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Women who murdered husband not guilty because she was abused by him.

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R

rafterman

A sadder and a wiser man
Feb 15, 2004
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Not sure if this sends the right message.

After a night of drunken revelry that escalated into a violent street fight, Crystal-Dawn MacKenzie grabbed a knife from her neighbour's kitchen, yelled "I'm going to kill him" and stabbed her common-law husband in the collarbone.

If the knife had moved just a centimetre in either direction, Patrick Andrew Thomas likely would have lived, a pathologist later testified. But the 29-year-old bled to death on a downtown Saint John street.

Eight months later, Ms. MacKenzie walked out of a New Brunswick court a free woman after a nine-woman, three-man jury in Saint John acquitted the 28-year-old mother of three of second-degree murder, accepting that she had finally snapped after years of abuse at the hands of Mr. Thomas.

The Crown filed an appeal last week, a rare move for a jury trial. Prosecutors are arguing that the judge erred in his definitions of murder and self-defence and that Ms. MacKenzie had alternatives to killing her husband to escape his violence.

"Of course she had other options," said her lawyer, David Kelly. "But she had been drinking and that impaired her judgement."

The case has riveted the community and polarized opinions about just how far a battered woman can go to defend herself, an argument that has raged since a landmark 1990 Supreme Court of Canada ruling found women could use a history of abuse to defend themselves from murder charges.

People were surprised that Ms. MacKenzie didn't face any consequences for killing her partner, such as family violence counselling or community service, said Nancy Porter, executive director of Coverdale Centre for Women, a women's shelter that neighbours Ms. MacKenzie's apartment.

"Has the jury sent the message that if you're in a situation of family violence it's OK to bump off the other half ?" she asked. "I can't imagine the Crown would be on some kind of witch hunt."

Ms. MacKenzie's acquittal has renewed public criticism of the battered women's defence despite overwhelming evidence that women are far more often the targets of domestic homicides than men, said Deborah Doherty, executive director of Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick. Ms. Doherty has studied 20 years' worth of domestic homicides in the province, which until recently had all been committed by men and many of which were murder-suicides.

"Certainly there seems to be people who wrote comments when she was acquitted that it's just another sign of bias against men in relationships," Ms. Doherty said.

"But in terms of domestic homicides, three out of every four victims are women. Yes, women are killing their partners, but it's much more uncommon. It's much more likely that women are the victims of serious domestic violence."

Ms. MacKenzie's rocky and often violent four-year relationship with Mr. Thomas was played out in detail at trial as the judge asked potential jurors to excuse themselves if they had strong feelings on domestic violence.

A friend testified he once saw Mr. Thomas sitting on Ms. Mackenzie when she was pregnant and punching her in the face. Others told the jury they saw Mr. Thomas bite Ms. MacKenzie, call her names and smash her head into tiles. The jury saw two years of police photos of Ms. MacKenzie bruised and battered and in 2009 Mr. Thomas pleaded guilty to assaulting Ms. MacKenzie. Although he was ordered not to go near her, he breached his probation three times.

Still, a social worker told the court that although she was concerned about the domestic violence complaints, she had never removed the couple's children from the home.

In the early hours of March 15, the couple was coming home from partying at a Saint John bar when Mr. Thomas passed out on the steps of their building. Witnesses said they saw Ms. MacKenzie trying to wake him up by smacking him in the head.

It escalated into an argument and then a physical fight. Ms. MacKenzie grabbed a broom and ran at Mr. Thomas in the street. He put her in a headlock and began to choke her.

When she broke free, neighbours heard her say "I've had enough, I'm going to kill him," before she ran for a kitchen knife.

"I just didn't want him to go in the house because my kids were in there," Ms. MacKenzie testified. "I knew if he went in, that would be the end of me," she said.

It was Ms. MacKenzie's pledge to kill her husband that has left some applauding the Crown's decision to appeal her acquittal.

"They need to say enough is enough — it doesn't matter what gender you are if you commit murder, it should be treated a murder," said Ed Hoyt, founder of the New Brunswick Children's Equal Parenting Association, which held a Christmas Eve protest outside the Saint John family court.

That argument ignores a huge body of research that shows women and men often kill for very different reasons and under very different circumstances in relationships, Ms. Doherty said.

Men often kill their partners in the midst of a breakup, often out of jealousy and control. Women mostly kill within intact relationships, often to protect themselves and their children or because they see no other way out of the abuse.

"If you read all the literature on battered women, they tend not to see the other options," Ms. Doherty said.

"Even if they go to a neighbour, they think he's going to follow them. There's no hope unless they kill him."

Although courts have been doing their best to understand the plight of abused women, the acquittal risks setting a troubling precedent, said Coverdale shelter's Ms. Porter.

"In the world of domestic violence, nothing is right."

National Post with files from the New Brunswick


Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/ca...tic+violence/4051267/story.html#ixzz1A1vknWCu
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xix

Time Zone Traveller
Jul 27, 2002
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Rockslinger said:
Marriage can be hazardous to your health. Ever hear of an SP killing her male client?
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It was discussed several weeks ago here. Look it up. I think the ex-SP was sent to jail.
Of all people I am surprised you forgot that thread.
 
T

The Fruity Hare

Well-known member
Dec 4, 2002
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xix said:
It was discussed several weeks ago here. Look it up. I think the ex-SP was sent to jail.
Of all people I am surprised you forgot that thread.
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Unless there was another one, I think she had gone down the road of drugs and killed a guy at some kind of junk yard, not an SP killing her client.
 
