Mom thwarts plan to be famous (MD)

He promised her fame, but she picked life for her and her kids! I just hope that she has a safe place to be and stay there for a while when they release him from jail!! Way To Go, MOM!!!

Mom's Actions May Have Averted Murder-Suicide

Posted on May 07, 2009

LEONARDTOWN, Md. (May 7, 2009) -- A woman and her two children may be alive today because she had the presence of mind to flee her home and seek safety after her husband allegedly violently assaulted both teenage children and then displayed a handgun saying, "I am going to make you famous, I don't have anything to lose."

The husband, Donnie Smith, Sr., 41, of Lexington Park was arrested after local police executed a search and seizure warrant at his residence Tuesday. Police say the handgun was recovered at that time.

Sheriff's office patrol deputies say they were alerted to the situation in the home on Monday.

According to police, Smith first assaulted his 13 year-old son, who wears leg braces, by pushing him down stairs several weeks ago. On Sunday Smith allegedly assaulted his 16 year-old daughter by punching her in the face several times and pointing a handgun at her. Police say Smith then showed his wife the handgun and said, "I am going to make you famous, I don't have anything to lose."

The woman told police she took her children and fled the following day, Monday, because of her husband's propensity for violence.

Detectives from the Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI) picked up the investigation. The following day, Tuesday, detectives, with the assistance of the St. Mary's County Emergency Services Team (EST), executed the search and seizure warrant and made the arrest.

Smith was charged with First Degree Assault, 2 counts of Second Degree Assault, 2 counts of Child Abuse, and Possession of a Firearm by a Felon. He was incarcerated in the St. Mary's County Detention Center.

Teen escapes as Fla. dad kills family, self (FL)

Husband kills wife and two kids, shoots at the other kid, then kills himself May 3, 2009

Wife, two boys shot dead; she had tried to leave home after a fight

LAKELAND, Fla. - His father and stepmother had fought before, and 13-year-old Nathan Bellar had no reason to believe their latest exchange would turn violent.

After an argument on Sunday, though, the teen watched his father gun down the woman as she tried to take her sons to their grandparents'. Nathan ran back through the house and heard his father shoot his younger brothers, but the gunfire wasn't over.

His father chased him through the cluttered garage and took aim, but tripped on a bicycle before he could get off another fatal shot. As Nathan ran screaming to the safety of a neighbor's house, the father killed himself in the front lawn.

The teen was staying with his grandparents Monday, a day after investigators said Troy Ryan Bellar, 34, shot and killed his wife, Wendy Bellar, 31, and their 5-month-old and 8-year-old sons. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said the surviving teen was quiet and cried some after the shootings but also helped detectives piece together the deadly sequence of events.

"His entire family is gone," Judd said.

"What he witnessed, what he was engaged in, most people in this world will never witness," the sheriff later added.

Wife was trying to drive away
Wendy Bellar was carrying 5-month-old Zack James Bellar out the front door in a car seat when Nathan Bellar saw his father follow them with a 7.62 mm rifle, Judd said. She intended to take the infant and her 8-year-old son, Ryan Patrick Bellar, to her in-laws for the night but was shot down on the screen porch.

Nathan told deputies the earlier argument gave no indication that the evening would turn violent. Investigators said they had not found any suicide note, and a motive remained unclear for the killings in Lakeland, between Tampa and Orlando.

"They argued a little bit, but nothing significant," Judd said.

It wasn't the first argument for the couple who'd been married for 10 years. According to an arrest affidavit, Troy Bellar accused his wife of hitting, punching and scratching him in March. Wendy Bellar was arrested on suspicion of domestic battery, and the case was pending.

Sunday night's gunfire sent panicked neighbors to their phones to dial 911. One of them told an emergency dispatcher she saw the teen "running around in the garage with his hands up, and like screaming," according to a recording of the call.

After Nathan safely reached the home of another neighbor, that woman relayed information from him to a 911 dispatcher.

"A boy's here at my house that lives there and says that his dad shot his mom and there's a baby there," the neighbor, who was not identified, told a 911 operator.

"I know this is going to be very hard for you to ask him," the operator said. "Is his mom still alive?"

After an exchange between the neighbor and the boy, the woman told the operator: "She got shot in the head."

Wife, sons were found on porch
Deputies arrived at a horrific scene: Wendy Bellar and her two young sons dead from gunshot wounds in their screened-in porch and their father lifeless in the front yard. A preliminary investigation indicates that more than 10 rounds were fired in all.

"It left veteran detectives and crime scene technicians that do this for a living stunned last night," Judd said.

AP Wendy Bellar

Detectives praised the surviving teen for being helpful.

"He cried some, as you can imagine," Judd said. "As he should have done. And he was very quiet. And we were very delicate with him."

Investigators say Troy Bellar ran a home remodeling and handyman business, which next-door neighbor Doug Lane said seemed to do a steady business despite the economic downturn.

"He said the remodeling had dropped off, but he was doing repair work for commercial apartments and that sort of thing," Lane said. "He said that he was staying busy."

