"Holding My Hand Through Hell" and Intimate Partner Violence

Everyone believed by appearance and living in a near north side Chicago neighborhood that our house on a quiet street was a "good, no crime, community." We appeared no different than the other families on the block, and like every other street in the neighborhood, we were considered a safer place to live only because my father was a Chicago Police detective.

I always thought that if people only knew what really went on behind that front door, they would somehow pull us out and take us away to a safe place to live. As a child, no one ever believed me when I would say "my father beats my mother." One time I was suspended from school for writing a poem that went something like this:

This man who drinks and carries a gun

each night he'd come home we'd have no fun,

that bottle, that gun, no place to run.

My father, like most abusers, was a clever manipulator. To the outside world he was a loving husband and father who also happened to be a cop by profession.

On January 19, 1989, the quiet house on Highland street would turn into a gruesome and bloody crime scene. My father would make good on his life long promise to kill my mother before turning the gun on himself.

Available for pr-eorder at Amazon Click HERE

Today, because of their deaths, many victims and their children are alive. You see, this place that I called home would be the training ground in which lives would be saved. Taking 18 years of crime scene experience, learning from a veteran victim, my mother, and a serial abuser who happened to be licensed to carry a badge and a gun, my father, would forever change how the world dealt with intimate partner homicide and violence.

There are far too many homes across the country in quiet little neighborhoods just like mine where violence is silenced behind closed doors. We still do not treat intimate partner violence and stalking as a crime. The house on Highland should be a wake up call to us all, that not much has changed since the laws were passed. And those laws were put in place because of the bloodshed. They were not signed by Governors across the country with a pen of ink, but blood from those slaughtered and erased by those who professed to love them.

You want change? Then everyone must be willing to give this issue more then lip service. If you know someone in an abusive relationship, if you are a lawyer practicing in family court, if it is happening to you, a plan of action is your key to safety. The book Time's Up is based on women, like my mom, who were silenced in the prime of their lives. This is your prescription to safety. Below is a sample of the video you need to prepare, if you do nothing else, the abuse affidavit and video will go a long way, if something happens.

Looking back, I don't think my mother ever really believed my father would actually follow through and kill. But he did. Most women that I assist and keep alive, never want to believe the person with whom they enter a relationship could be capable of killing.

Don't take the chance!

Once you are threatened, hit, stalked, questioned in a controlling way, a second chance to save your life, is no longer an option.

“If you are reading this and find yourself in a similar situation, know that there are measures you must take before announcing the end of your relationship. These safety precautions can be found in the book, "Time's Up: A Guide on How to Leave an Abusive and Stalking Relationship" by Susan Murphy Milano. Don't take things into your own hands without expert guidance.” (Mothers Are Vanishing)

I cannot stress enough, if you are in a relationship that has a history of violence, simply mustering up the courage to confront the person and say it is over, without the proper tools, can cost you your life!

One of the major reasons women stay in abusive relationships is fear. They are afraid of what will happen to them and their children if they leave. Sadly, their fears are often justified; statistics show that a woman is at the greatest risk for injury when sheannounces her plans or leaves an abusive relationship.
The book "Time's Up A Guide on How To Survive and Abusive and Stalking Relationship" is the prescription, if you will, that every person must obtain before they announce they are leaving. Below is an example from Chapter 4, one of many unique tools provided in the book. It is available onAmazon.com, or you can purchase via e-book or on a cd. If you have questions, the email address is: timesupforjustice@gmail.com

Before you decide that you have had enough and are ending the relationship create for yourself the "Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit" and video (shown below).

If you do nothing else, please take one important step that if something does happen to you, if you do vanish likeStacy Peterson, Vensus Stewart, Rachel Anderson, Susan Powell, Lisa Stebic, or are found murdered like Monica Beresford-Redmond, Franki Jacobson, Renee Pagel, Summer Inman,Kelly Rothwell and others where the person responsible has gotten away with murder that your voice and record of the abuse will be captured and recorded. Do it for you friends, family and loved ones. Do it for your children. Do it for you!

Time's Up!

You cannot plead with an abuser and walk away from potentially life threatening situations if you are unable to learn the steps necessary to protect yourself. Time's Up: A Guide on How to Leave and Survive Abusive and Stalking Relationships will allow anyone to orchestrate what is needed to be safe.

