPV researcher can attest, the "Why does she stay?" question often is the most pressing and persistent one asked of battered women. (Accompanying it, of course, is its silent but more sinister corollary: "If she stays, she must like it, or else she's too stupid to leave.") Among other topics, Steiner's brief commentary touches on some of the many reasons -- genuine love for their partners, sympathy for their abusive upbringing, hope that they will change -- why women stay.

As I said before, I am watching the Chris Brown/Rihanna case very closely, in large part to see what (if any) national dialogue about domestic violence is prompted as a result. Though there have been a few other domestic violence cases involving celebrities over the last few years (e.g., see Mindy McCready, Josh Brolin/Diane Lane, etc.), the Chris Brown/Rihanna incident arguably is the most high-profile, and involves celebrities who are extremely popular with young people in particular. Given this, the opportunity is ripe for a national conversation -- especially among teens and twenty-somethings -- about domestic violence. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen.

P.S. Leslie Morgan Steiner has a forthcoming memoir about her experiences with domestic violence.

More on The Economy and Violent Crime

Back in October I wrote about a few isolated incidents of intimate partner homicides and murder-suicides that were linked to the faltering economy. The gist of the story is that people who were panicking about devastating financial losses killed either their spouses/partners, themselves, or both.

A story in today's Detroit Free Press offers similar anecdotal evidence that the recession -- which has hit southeastern Michigan particularly hard -- is affecting violent crime by prompting a rise in women's calls to domestic violence hotlines and shelters in metro Detroit:

The calls -- virtually all from women trying to escape physically abusive men -- climbed abruptly this fall, compared with the same period in 2006 and 2007, officials said this month.

The spike has counselors and prevention leaders blaming the economy, saying job losses and other household economic stress are stoking domestic violence. And they said the increase underscores the need for donations to help domestic violence agencies and shelters....

The groups also said they must provide more women with gas cards or other transportation help so that they can appear in court to testify -- considered a key way to stop domestic violence offenders from repeating their behavior.

Having worked with many economically disadvantaged battered women over the years, I can only imagine how the current recession is exacerbating both the level of violence women experience (their partners are angrier, potentially depressed, and growing increasingly volatile and violent in the face of under- and unemployment) and their available avenues for recourse (they can't leave because they are unemployed and financially dependent on their partners, or they lack the money, transportation, and other resources necessary to leave even if they wanted to).

To find information about offering financial assistance to domestic violence agencies in your state, click here.

Totally Unshocking Crime Headlines, Vol. 15

"Sister's ex killed Hudson's relatives in jealous rage"

The estranged brother-in-law of singer and actress Jennifer Hudson killed her relatives in a jealous rage because he thought his wife was seeing another man, a prosecutor said Wednesday at a hearing in which bail was denied...

Balfour accused her of having a relationship with another man because he saw a birthday present and concluded it was a gift from a boyfriend.

I don't think anyone is surprised by this announcement. Though Balfour's defense attorney has called the prosecutor's case "a quilt with holes in it" (question: why not just "a case with holes in it"? Why the superfluous metaphor?) and claims that his client has been pre-judged "in the media as a killer" (as perhaps my post demonstrates), it's hard to imagine an alternate scenario that is as plausible as the one prosecutors have outlined. Though Hudson's mother and brother were not blood relatives to Balfour, and though her young nephew was Balfour's stepson rather than his biological son, I think it is still fair to classify these murders as acts of lethal IPV as they appear rooted in the sort of jealousy and rage that characterize male-perpetrated intimate partner homicide. As I said in my previous post about gender and lethal IPV, women tend to kill intimate partners who abuse them while men tend to kill intimate partners who leave or betray them. The difference in this case is that the target of the alleged perpetrator's jealous rage was not his ex-wife but her mother, brother, and son. Either way, it's heart-breaking.

Domestic Violence in the Spotlight

The October of a presidential election year is all about political news, and understandably so. But October also is noteworthy for another reason, one that I've regrettably neglected to share before now: October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month (read more here).

Sadly, recent events have catapulted domestic violence to above-the-fold headlines, even as the presidential campaigns are in overdrive heading into next week's election. The mother, brother, and 7-year old nephew of Oscar-winning actress, recording artist, and American Idol fan-favorite Jennifer Hudson were murdered over the weekend. Hudson's mother and brother were found shot to death in their south side Chicago home last Friday; her nephew's body was discovered in an abandoned vehicle a few days later.

