In Fayetteville, North Carolina a community is trying to figure out why 47 year-old William Maxwell, a real estate developer and devout Christian murdered His wife Kathryn, son Connor 17 years-old and daughter Cameron all of 15 years-old before turning the gun on himself.
It is beyond human understanding why anyone would slaughter their entire family, especially someone with close ties to the community. Did William Maxwell wake uo one morning and decide to take the lives of his family? Was he suffering from mental illiness? Did his wife dicsuss the possibility of divorce? Was William Maxwell in financial trouble? No one yet, has an answer.
In these cases of family slaughter answers or excuses, especially when we know the family is often nothing more then a hidden label because of where someone lived, their education or what they did for a living. This community, in my opinion is trying to place a fancy lable on a package because the tragedy is beyond what anyone from that particular community is or could be capable of carrying out. As a society digesting the fact that this person committed murder is echoed in the comments I read on various message boards and one in particular"Billy, if you knew him loved his family. that's what makes this so tragic," said pastor John Cook.
Clearly this case is a wake call. We are faced with a national crisis that has reached epidemic proporations in this country. The slaughtering of family members has taken more lives then those lost in the Vietnman war.
The war in homes must be addressed state by state, city by city, one community at a time. But progress will not be made until we label and acknowledge the fact that this was murder, committed by a man whom is no different then that unsuspecting pillar in your communinty preparing to attend Sunday worship services this morning.
These people who slaughter their families hide behind the same designer shirt label just as sure as the mechanic whom repaired your car last week. They came in all different shapes, sizes and ethnicities, each capable of committing the most unspeakable crimes.
You can prevent a tragedy if you are willing to acknowledge that family homicide and domestic violence are real crimes. Learn the signs of trouble, abuse, stalking, domestic violence, get involved by holding community informational gatherings, post the information in the schools, business and places of worship. If you begin a dialogue you just might be surprised at how many lives will be saved in the process.