"If you are a sophisticated, aware woman, you will find things you didn’t know to help yourself and others. If you are a stay-at-home-mom who has been controlled since a teenager and doesn’t know the first thing about leading an independent life, you’ll find all the details you need to escort you through the risk-filled and often baffling transition ahead . Time's Up by Susan Murphy Milano: is the best companion an abused woman can have."  Kathryn Casey, True-Crime Author

The Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit document preparation and video example in English

The Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit document preparation and video example in Spanish

The Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit document preparation and video example for Men who are being abused

Available on Amazon or Kindle

Susan Murphy Milano is a staff member of the Institute for Relational Harm Reduction and Public Pathology Education as a educator and
 specialist with intimate partner violence prevention strategies directing prevention for high risk situations and cases.

A national trainer to law enforcement, training officers, prosecutors, judges, legislators, social service providers, healthcare professionals,

 victim advocates and the faith based community and author.. In partnership with Management Resources Ltd. of New York addressing 

prevention and solutions within the community to the workplace. Host of The Susan Murphy Milano Show,"Time'sUp!" . She is a regular 

contributor to the nationally syndicated "The Roth Show" with Dr Laurie Roth and a co-host onCrime Wire. Online contributions: Forbes : 

Crime, She Writes providing commentary about the hottest topics on crime, justice, and law from a woman’s perspective, as well as Time's Up! 

a blog which searches for solutions (SOS) for victims of crime Susan is also the daughter of a Chicago Violent Crimes detective who murdered her mother before turning the gun on himself and committing suicide. 

The Solution: "Till Death Do Us Part"

Child support was ordered to be paid by a judge in the amount of $1,281 beginning on May 15, 2011. The couple had been married since 2004. During the marriage Vashti Seacat had given birth to a son in 2007 and another in 2009.

Vashti Seacat, 34 had filed for divorce from her Brett Seacat, 35 just 16 days before a sudden fire on April 30^th caused heavy damage to the family home. Her husband at the time was employed as a police instructor at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center after a number of years with the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Department. In the divorce papers a judge ordered Seacat out of the marital home within 24 hours of being served the papers. But he remained in the home despite the order to vacate.

The boys and their father would escape the blaze without injury. Vashti Seacat was not so lucky. She would not die as the result of the fire, but according to the medical examiner a gunshot wound to the head. And the medical examiner was unable to determine whether the wound was self-inflicted because the entry wound was destroyed in the fire. And Brett Seacat would then easily make claims his soon to be ex-wife was “suicidal.”

Last week in court after two long days of testimony of judge decided there was enough to charge the former law enforcement officer with murder. He is being held on $1million dollars bond and the next court date is schedule for January 6, 2012.

Vashti Seacat feared her husband. She feared for her life. Vashti lost her life because she wanted to end the relationship.

Tragically, this is an all too common case ending in murder. Vashti suffered constant abuse including threats to her life at the hands of her estranged husband. Vashti and her fears are now left to “hearsay” statements repeated by friends and relatives in the aftermath of her murder.

What should have happened but did not, Vashti Secat could have prepared the Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit or the "EAA" as it is called at either the courthouse, therapist's office, or at a remote location to document the abuse have it witnessed by 2 people then notarized before video taping her words. This would remove "hearsay" and any doubt that she feared for her life.

If you are considering ending a relationship, before you say the words out loud "it's over." Before you go to court and file for a protective order from the courts. And before you see an attorney, prepare the Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit. This way your words will count. This way no one can try to claim you killed yourself. This way if you just happen to go missing the evidentiary abuse affidavit will serve as your voice. And the person responsible will be arrested.

Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit For Victims

The Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit

by Susan Murphy Milano

An expert in the area of intimate partner violence and the prevention of homicide, Susan has created specific tools and procedures which the abused need to safely leave a violent relationship.

See example of video affidavit

An “Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit" and video has the additional psychological benefit of being forced to face reality and admit that the potential for the ultimate kind of violence exists…and that if it occurs the perpetrator will be held accountable.