Judd couldn't say if the family was experiencing any financial difficulties.

Records show the husband had been arrested twice in the county, on suspicion of armed robbery and aggravated battery in 1994 and for driving under the influence in 1999. He was convicted of petit/retail theft in the first case and of driving under the influence in the second.

But if the couple argued before, Lane said he never heard them. He said he saw them sitting outside together Sunday evening, giving no indication that anything was wrong.

"Troy and Wendy were good, good neighbors," Lane said. "Fortunate to know them. Just an awful shock."

Original: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30555915/

Abinesh Sharma New Zealand Slams 16 month oldd baby into wall.

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16-month-old slammed against wall, murder trial told New 11:58AM Tuesday Mar 17, 2009
A 16-month-old child was shaken violently and slammed against a wall making his head swell like a balloon, a jury was told today at the start of the trial of the man charged with the toddler's murder.
Fiji-born Abhinesh Sharma, 37, a plumber, appeared in the High Court at Auckland today, charged with the murder of Sachin Dhani, who died at Auckland's Starship Hospital on June 21 2007 of head injuries.
The jury, of eight men and four women, heard Sharma plead not guilty to the charge of murder.
Opening the crown case, prosecutor Phil Hamlin told the court the Dhani and Sharma families were close, as the wives were sisters, and both families had moved to New Zealand from Fiji in 2006.
The Dhani family lived in Remuera and had a cleaning business, and the Sharma family often helped with babysitting in the evenings when they were out working.
Mr Hamlin said that on June 19 2007, Sharma was babysitting his nephew Sachin, along with his siblings, a five-year-old girl and a three-year-old boy. Sharma and his wife Dorin also have five-year-old twins.
Mr Hamlin said Sharma became frustrated and angry with Sachin.
"He picked him up and shook him violently. He slammed him against the wall and floor. His body went floppy, and his head became swollen like a balloon. He rapidly lost consciousness, and he never recovered from his fatal injuries," he said.
Mr Hamlin said Sachin died two days later in Starship Hospital.
He told the jury they had to decide whether Sharma intended to kill Sachin when he slammed him against the floor and wall.
Mr Hamlin said Sachin was a happy and healthy child, who was beginning to take a few steps on his own and saying a few words.
Sometime between 7pm and 8.06pm on June 19 2007, Sachin suffered irreversible head injuries.
Sharma made a telephone call at 8.06pm to Mrs Dani to tell her Sachin was unwell, and insisted that she came home.
When Mr and Mrs Dani arrived at Sharma's address in Mt Wellington, they saw Sachin was not responsive or reactive and he was floppy. They all got into the car and headed to Ascot Hospital, the nearest hospital to that address.
On the way to the hospital, they were stopped by the police because of erratic driving. When they explained where they were going, they were taken to the hospital by police car, while Sharma followed behind with the children.
Doctors at Ascot Hospital found a damaged 10cm diameter area at the back of the boy's head.
Sachin was transferred to Starship Hospital where he had surgery to relieve the pressure on his skull.
He was placed on life support, but it was clear there was no brain activity.
"The boy was effectively brain dead and there was nothing more they could do," Mr Hamlin said.
On June 21 2007 his life support was turned off and he died shortly after.
Mr Hamlin said medical professionals who dealt with Sachin said his brain tissue had become very swollen and soft, and his brain had moved considerably because of the swelling.
He said the brain had moved down towards the brain stem, causing coma which eventually lead to death.
Sachin also suffered external haemorrhaging to both retinas, with ruptures to his eye and optic nerve, which showed the force used to cause the damage, Mr Hamlin said.
At the hospital, Sharma suggested the child had fallen off a couch and hit his head on a coffee table.
"All the injuries came within seconds of each other, and would not have been caused by the child falling and hitting his head," Mr Hamlin said.
The jury was shown photographs and were told they would be hearing from 50 witnesses throughout the trial.
- NZPA
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10562127

