By JANINE ZEITLIN
jzeitlin@news-press.com
Three months ago, Southwest Florida reeled from one of its most brutal acts of domestic violence when a man confessed to slitting the throats of his wife and five children.
Authorities found Guerline Damas and her children dead in their Collier County home after her family filed a missing person's report.
Days later, Marta Torres, who had fled Fort Myers to Ocala to escape her husband, begged for her life before he gunned her down in the parking lot of her workplace.
The bloodshed was not isolated.
Sixteen victims have lost their lives to domestic violence in Lee County since 2008, according to law enforcement records and The News-Press archives. In 2007, five people were killed.
Last year, Lee tallied the largest number of domestic violence killings in more than 15 years. It vied with Palm Beach County - double its population - to rank the fourth highest in the state, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement data. Eleven people were killed in 2008.
This year, there have been five deaths in Lee, including three in Cape Coral.
The attacks in homes persist. This month, a Lehigh Acres man shot and critically injured his wife.
"We're seeing more severe cases than normal staying in our shelter," said Jennifer Benton, executive director of Abuse Counseling & Treatment, which serves Lee County.
Its 91 shelter beds in Fort Myers and Cape Coral have been mostly full since May.
"We see very few victims that actually think they would get killed," she said.
The state attorney's office in Lee receives about 40 new domestic violence misdemeanor cases each week, but many victims choose not to go forward with cases that are hard to prove without their help. More than half of a year's sample of Lee felony cases stamped as domestic violence couldn't be prosecuted because of uncooperative victims.
"The nature of domestic violence is different than a lot of crimes. It takes place in the home and without other witnesses," said Paul Poland, assistant state attorney over the misdemeanor division.
"Our cases rely completely on the willingness of the victims."
For those who have lost loved ones to violence at home, the grief has seared deep. Their lives are forever changed, becoming the forgotten victims.
"That happens to other people. It just can't happen to me," said Vicki Shephard, 47, of Vermont.
Her 27-year-old daughter, Shannon Sweet, was found dead in March in Cape Coral.
Authorities suspect her boyfriend, Matthew Gullett, strangled her.
Counseling hasn't helped. There are days Shephard would rather not wake up if that meant she'd be reunited with her daughter.
"You don't go a day without thinking about it," she said.
Cases continue
Domestic violence is more widespread than reported in headlines. It simmers to a boil behind many closed doors.
"The propensity for such a relationship to end in murder is very high," Lee sheriff's Capt. Ron Curtis wrote in an e-mail.
It's a misdemeanor when it doesn't involve weapons or doesn't rise to serious injury, Poland said. In a one-year period, Lee counted at least 1,400 such cases.
ACT saw a 136 percent swell in clients, including victims and abusers, from 2005 to 2008. The shelter also expanded in that time.
Through September of this year, ACT had served more than 5,000 clients.
Few punished
There are several barriers to punishing the guilty.
Sometimes, an abuser is not arrested, said Pat Tracy, a therapist who leads groups for abusers offered by ACT. Men have told him that there were times they should have gone to jail but didn't because they were calm and polite when police arrived.
Tracy understands it's difficult for law enforcers to sort out cases but believes arrests should be made. Survivors said that they have lied to authorities to protect their abusers.
Poland said abusers rarely see jail for a misdemeanor.
Even with felonies, Kelly Worcester, supervisor of the state's felony division, said many victims would rather see abusers take classes or treatment than face jail.
"Nobody has the right to put their hands on you," she said, "and it's amazing how many people don't agree with that."
Maureen Tomlinson, a 46-year-old planning designer in Lee, believes the system is not set up to fully protect victims.
A dog, an alarm system, and baby powder she sprinkles on the attic steps to detect whether the door has been disturbed, do not make her feel safe.
Her ex-boyfriend was convicted of felony assault and child endangerment, she said. Worried he will find her, she's never filed for child support and wishes she could wipe her address from the county's property appraiser site.
"Forget the restraining order. Get out and move," she said. "It's not easy, but your life will never be easy again."
Finding help
Those working in the domestic violence field say services are solid, though they could always use more. The hardest part is linking people to them.
Only a quarter of all physical assaults and one-fifth of rapes against women and girls by partners are reported to police, says the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Benton, the head of ACT, said many victims who were murdered in Lee did not seek help. There's denial as well as shame in exposing private pain.
"They have that victim mentality that I deserved this. Sometimes, it takes months to uncover," said Rosemary Boisvert, transitional living center director at the Southwest Florida Addictions Services.
SWFAS works closely with ACT because drugs or alcohol can accelerate or exacerbate abuse.
Little outrage
Apathy about domestic violence still pervades society, some say. People can see it as a private matter.
"Crime prevention is everybody's responsibility," said Fort Myers police Chief Doug Baker. "If you see something and it's not right, report it."
Domestic violence is not an issue that's garnered a groundswell of interest in halting it. There's misunderstanding.
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