Domestic violence or intimate partner victims now are able to provide information, in their own words, about the fears, dangers, experiences they have had at the hands of their abuser. The" Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit" or "EAA" records victim's stories, histories, and experiences which are preserved and stored on their behalf. These videos will provide answers to the many questions, allegations, and fears that arise when a person has disappeared, gone missing, or been found dead.

Recent cases, such as missing mother Susan Powell of Utah, Renee Pernice of Kansas, Kelly Rothwell of Florida, Jacque Waller of Missouri and women like Stacy Peterson, where the victim’s police officer husband is the person of interest, is the classic example of the benefits of this type of evidence. If Stacy Peterson, or any woman found murdered or is missing, had done an Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit, ON TAPE, from following the information in the “Time’s Up" book ,they would be able to describe:

• threats made against her life or wellbeing, including details of how the perpetrator would carry out the threat
• incidents of past abuse that the victim has endured
• admissions or comments made to her about other victims or people abused
• where evidence or weapons would or could be located
• possible alibis that the perpetrator would make up in his defense (including identification of people who could be co-defendant’s or co-suspects)
• portray visible injuries or marks

Read more here

Purchase Susan Murphy Milano books on escaping domestic violence safely here

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Case concerning the right to confront and prove intent to prevent the witness from testifying

Giles v. California, 554 U.S. 353 (2008)

Facts of the Case

When Dwayne Giles was tried in state court for the murder of his ex- girlfriend, he claimed self-defense. Giles stated that he had heard her vow to hurt him and a friend, and that she had previously shot a man and threatened people with knives. The prosecution then introduced evidence of a conversation between Giles' ex-girlfriend and police in which she claimed that he had assaulted her and threatened to kill her. The district court eventually convicted Giles of murder.

On appeal, Giles argued that use of the police conversation violated his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses against him, namely, his deceased ex- girlfriend.

The California Supreme Court held that Giles had waived this right because he was the cause of his ex-girlfriend's absence. Although this exclusion was justified under common law rules of "forfeiture by wrongdoing", the Supreme Court had greatly constrained the admissibility of such evidence in its 2004 holding in Crawford v. Washington. Crawford essentially wiped out the admissibility of such out-of-court statements unless the testimony could be subject to cross-examination at trial, an option that would be impossible under these circumstances. This case gives the Court an opportunity to expand on its decision in Crawford and to apply it to a situation where the wrongdoing that kept the witness from appearing in court was not motivated by a desire to prevent the witness' testimony.

Question
Are a criminal defendant's rights under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment violated when the common law "forfeiture by wrongdoing" doctrine is applied to allow out-of-court statements made by a witness, absent due to the defendant's own conduct, into evidence without giving defendant an opportunity to cross-examine the absent witness?

Conclusion
Yes. In a 6-3 decision, the Court held that the forfeiture by wrongdoing exception only applies to situations where the defendant causes the witness' absence with the intention of preventing that witness from testifying at trial. Without this intention, any act by the defendant making the witness unavailable does not waive that defendant's Sixth Amendment right to confront and cross-examine the witness, and therefore any out-of-court statements made by the witness are inadmissible as evidence. Justice Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a concurring opinion stressing his belief that statements such as those made by the witness in this case should not implicate the Confrontation Clause at all because the police questioning was not a "formalized dialogue." Justice Samuel Alito also wrote a concurring opinion suggesting that the witness' statements, in his view, did not fall within the Confrontation Clause but noting that neither party had made this argument before the Court. Justice David Souter, joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, concurred in all parts of the majority opinion except one section denouncing the dissenting argument. Justice Souter stated that he did not find the dissent as wrongheaded as the majority suggested.

The dissent, written by Justice Stephen Breyer and joined by Justices John Paul Stevens and Anthony Kennedy, argued that a defendant loses his right to confrontation when he makes a witness unavailable due to his own wrongdoing, even if he did not act with the specific intention of preventing her from testifying at trial. Link- http://courtwatchbrevard.org/drupal/?q=node/176

News Sources on the EAA
http://www2.scnow.com/news/grand-strand/2011/nov/15/cell-phone-app-help-domestic-violence-victims-spea-ar-2692274/ (media Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit)

http://www.wgntv.com/news/coverstory/wgntv-evidentiary-abuse-affidavit-new-tool-gives-abused-women-a-voice-in-courtroom-20111109,0,2614298.story (Media on EAA)

http://www.okcfox.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/kokh_vid_4220.shtml (Media on EAA)

Below is the video example of what someone does as they prepare:

Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit by Susan Murphy Milano from the Book "Time's Up" from Courage Network on Vimeo.