Police have a suspect in custody: the boy's stepfather (and estranged husband of Hudson's sister, Julia), William Balfour. Balfour previously served time on an attempted murder charge; he's now locked up for violating the parole stemming from that conviction.

Until recently officials were mum about a possible motive for the crime, though they classified the slayings as "domestic-related". Today, though, the Chicago Tribune is reporting that "family disputes" are being investigated as a likely motive:

As Chicago police today continue their investigation into the slayings of three family members of actress-singer Jennifer Hudson, their primary suspect remains the estranged husband of Hudson's sister.

And a police source said the motive in the killings of Hudson's mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew could be related to ongoing disputes between the suspect and his estranged wife, Julia Hudson, and her family. One of those disputes was over unpaid car payments, sources said....

A source said Balfour told Julia Hudson he would kill her if he found out she had a boyfriend, despite the fact that he had other girlfriends....

Police believe that Balfour went to the Hudson family home Friday and shot through the front door, striking Hudson's brother, Jason. Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, came into the living room, screaming, and Balfour shot her as well, sources said. (Emphasis mine.)

Until all of the facts of this case are unearthed, we have to be cautious about reaching conclusions. However, given what we know about the nature of male-to-female domestic homicides, this case certainly seems to fit the pattern.

While intimate partner homicides occur every day, intimate partner homicides involving relatives of a very famous and much-loved Hollywood celebrity do not. The Hudson murders offer a tragic and sobering reminder of why all of the work that is done on behalf of Domestic Violence Awareness Month is still very much needed.

The Economy, Violence, and Crime

A while back I pondered whether the economic crisis would be accompanied by a rise in crime. I speculated that perhaps we would see a spike in crimes of financial gain, such as robbery or retail fraud. It appears, though, that an increase in violent crime -- especially domestic homicides and murder-suicides -- may also be linked to the economic crisis. According to CNN.com:

An out-of-work money manager in California loses a fortune and wipes out his family in a murder-suicide.

A 90-year-old Ohio widow shoots herself in the chest as authorities arrive to evict her from the modest house she called home for 38 years.

In Massachusetts, a housewife who had hidden her family's mounting financial crisis from her husband sends a note to the mortgage company warning: "By the time you foreclose on my house, I'll be dead." Then Carlene Balderrama shot herself to death, leaving an insurance policy and a suicide note on a table.

Across the country, authorities are becoming concerned that the nation's financial woes could turn increasingly violent, and they are urging people to get help. In some places, mental-health hot lines are jammed, counseling services are in high demand and domestic-violence shelters are full...

Of course, we have to be careful about drawing inferences from these few examples. First, a handful of cases does not a crime wave make. Second, it is likely that an insufficient amount of time has passed to observe any real trends in violent crime rates that may be attributable to economic instability. Third, these violent incidents may be better explained by a diathesis-stress model rather than resulting from economic troubles alone. In other words, it is possible that the people who have resorted to suicide and/or homicide in recent weeks had an underlying mental or emotional instability that was exacerbated by the current economic situation, but that may have led to violence in the presence of other stressors as well.

Still, all of that said, I don't think it is unreasonable to conclude that in the face of seemingly insurmountable financial woes, some people will choose to end their lives or the lives of their loved ones. And that, as financial troubles mount for a growing percentage of the population, more and more people might opt for a violent "way out".

It seems to me that strain is as plausible an explanation as any in these situations, though I suppose other theories might be applied as well.

Thoughts?

Maintaining Focus Amid the O.J. Spectacle

So, OJ's back on trial. For crimes that don't involve the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman:

O.J. Simpson's robbery and kidnapping trial begins today with the attorneys outlining in opening statements what they expect to prove. Simpson, perhaps the most notorious criminal defendant in modern history, smiled and gave a thumb's up as he entered the Clark County Regional Justice Center.

You know, in a recent race and crime course I taught, I had my students watch a documentary about O.J. Simpson. Most of them were too young to remember his trial with any clarity, so just after the tenth anniversary of his acquittal (and shortly after the announcement of his quickly-aborted "If I Did It" book), we discussed in class the fundamental tension between (a) the cultural and societal significance of his acquittal (e.g., the symbolic victory of a Black man "beating" a white man's justice system that has long been regarded as a tool of oppression against Black men) and (b) the uncomfortable reality that he almost certainly got away with murder. We also discussed the extent to which the murders were recognized as lethal intimate partner violence, and the role the news media played in characterizing both the murders and Simpson's alleged involvement in them. It was an engaging, thought-provoking discussion I believe my students enjoyed very much, but when it was over I couldn't help but feel a tiny bit guilty that I had focused any attention at all on Simpson, even if only in my classroom. After all, how can there be justice for the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman when Simpson is the one receiving all of the attention?

