By MORGAN COOK mcook@nctimes.com | Posted: Monday, July 11, 2011 6:00 am | Loading…
OCEANSIDE: Neighbor describes couple killed in apparent murder-suicide
OCEANSIDE: Police identify couple killed in murder-suicide
REGION: North County bucks statewide homicide decline
A murder-suicide reported last week in Oceanside was the fourth San Diego County had seen in a month, a troubling spate of crimes that have destroyed three families and left 13 county residents ---- six of them children ---- dead.
Experts said the high number of murder-suicides in the county since May 24 is unusual and could be because some people who were already considering the idea acted impulsively when they heard of other cases. But because the crimes are infrequent, there is no data to prove they are in any way contagious, or that a group of such tragedies raises the specter of more crimes to come.
"Here and there you could have more than you would expect at any one point in time, but nothing happens in any systematic way with these types of events," Dr. Alan L. Berman, director of the American Association of Suicidology in Washington, D.C., said Thursday. "Every case is different; there are all sorts of variations of a theme.
"Each case like this will have its own story."
That said, murder-suicides have common elements people can watch for to protect themselves and others from falling victim, experts said.
Four murder-suicides in 31 days
On May 24, a family of four was found dead at their home in Chula Vista. The father, 44-year-old Alfredo Pimienta, and his two daughters, 17 and 9, were discovered in the swimming pool. His wife, Georgina, was found dead in a bathtub. Suicide notes written by both parents indicated they had conspired to kill themselves and their children.
On May 31, 41-year-old Mary Alvarez, her 12-year-old daughter, Angelica, and her 11-year-old son, Hamid, were found beaten and strangled to death in their Chula Vista home. Police said the primary suspect was Mary Alvarez' estranged boyfriend, who died soon afterward when he threw himself off of a freeway overpass in Spring Valley.
On June 21, 49-year-old Thomas Fuchs and his two teenage sons were found shot to death inside their home in Chula Vista, police said. They said several suicide notes in the house indicated Fuchs had killed himself and his children before he set the house on fire.
A suicide note dated June 24 and a handgun were in an Oceanside home where police reportedly discovered the decomposing bodies of Tyrone Knight and his wife, Vanessa, on July 5. Police said the note indicated that Tyrone had killed his wife, then himself, but they did not confirm how the couple died.
Common threads
No experts could speak to the specific crimes in San Diego County, but they identified some common threads seen in murder-suicides as a whole.
According to experts who spoke on a June 9, 2009, panel hosted by the National Institute of Justice, murder-suicides have some common characteristics. By understanding the common threads, experts said, people can better understand if they or someone they know is at risk.
Panel speaker Dr. Jacqueline Campbell of John Hopkins University pointed to research published in the American Journal of Epidemiology that examined 408 murder-suicides in 17 states.
In those crimes, 90 percent of the killers were male, she said. Of the men who killed, 80 percent killed an intimate partner.
Researchers have found overwhelmingly that domestic violence ---- including threats ---- preceded the majority of murder-suicides.
"Prior domestic violence is by far the No. 1 risk factor in these cases," Campbell said.
Campbell said that the men who kill their loved-ones and then themselves don't usually "look like" ordinary batterers: they don't have a long criminal record, they haven't been abusive very often.
But the violence surfaces in interviews with family members, she said.
"They often times have been abusive, but just not very often and it was never reported to the police."
Another major risk factor was access to guns, experts said.
Dr. David Adams, a co-founder of Emerge, a nonprofit dedicated to stopping domestic violence, pointed to a study by the Violence Policy Center of 591 cases of murder-suicide.
Guns were used to accomplish 92 percent of the crimes, he said.
"The rate of gun use seemed to be even higher for murder-suicide cases than it is for cases of just intimate partner homicide, high as that is," Adams said.
"We're not going to be able to prevent all of these," Campbell said. "But we could do a better job of being alert for them, of knowing this kind of scenario does exist and can happen and is horrifically tragic."
How to get help
One of the most important things is to be realistic about risks and ask for help if things seem wrong, experts said. But it's important to get help in a safe way because trying to simply pick up and leave a dangerous situation could provoke violence.
One way to get help is to call the county's Access & Crisis Line (800-479-3339), which is constantly staffed by trained counselors who can provide help with mental illness, feelings of despair, and domestic violence.
"The Access & Crisis hotline provides resources, so if a woman was fearful we could direct her in a safe way," said Ruth Kenzelmann, executive director of United Behavioral Health, a private company that contracts with the county to provide outreach for mental health issues. "There are tremendous resources in the county."
Anyone can call the hotline, whether you feel desperate, like you've reached the end of your rope, or you know someone who seems depressed and needs help, Kenzelmann said.
"There's help; there's resources," she said. "There's always, always help."
Call staff writer Morgan Cook at 760-739-6675.
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