Susan Murphy Milano is a staff member of the Institute for Relational Harm Reduction and Public Pathology Education as a educator and specialist with intimate partner violence prevention strategies directing prevention for high risk situations and cases.

A national trainer to law enforcement, training officers, prosecutors, judges, legislators, social service providers, healthcare professionals, victim advocates and the faith based community and author.. In partnership with Management Resources Ltd. of New York addressing prevention and solutions within the community to the workplace. Host of The Susan Murphy Milano Show,"Time'sUp!" . She is a regular contributor to the nationally syndicated "The Roth Show" with Dr Laurie Roth and a co-host on Crime Wire. Online contributions: Forbes : Crime, She Writesproviding commentary about the hottest topics on crime, justice, and law from a woman’s perspective, as well as Time's Up! a blog which searches for solutions (SOS) for victims of crime.

Susan can be reached at murphymilano@gmail.com

Ronda Reynolds Crime Scene Still Screams Murder!

Late last week Jonathan Meyer a Lewis County Prosecutor refused, after a inquest on October 19, 2011 that the 1998 death of Ronda Reynolds was indeed a homicide. The prosecutor is claiming he doesn't have enough evidence to charge both her husband Ronald A. Reynolds (pictured left)and his son Jonathan A. Reynolds, both of whom were in the house late that night.

"I can't go forward. "I have to have substantial evidence to convict." said Meyer. I would put up the crime scene photo's but they are far too disturbing. In my expert opinion, based on facts in 1998, this is an intimate partner homicide!

The crime scene was staged, rearranged to look like a suicide," according to forensic pathologist Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds.

Ronda Reynolds fulfilled her childhood dream by becoming a Washington State trooper and firearms instructor. She left the patrol a few months after she married to work in private security.

In early 1998, Ronda married Ron Reynolds, an elementary school principal in the small Lewis County town of Toledo, Washington. During their brief marriage, Ronda discovered her husband was having an affair. She confronted him. She told him the marriage was over and that she expected the $15,000 she put into the new marital home to be returned. That night, Ronda booked a flight to her mom's home in Spokane. She made arrangements just after midnight with a friend and veteran police officer to drive her early that morning to the airport. Crime Scene photos show she'd packed her bags and left a message to her husband on the bathroom mirror: "I love you, call me."

Within hours of leaving, Ronda was found dead on the floor of her master bedroom,in the closet,with the door open, just 15 feet away, where her husband claims to have been sound asleep. When Ron Reynolds was questioned, he told police Ronda was distraught and talked about killing herself.

The gruesome crime scene photo's tell a different story. (if you go to the link, please be advised the photo's are on this site are graphic).

Jerry Berry was Lewis County's lead detective on the case and said "this appeared to have the earmarks of a staged homicide."But Berry faced serious evidence problems because he wasn't called to the scene until two hours after Ronda's body was found, and the crime scene had already been disturbed.

But, seven months after Ronda's death, Ron Reynolds' attorney wrote the department insisting they remove the cloud of suspicion and close the case. And "if you do not then we will." Berry says the sheriff's office caved, closing the case as a suicide over his objections. "They just basically wanted me to let it go, leave it as a suicide, and move on and take on other cases and be done with it," Berry said.

News accounts of the inquest 2 weeks ago said " most of the testimony and evidence offered at the coroner's inquest was hearsay and conjecture, which would not be admissible in a criminal trial."

If, Ronda Reynolds had the opportunity to complete the Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit in 1998, heads would be rolling and there would be arrests in Ronda's case. Her own words, not hearsay of the abuse she suffered and why she was fleeing for her life would have be captured in an affidavit and on a recorded video.

On October 31, 2011 in Mrytle Beach, SC at the techno forensics conference WetStone Technologies and myself will introduce and unveil this groundbreaking tool for victims of intimate partner violence ,stalking and homicide.