Fast-forward a few years and Simpson is again dominating headlines. I sit here today wondering, can he please, please just go away? Not just figuratively, but literally?

Instead of wasting another second reading about O.J. Simpson, I encourage you to check out the Nicole Brown Simpson Foundation, whose mission it is to:

...pledge our time, our energy and our voices in an effort to educate the national and international communities to the dangers of domestic violence. We help organizations that shelter and protect families in crisis, support long term solutions and work with educational programs specializing in rehabilitation and job training. We will continue our work until domestic violence is eradicated.

Here's what I would love to see happen: every time Simpson's name is mentioned by the mainstream news media, a donation is made to the Nicole Brown Simpson Foundation. That way our collective attention stays focused firmly where it should: on the two victims who lost their lives and whose memories are honored by ongoing efforts to reduce domestic violence and empower its survivors.

Spousal Rape

I got this information directly from Ted Gest, but I think that it is of great interest to many of the blog contributors.

Nashville Records First Spousal Rape Conviction

Tennessee passed a law in 2005 treating spousal rape the same as any other rape, reports the Tennessean. The husband was given an eight-year suspended prison sentence yesterday after pleading guilty to raping his wife, marking the first conviction in Nashville's Davidson County since the elimination of spousal exemptions for rape. The Tennessean is not identifying the man because he is married to his victim and the newspaper does not identify victims of sex-related crimes.

"This law is important," the victim said. "When you are intimidated, sexually, and forced to do it, it's not fair. It's not just. You are not a possession. It has to be mutual." Victims advocates and police say this case highlights what the law intended to do - give equal rights to spouses and protect them. Lawmakers had the right idea in passing the law, said police Det. Robert Carrigan. "A husband has no right to force sex," he said. "And the wife has the right to say, 'No.' Period. They have to protect themselves and they need to report it.''

See the story here at The Tennessean - It is about time.

Totally Unshocking Crime Headlines, Vol. 12

"Husband charged with murdering soldier wife"

It's getting to the point where I wonder why I even bother posting stories like this.

More from ABC News here.

Violence and the American Athlete - The Case of Domestic Violence

It is generally accepted as fact that male American athletes engage in acts of domestic violence more often than the average American male (and a rate disproportionate to their representation in the population). It is relatively easy to find articles espousing that point of view, but do the statistics bear this out? Clearly, domestic violence in any numbers is too much, but is there truly something about male athletes that makes them more likely to engage in these acts?


There are plenty of examples that one could point to when examining the issue of athletes and domestic violence. There is the poster child of athletes committing domestic violence in Lawrence Phillips, the former Nebraska football player. Just in the past 7-8 years, we have the following incidents: (1) basketball player Jason Kidd is arrested for allegedly slapping his wife (curiously, during their divorce his wife even alleged that he "struck her with everything from a large rock to a cookie"; (2) baseball player Brett Myers is arrested for striking his wife in the face; (3) basketball player Ron Artest is arrested for shoving his girlfriend and preventing her from calling 911; (4) basketball player Glenn Robinson besmirches the Boilermaker name by being arrested for domestic battery, assault, and illegal possession of a weapon after striking his ex-fiancee several times; and (5) just days ago, football player Cedrick Wilson besmirches the name of Cedrick by being arrested for punching his ex-girlfriend in the face.

The problem here is that these examples are glaring due to the high-profile nature of the perpetrators. Domestic violence occurs every day (sadly), but when someone so well-known commits such an act it makes people take notice. So, what are the statistics really like? Richard Lapchick (director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports at University of Central Florida) has been conducting research on violent behavior among professional and college players since the mid-1990s., and concludes that there is a 3-to-1 ratio (i.e., athletes are 3x as likely than the average "civilian" to commit these violent acts). This is supported by other researchers, who have found a degree of hypermasculinity among athletes, but there is some research which contradicts these findings.

As with any socio-behavioral phenomenon, the research on this subject is somewhat split. So, perhaps some of my fellow blog authors who conduct research in this area would care to comment?

What Would Tammy Do?