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1393986.htm

Family murder-suicides about control, social worker says	PRINT FRIENDLY	EMAIL STORY
The World Today - Thursday, 16 June , 2005  12:47:39 Reporter: David Weber ELEANOR HALL: A Perth social worker has been delving into the emotional area of family murder suicides to try to find out why they happen. In a new book being launched today, Carolyn Harris Johnson, investigates seven cases in which where a man murders his children and commits suicide after a relationship breakdown. Ms Johnson says the ultimate act of revenge is often unexpected because the warning signs have been missed.  David Weber reports from Perth that the Chief Judge of the Western Australian Family Court will launch the book this afternoon. DAVID WEBER: Carolyn Harris Johnson says she found that in all the cases, domestic violence was under-reported. She says any threats to harm a partner or the children need to be taken very seriously. CAROLYN HARRIS JOHNSON: It certainly was under-reported and minimised where it was reported, even to the point where I was interviewing women, and they'd say initially there was no domestic violence, and then they'd go on to give me accounts of quite horrific examples of stalking, violence and threats. DAVID WEBER: There were threats before murders were carried out then? CAROLYN HARRIS JOHNSON: Certainly. There were threats to harm the woman, threats to kill her. Threats to kill the children and also suicidal threats by the perpetrator.  DAVID WEBER: Ms Johnson says the threats to kill or harm came way before the separation occurred. She found that the men believed that the family was theirs to control. CAROLYN HARRIS JOHNSON: He wasn't going to let her leave and I think the offences have a lot more to do with proprietary attitude of the males towards their families and the need to control them, than it has to do with anything else.  At the same time, when women start to talk to men about their dissatisfaction with a relationship and perhaps try to get the man to go to counselling to address the issues, it's often very hard for women to get men to do that. DAVID WEBER: The whole thing is about a loss of control really, and this is like the final act of control in a way? CAROLYN HARRIS JOHNSON: Absolutely. But I think that what we must remember is the incidence of this kind of familicide is actually very low, and even though the cases are shocking, and involve multiple loss of life, thankfully they don't occur too often. DAVID WEBER: The research suggests that the woman who's been left behind never gets over the trauma. One of the ways that survivors cope is to help others who find themselves in a similar kind of situation.  Carolyn Harris Johnson says there's also a long-term impact on the extended family. CAROLYN HARRIS JOHNSON: For us as adults, it's very hard to understand what would motivate a parent to kill a child. But for a child it's even harder and I've heard of cases where in the extended family, there's been marital separations and the women in that family have just been quite unable to allow their kids to go and have access to their father, even though that child's father might have been quite loving and never made any threats of any kind.  DAVID WEBER: Do men do this more than women? CAROLYN HARRIS JOHNSON: Men commit familicide following separation much, much more frequently than women. There's very few cases of that recorded anywhere.  DAVID WEBER: It would seem that Ms Johnson's research dispels two myths about familicide.  One is that familicide is caused by a legal dispute about custody. Ms Johnson found that not all the cases had been to the Family Court, and there was only one where custody was in dispute. And she found a lack of contact wasn't a causing factor because the men were using their access to the children to kill them.  She believes she's also countered another widely held view. CAROLYN HARRIS JOHNSON: One of the other myths is that familicide is caused by love, that the extreme love the father feels for the children means that he can't bear to be separated from them, and that somehow he kills them out of that kind of emotional response. But that really doesn't make a lot of sense to me, and the research doesn't really bear that out either. ELEANOR HALL: Social worker Carolyn Harris Johnson speaking to David Weber in Perth about her new book, Come With Daddy.

Arthur Freeman charged with murder of daughter in West Gate Bridge horror (Australia)

Man throws daughter over bridge, killing her Jan. 29, 2009

Original: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24978767-421,00.html

By staff writers NEWS.com.au January 29, 2009 05:50pm

'Suicidal' ... Arthur Freeman has been charged with murder. Jon Hargest / Herald Sun See more pictures from the scene

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A MAN charged with the murder of his daughter, whom he allegedly threw off Melbourne's West Gate Bridge, did not appear in court today because he was deemed suicidal.

Arthur Freeman, 36, was expected to appear in the Melbourne Magistrate's Court for a filing hearing, but the court heard he was unfit to be interviewed by police.

Mr Freeman was in an acute psychiatric state and there were concerns he may harm himself, the court heard.

Mr Freeman was arrested outside the Federal Court in Melbourne about 10.30am (AEDT).

A Royal Children's Hospital spokeswoman said Mr Freeman's daughter, named Darcy, died at 1.35pm.

Darcy was pulled from the water by police at about 9.30am after allegedly being thrown 58m from the bridge at 9.10am.

Mr Freeman was arrested after security staff noticed him standing in the foyer with his two sons, aged seven and 23 months.

Police were called and several officers arrested Mr Freeman, who offered no resistance.

Just before he was taken away, he asked security guards to look after his children.

At the time of his arrest, police had no indication Mr Freeman was connected to the West Gate Bridge incident.

Paramedic team manager Trevor Weston said paramedics worked on Darcy for almost an hour.

"Paramedics worked for about 50 minutes at the scene and the child was then conveyed to the Royal Children's Hospital," Mr Weston said.

She was airlifted to the Royal Children's Hospital in a critical condition with massive internal injuries.

Homicide squad Det-Insp Steve Clark said Mr Freeman's sons may have been in the car with him on the bridge.

He said the girl's mother, Peta Freeman, had been informed and was with police.

"She's currently assisting police the best she can in terrible, terrible circumstances," he said.

Det-Insp Clark said a number of witnesses had already come forward and were being interviewed by police.

Bridge security

Victorian Premier John Brumby said it was too early to think about extra security measures on the West Gate Bridge following the girl's death.

"To be honest people probably aren't thinking about those things. They're just thinking, they're feeling for the family and how this could have occurred," he said.

"I think every Victorian, you just shudder, you just think how could that happen and it's just such a terrible thing.

"All Victorians' hearts would go out to the family, to the child ... we just hope and pray."

With the Herald Sun and AAP