To read about this amazing technology visit Journalist and Author Crime Scre column on Forbes: Crime. She Writes:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/crime/2011/10/30/new-technology-for-domestic-violence-and-stalking-victims/

Susan Murphy Milano is a staff member of the Institute for Relational Harm Reduction and Public Pathology Education. She is a specialist with intimate partner violence prevention strategies and high risk cases and available for personal consultations through the Institute. She is also part of the team at Management Resources Limited of New York.

Susan is a contributor to Forbes : Crime, She Writes a powerhouse lineup of female true crime professionals, experts and authors providing commentary about the hottest topics on crime, justice, and law from a woman’s perspective.

Susan is the author of "Time's Up: A Guide on How to Leave and Survive Abusive and Stalking Relationships,"Moving out, Moving on, and Defending Out Lives. Susan is the host of The Susan Murphy Milano Show, "Time's Up!" . She is a regular contributor to the nationally syndicated "The Roth Show" with Dr Laurie Roth and a co-host on Crime Wire.

Surviving in War

Trained in One Battle, Losing Another : PFC Ashley Cecelia Barnes

By Susan Murphy Milano

Private First Class Ashley Cecelia Barnes, 18, was a soldier in the United States Army. She entered the Army in September 2008 and deployed to Afghanistan in December 2008. Ashley was an automated logistical specialist assigned to the 7th Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 159th Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division.

Prior to becoming a soldier, she got married. She finished boot camp and returned home for a brief leave before being deployed. Things were not going well for the new bride and her abusive groom.

Only a short time after Ashley married him, she realized he was violent and dangerous. On November 30, 2008, according to a police reports, the groom Khaleffa Lambert punched and choked her unconscious, and Ashley just knew that "he was not what she wanted in her life." She aspired to have a career in the military minus being a victim of criminal intimate partner violence.

During her tour of duty the new husband and she continued to do battle with finances and words; she decided to get a divorce. Ashley made arrangements to leave her unit, return to the States, obtain a lawyer, file for divorce and then go back to Afghanistan.

On March 7, 2009, the husband stalked Ashley, kidnapping her from a Tennessee Microtel Inn hotel room where she had been staying. He stabbed her numerous times then put her in his SUV and drove off. He was arrested by State Police on the highway because of how he was driving. Police saw Ashley's body in the back seat, and made an arrest. The husband admitted the crime to the officer.

Now, the husband is awaiting trial for the murder of PFC Ashely Cecelia Barnes. He is represented by a defense attorney who filed a motion in court this week to have the history of domestic excluded in the upcoming murder trial. This is ridiculous! The pattern of conduct in this case is very basic in terms of the actual events leading up to her murder. The couple's documented history is a factor. I also question why I did not see any charges regarding felony stalking.

He is caught and arrested with the body. The Prosecutor offers him a deal and he refuses. His defense attorney is arguing the State boxed his client into a corner. I expect my defense attorney friends will be contacting me for this remark. I realize I am not a lawyer, but how cut and dry is this case where they have to remove important facts that resulted in this woman's murder? By the way, do not forget, he murdered a United States Soldier, wife or not.

Even with the evidence and the facts, justice seems to being short changed as it pertains to the life of Ashley Cecelia Barnes. And costing unnecessary tax payer dollars over a case of premeditated murder. Yes, everyone has a right to a trial by jury, but where are Ashley's rights, who has been silenced in the prime of her life? She has no one speaking up for her.

All of Ashley's military training did nothing to prepare her for her own war with a man who was hell bent on killing her. Why? Because she was ending the violence in a peaceful way, and in these relationships of intimate partner violence, without proper training, the victims never win.

A lot could have changed for Ashley if she had completed the "boot camp" instructions in the book "TIME'S UP: A GUIDE ON HOW TO LEAVE AND SURVIVE ABUSIVE AND STALKING RELATIONSHIPS."

The "boot camp" if you will, is for anyone going through a divorce or violent, stalking type of relationship break-up. It is also for attorney's practicing family law. Immediately, before filing for divorce in court, lawyers have the individual complete the paperwork (similar to a last will and testament), the law office witnesses and notarizes the documents, and copies are made. Then the individual reads what was just prepared in the law office before a video camera. Afterwards, the individual follows the rest of the "boot camp manual training" so they are able to stay alive.

