The war at home: Domestic violence takes a shocking toll

By Beth Brelje

Pocono Record Writer

July 12, 2009 6:00 AM

In Pennsylvania, 18 lethal incidents of domestic violence have shocked neighborhoods and broken hearts since Memorial Day.

The deaths total 26 and range in age from 18 months to 97 years. Seven perpetrators of domestic violence died in the act, six by suicide and one shot by police.

Monroe County has had the highest number of domestic violence related deaths, five, since Memorial Day.

Statistics show men are as likely as women to be killed — 16 males and 10 females died. According to police allegations, three sons were murdered by their fathers, one father was killed by his daughter and one mother was murdered by her son. Three girlfriends killed their boyfriends, and one husband was killed by his wife of 37 years. Two wives were murdered by their husbands.

If the numbers seem high, consider how many incidents of physical or emotional abuse go unreported in this often secret crime.

Elaine Long, a domestic violence survivor from Kresgeville, says children are especially vulnerable to violence in the home.

"Children are resilient, but emotional scars can't be seen until they're adolescents and adults," said Long. "It's a learned behavior. If no one intervenes, it perpetuates through each generation."

Perhaps it's time for another Memorial Day, to remember the victims of family violence in Pennsylvania, summer 2009:

• May 26, Lehigh County: Hector Fuentes, 44, was beaten to death in Allentown, and his cousin, Luis Anaya, 24, was arrested. According to reports, Anaya had been living with Fuentes because he had nowhere else to go. Anaya was charged with homicide.
• May 30, Berks County: Kathryn Lena, 97, was shot by her son, Gary Lena, 67, in Reading. He then committed suicide. Police said health issues may have played a role in their deaths.
• May 31, Philadelphia: Lillian Rodriguez 56, was shot in the head by her boyfriend, Jose Rodriguez, 55. The two were sitting on stools at a public bar at closing time. Jose Rodriguez shot her then turned the gun on himself and committed suicide.
• June 1, Allegheny County: Robert Tomer, 24, killed himself after a four-hour standoff with police. A sister called police to report Tomer was threatening their mother, father and a nephew in the home. Family members were able to get outside after police arrived, but Tomer barricaded himself inside the home and shot himself when police entered. Officers had been called to the house on previous occasions.
• June 2, Dauphin County: Gary Wiest, 60, was stabbed to death with a steak knife in Harrisburg. His daughter, Chanel Lee Wiest, 32, was charged with criminal homicide. Gary Wiest had been stabbed more than 40 times. The two argued over money before the murder.
• June 7, Lebanon County: Jeanette Ebling, 71, was found dead in her home, sitting in a motorized wheelchair, with a cord wrapped around her neck. Her son, David Ebling, was charged with homicide.
• June 8, Northampton/Monroe counties: A 9-year-old boy was kidnapped at gunpoint by his father, Daniel Autienrath, 31, of Palmer Township. Autienrath's estranged wife had filed a protection from abuse order against him. Autienrath led police on a 40-mile car chase from Nazareth through Stroudsburg to Tobyhanna, where state police forced his vehicle off the road. In the ensuing shootout, Autienrath shot Trooper Joshua Miller, 34. Miller returned fire, killing Autienrath. Miller died of his wounds. Another state trooper was shot but survived.
• June 14, Huntingdon County: Danny Frank, 60, told his ex-girlfriend he was going to commit suicide if she didn't come over to his house. She alerted authorities. Frank held police at a standoff and then shot himself to death.
• June 20, Fayette County: Carmen Higginbotham, 30, was run over by a car and killed, and her 44-year-old husband was charged. He fled the scene, but was later arrested for homicide. The couple had six children between them. Two were his from a previous marriage, two were their biological children, and two were adopted.
• June 21, Philadelphia: Police claim Rafeea Parker, 33, was shot on the street by her boyfriend's mother's boyfriend, Marvin "Brown" Nesmith. Parker died at the scene. Police allege Nesmith then shot his girlfriend, Renee Farrow 55, who later died at the hospital. The shooting happened on Father's Day with six family members present. Family members said Farrow, a mental health worker, dated Nesmith for 10 years and stayed with him because she thought she could help him with his mental problems.
• June 21, Monroe County: Justin Uckele, 19, was shot and killed on Father's Day, and his father, Bernard John Uckele, 62, has been charged. Justin Uckele's girlfriend, who also lived in the home, had gotten into an argument with the father. The fight turned physical. Uckele came home from work to confront his father and was shot.
• June 21, York County: A woman with mental disabilities, Kathy Stoner, 49, was shot in the head by her brother, David Stoner, 54, who then turned the gun on himself. According to neighbors, David Stoner had slid into depression. A year after losing his job as a mechanic, he could not find work. He took care of his sister and was worried about what would happened to his sister if he died.
• June 26, Fayette County: Clarence Blair III, 46, a father of two, was stabbed in the chest, and police have accused his girlfriend, Dayna McMaster, 32. After the stabbing, McMaster drove Blair to the hospital, where he died. McMaster was charged with criminal homicide.
• June 26, Montgomery County: Joseph Cressman, 60, was shot by his estranged wife, Cathy, in a murder-suicide. Police found the couple seated inside Cressman's pickup truck, which was parked in the driveway. Both were bleeding from gunshot wounds to the head. A handgun was found in Cathy Cressman's lap. Joseph Cressman was pronounced dead at the hospital. Cathy Cressman underwent surgery but later died. News articles quote the Montgomery County district attorney's report as saying Cathy Cressman had stated that if she could not have her husband of 37 years, nobody would. She purchased a .38-caliber revolver the day of the shooting.
• June 28, Montgomery County: Brian Janus, 28, had been arguing with his younger brother and his mother. After they left the house, the argument continued between Brian Janus and his father, David Janus, 54. Brian Janus went to his bedroom in the basement, and David Janus went upstairs, got a hunting rifle, and forced open a locked filing cabinet containing ammunition. He loaded the rifle on his way back to the basement, where he confronted his son. The Montgomery County district attorney alleges David Janus pointed the loaded rifle at his unarmed son and pulled the trigger. He is charged with murder.
• June 30, Erie County: Peggy Carlson, 42, a prison guard and mother of five, was shot by her out-of-work husband, Dean Carlson, 40. He told his father, who called 911. Then Dean Carlson drove to a remote area, parked his car on a railroad trestle, shot himself and fell to the bank of the creek below.
• July 4, Allegheny County: Chondale Terry, 28, was shot after watching the July 4th fireworks, and his girlfriend, Ciara Roberts, 20, has been charged. The couple had argued during the fireworks show, and when Terry walked away, Roberts loaded a revolver and shot and killed Terry while he stood at a bus stop, according to the criminal complaint.
• July 6, Monroe County: Victoria Adams, 21, and her son, Sidney Michael Parrish, 18 months, were shot and killed in their Effort home, and the baby's father, Michael John Parrish, 23, has been charged. Parrish is a guard at Monroe County Correctional Facility with many white-supremacist tattoos on his body. He fled the scene with a friend and was captured in New Hampshire. He is charged with first-degree murder, and the district attorney said he will seek the death penalty.