M

MindJohn

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Aug 27, 2002
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rafterman said:
Women who murdered husband not guilty because she was abused.

Not sure if this sends the right message.
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Would say same about your topic heading.


How about: "Woman who murdered husband not guilty because he abused her."


(then more people could just pass this thread, instead of spending time wanting to learn if indeed the cycle of abuse was being recognized)

(this isn't exactly a cycle of abuse - rather, it's just domestic violence)
 
R

Rockslinger

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Apr 24, 2005
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CapitalGuy said:
Its a matter of whether abusing your SO warrants a death penalty (hint - it does not).
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But they are arguing that it was untentional MUI (murder under the influence). DUI is socially unacceptable but the jury is saying that MUI is ok.
 
M

Malibook

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I wonder if this woman will get off too. :eek:


Woman Bites Off Estranged Husband’s Penis And Stabs Him To Death

A woman who was forced to have oral sex by her estranged husband bit off his penis. In the ensuing fight the husband, a senior official at the Ministry Of Defence, stabbed her in the arm, but she managed to grab the knife and stabbed him in the abdomen. He died from his injuries shortly afterwards.

Pattaya, 19 December 2010 (PDN): At 00.30 am, PluTa Luang Sattahip Police Investigator Lieutenant Colonel Bumrung Rakbumrungsakul, was notified by Mr. Viroj Siritham, [70], residing at 115/20 Moo 2, Soi Saladaeng, Plu Ta Luang, Sattahip that his daughter, Mrs. Mali Siritham [40], had bitten off the penis of her former husband and stabbed him to death and she had been seriously injured herself. Police, medical and rescue teams were immediately dispatched to the scene.

At the single house, in front of the bedroom, they found the body of Mr. Pairoj Farkgai [47], lying dead in a pool of blood. Mr. Pairoj, a senior official at the Ministry of Defense, was wearing just a pair of blue shorts and had been stabbed in the abdomen.

The officials found several blood stains on the couch and in the bed, and found a part of the dead man’s penis on the floor nearby. They also found a sharp knife about 3 inches in length. Mrs. Mali Siritham, who was lying on the floor, had a serious stab wound on her right arm and was immediately taken to the emergency room at the Queen Sirikit Hospital for treatment.

Mrs. Mali later explained to police that she and her former husband had been living together for about 5 years and had two children. She said Mr. Pairoj was lecherous and flirted with many women. His behaviour became intolerable and they had decided to divorce 7 months ago. Mr. Pairoj then went to work in Bangkok but he always came to see their daughters twice a week.

On the night of the incident, he had arrived in a very drunken state and demanded to have sex with her but she refused, telling him that she was having her period.

Mrs. Mali said he became very angry and tried to force her to have anal sex but she resisted. He then pushed her on the bed and beat her up and forced her to give him oral sex. Mrs. Mali said she was in tears, and decided to bite off his penis. Mr. Pairoj then grabbed a knife which had been placed on top of the bed and stabbed her on her right arm. She said they were fighting over the knife for about 10 minutes when she finally grabbed the knife from him and stabbed him once in the stomach.

Mr. Pairoj then collapsed on the floor and Mrs. Mali ran out of the room to get help from her father and her neighbour. By the time they came back into the room, Mr. Pairoj was already dead.

http://www.pattayadailynews.com/en/2010/12/19/woman-bites-off-estranged-husbands-penis-and-stabs-him-to-death/
 
C

chargerfan

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Dec 12, 2010
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lol a guy would never get off with this excuse. The same people who support letting her off are the same people who want women in the armed forces, police or any other male dominated job........
 
B

blackrock13

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Jun 6, 2009
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chargerfan said:
lol a guy would never get off with this excuse. The same people who support letting her off are the same people who want women in the armed forces, police or any other male dominated job........
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and these are bad things because why? This should be fun.
 
L

Ladyraven

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Oct 24, 2008
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unless you have been in a sitution such as these women you do not know how you will react,,,
I have been there and know how it feels to feel like your world is crashing and you have no way to escape .. at the end I fought back and hurt him bad
I do not think we should judge unless you know first hand what they have gone thru..
 
M

Malibook

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After a night of drunken revelry

Why would she be out partying and getting drunk with someone she was so fearful of?

I would cut abused women a lot of slack and even if she killed the guy in his sleep I would be okay with that if the abuse is proven but this particular case seems ridiculous.

"Of course she had other options," said her lawyer, David Kelly. "But she had been drinking and that impaired her judgement."
 
L

Ladyraven

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Oct 24, 2008
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Malibook said:
After a night of drunken revelry

Why would she be out partying and getting drunk with someone she was so fearful of?

I would cut abused women a lot of slack and even if she killed the guy in his sleep I would be okay with that if the abuse is proven but this particular case seems ridiculous.

"Of course she had other options," said her lawyer, David Kelly. "But she had been drinking and that impaired her judgement."
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do we know what all happened ? no.. she could have been out with a gf . thinking she had some free time away.. and then the husband or whatever decides he is not cool with her being out and beats the shit out of her.. it does happen.. like i said , we should not judge unless we know all the facts ..
 
R

rhuarc29

Well-known member
Apr 15, 2009
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Can you only use abuse as a defense when it's physical abuse, or does psychological abuse count too?
 
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