In this case, the importance in Ashley completing just the Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit in this section of the manual would have preserved the facts as to the violence and her fear of being killed. I say this because, in my opinion, had she completed the Time's Up manual, her chances of survival would have been greater. Then the lawyer who filed her divorce would have turned over evidence in Ashley's own words and the prosecutor's case would already be over. So far, those who have followed the "Time's Up" "boot camp manual" are still alive.

There is a reason soldiers go into battle properly trained to fight the enemy and stay alive. Ashely Cecelia Barnes was well prepared when she went to fight for our country. Shouldn't the same training have applied to her war in the battle of intimate partner homicide?

Susan Murphy Milano is with the Institute for Relational Harm Reduction and Public Pathology Education. She is an expert on intimate partner violence and homicide crimes. For more information visithttp://www.saferelationshipsmagazine.com/ She is also in partnership with Pamela Chapman and iAscend Programs. http://pamelachapmanl.biz Susan is the author of "Time's Up A Guide on How to Leave and SurviveAbusive and Stalking Relationships," available for purchase at the Institute, Amazon.com and wherever books are sold. Susan is the host of The Susan Murphy Milano Show, "Time's Up!" on Here Women Talkhttp://www.herewomentalk.com/and is a regular contributor to the nationally syndicated The Roth Show with Dr Laurie Roth

Justice Interrupts the Life of Christie Thorne

Crime Wire featured the case of Christie Thorne. Two weeks before her divorce was finalized she was found dead.

Christie Thorne was a victim of domestic violence and stalking according to numerous police reports . Because the divorce was not finalized her parents had no say in how her remains were handled. It is disturbing that evidence was destroyed, and no autopsy was performed; no medical examiner or coroner in charge of the crime scene, instead a rush to judgement by a justice of the peace, in the town of Longview, located in the State of Texas, ruling her death a suicide.

Immediately, the husband, who still maintained legal rights because they were technically still married, was able to authorize the body cremated. The evidence was destroyed.

This is why when a person begins a divorce action, separates or ends a relationship, having the Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit and video prepared and copies given to trusted friends and relatives removes the burden by surviving families members to have cases of intimate partner homicide investigated and those responsible arrested.

Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit by Susan Murphy Milano from the Book "Time's Up" from Courage Network on Vimeo.

Christie was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head on the bedroom floor of her home in Longview, Texas on June 21, 2007. After an inadequate investigation and no autopsy, a 19-minute inquest by a Justice of the Peace resulted in the determination that the then 35-year-old had taken her own life. Over the objections of Christie's family, her body was released to her estranged husband and cremated.

Jeanie Cummings, Christie's mother, doesn't believe her daughter killed herself. She is convinced that Bob Thorne, Christie's husband, murdered Christie. She cites a history of domestic violence and contends that the investigators, including the Justice of the Peace, botched the investigation due to incompetence or corruption.

Steps taken by the family:

1. Have sucessfully been able to show and with Judge Fort's own Informal 19 minute InquestRuling of how incompetent he was when he ruled that my daughter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to her left temple. MY DAUGHTER WAS RIGHT-HANDED!!

2. Have successfully been able to show a conflict between Judge Fort's ruling and the police reports. The judge incompetently ruled that my daughter's fatal gunshot wound came from her left while the police were indicating incompetently that the gunshot came from her right side....POINT OF FACT IS...( they all BOTCHED my daughter's suspicious death )..( MURDER )... and without ever considering even ONCE that an autospy needed to be performed while they never apparently thought much either to go over everything thoroughly BETWEEN themselves before they all decided negligently that their incompetent ruling of suicide just might have been a homicide instead that needed investigating to get a murderer off the streets. My daughter's death was a violent death in Texas and her suspicious death should have NEVER been ruled a suicide so quickly by either the police or byJudge Fort.

3. We hired a Private Investigator, Mr. Akin's, who is a crime scene expert out of Austin, Texas who looked over my daughter's crime scene pictures in April of this year and in his analysis he wrote that it appeared that my daughter's fatal wound was to her left temple..( just like Judge Fort ruled )..and he wrote that it appeared that her hair had been violently pulled to the left. Also, there was NO BLOOD on either one of her hands. NOTE: The police did not bother to do a GUNSHOT RESIDUE TEST and did not bother to run fingerprints on the gun. MY DAUGHTER DID NOT FIRE THAT GUN THAT KILLED HER. SHE WAS OVER-TAKEN BY SOMEONE AND THEY MURDERED HER.