Huh. So Eliot Spitzer, current Governor and former Attorney General of New York who built his political reputation by targeting Wall Street corruption and ethically dubious business practices by the likes of Merrill Lynch and Sony BMG, was busted by federal authorities investigating a "high end" prostitution ring. Many media outlets are noting that his has the potential to be a career-ending scandal for Spitzer, while other commentators observe the irony in Spitzer being, well, "Spitzered" -- that is, targeted by the type of criminal investigation with which his name became synonymous.

Clearly, politicians' involvement in sex scandals is nothing new*: Republicans and Democrats. Local, state, and federal officials. Gay and straight. Young and old. Sex scandals have marred the careers of a wide variety of politicians. One thing these men do seem to have in common, however, is having staid, supportive spouses who take Tammy's advice and "stand by their man". Hillary Clinton. Suzanne Craig. Wendy Vitter. Carlita Kilpatrick. And now Silda Spitzer. All have stood resolutely alongside their shamed husbands, hands clasped and heads bowed solemnly while their partners ask public forgiveness for their transgressions.

I have been thinking a lot about this and have decided that the wives of publicly disgraced politicians are in similar situations as battered women. After all, both groups of women have partners who engage in morally reprehensible behavior that causes them pain, shame, and embarrassment, and both groups of women generally are expected to simply pick up and leave their husbands. Yet, I'd wager that the decision to leave one's publicly shamed politician husband is just as agonizing as the decision to leave one's abusive husband. (One crucial difference, though: politicians' wives obviously do not face the economic challenges that many battered women do.) Consider the words of Dina McGreevey, ex-wife of former New Jersey governor James McGreevey who was embroiled in a sex scandal of his own back in 2004:

"I was criticized for standing there. Hillary Clinton was criticized for standing there with her husband. We all do it for very personal reasons," McGreevey said in the CNN interview.

"You don't know what it's like unless you're in the person's shoes."

Agreed, and I think that sentiment applies equally well to women in abusive relationships. That said, I will allow that -- just once -- it would be incredibly refreshing for the wife of one of these politicians to hold a press conference in which she announced that she was kicking his [cheating/lying/philandering/adultering/prostituting/etc.] scoundrel ass to the curb.

*Though such news undoubtedly is more shocking when the politician is (or, more accurately, was) regarded as an uncompromising moral crusader like Spitzer.

Detroit Apartments Agree Not To Evict DV/Stalking Victims

So, a woman in Detroit was evicted from her apartment after her boyfriend kicked her door in and smashed her windows. The apartment company managing her unit stated that she was evicted due to her inability to supervise her guests.

As Kyle's mom would say, "Wha-Wha-WHAT"???

The victim had to live in a shelter (which are anything BUT plentiful in Detroit) and subsequently move to a more expensive apartment farther away from her work.

Thankfully, the apartment company agreed not to continue this practice in the future after being sued in federal court by the victim and the ACLU. The victim received an undisclosed settlement.

Every now & then I fool myself that the general public is aware of problems suffered by victims and sympathetic toward their plight. Turns out, nope. Victims can be thrown out of their own homes because of the behavior of others.

As Dr. HnK knows very well, there are many reasons why victims do not contact authorities after abuse. Here's an example of one woman who DOES contact the authorities, notifies her apartment manager, and then gets evicted.

According to the attorney for the ACLU, this practice is quite common. Boy howdy...

Totally Unshocking Crime Headlines, Vol. 8

Death of former cop's third wife ruled a homicide

I think it is now safe to assume that Drew Peterson has murdered not one but two of his wives. Of course, as I stated before, should Ms. Peterson suddenly appear healthy, happy, and in the arms of the secret paramour with whom her husband claims she has fled, I will be happy to offer my heartfelt apologies to Drew Peterson. Until then, I hope the DA's office is working around the clock to assemble a rock-solid case that will put this guy behind bars forever.

The CNN article notes that the classification of Kathleen Savio's death as a homicide leaves Stacy Peterson's family "with a feeling of dread". My sincere condolences to the families of both Kathleen Savio and Stacy Peterson. I can't imagine losing a loved one this way.

P.S. Incidentally, the death of Kathleen Savio shares some eerie similarities with another death making headlines lately: that of Julie Jensen, whose husband recently was found guilty of murdering her. Like Savio, Jensen--who died of ethylene glycol (antifreeze) poisioning her husband claimed was self-inflicted--had expressed concern that her husband would kill her. In Savio's case, she reportedly had told her sister, "He's gonna kill me. It's gonna look like an accident." Likewise, Jensen had a similar fear, writing in a letter: "I pray I'm wrong + nothing happens ... but I am suspicious of Mark's suspicious behaviors + fear for my early demise".