4. We have reached out to 2 medical examiners sending them both my daughter's crime scene pictures, etc...(. one is from Texas, he's a chief medical examiner, a Dr. Frost ,out of San Antonio, Texas who is trying to change for the better all death investigations in Texas, and then there is Dr. Bonnell, a medical examiner for Parents Of Murdered Children, Inc. who wrote us his opinion about how incompetent Judge Fort and the police were in having no forensic training but who ruled my daughter's death a suicide with no autospy being performed. Dr. Bonnell's most recent letter that he wrote to us after seeing Judge Fort's incompetent ruling this year after I sent the judge's ruling to him shortly after we received it ourselves, states in his letter pertaining to how Judge Fort handled so incompentently my daughter's suspicious murder, in quoting that this is.. THE TWILIGHT ZONE. THIS IS WORSE THAN THE TWILIGHT ZONE TO US> THIS IS THE ULTIMATE NIGHTMARE THAT ANY PARENT ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH COULD GO THROUGH.

COVER-UP

We aren't sure that there was a cover-up but it does appear to us that the judge and the police have gone WAY out of their way since Day 1 of our losing Christie that there was NOT going to be a death investigation at all much less a murder investigation either which does make us all suspicious of them in always wondering WHY and HOW could they have over-looked so many many suspicious circumstances that led up to her death. We will always wonder why they didn't seem to even care enough to make sure that their own reports matched one another in something that is so serious to do everything it takes to be completely sure in how someone dies. They never considered once that there should have been an autospy performed first before they ruled anything. It is beyond us and everyone we've talked too in wondering how could Judge Fort be so careless like this in ruling a violent suspicious death to be a suicide without ever considering an autospy to be performed of a young mother who had just lost her life very suddenly and very mysteriously.

We have been lied to from da 1 by Homicide Detective Hewitt saying to us right after we lost her that she had been shot in her mouth but later saying that he thought her ex-husband killed her. We wonder WHY and HOW could a homicide detective lie like this to a family who had just lost their loved one. We didn't find out till later after receiving the police reports that she didn't die like we were told at first by this detective. Since Detecftive Hewitt for some reason told me before we received the police reports that he thought her ex-husband killed her, I asked him was he going to investigate my daughter's death by investigating her ex-husband and this is where he told me that HIS HANDS WERE TIED. WE WONDER WHAT OR WHO TIED HIS HANDS?Getting back to day 2 of my daughter's suspicious death, Detective Hewitt didn't even know which apartment my daughter lived in stating to me on Day 2 of our losing Christie that her apartment was on the top section of the apt. complex when I knew that her apt. was on the ground floor. These were the first RED FLAGS that something was very very wrong beyond our losing her and as time went on it all got worse in our realizing that something was WRONG with how this detective and JUDGE FORT was handling my daughter's death there. Is this a COVER-UP? WE DO WONDER!!

I don't know for sure if there was a life insurance policy on my daughter or not but I'm pretty sure that there was one on her because her husband at the time of her death had just taken out a policy a few months before this happened to her on himself for $400,000 leaving my daughter the beneficiary. The police had... ( THEIR HANDS NOT BEEN TIED )... should have looked into this along with looking into ALOT of suspicious circumstances surrounding my daughter's murder but they didn't seem to care much about anything even telling us that everything was up to my daughter's husband who should have been made a suspect along with his 18 year old son a suspect also considering that they were both the last ones to see my daughter alive.

Thank you so much for your time and thank you for offering to do a story about this. God Bless You. Sincerely, Jeanie..( Christie's Mom )

God please let there be "JUSTICE FOR HER"!!

Susan Murphy Milano is with the Institute for Relational Harm Reduction and Public Pathology Education. She is an expert on intimate partner violence and homicide crimes. For more information visithttp://www.saferelationshipsmagazine.com/ She is the author of "Time's Up A Guide on How to Leave and SurviveAbusive and Stalking Relationships," available for purchase at the Institute, Amazon.com and wherever books are sold. Susan is the host of The Susan Murphy Milano Show, "Time's Up!" on Here Women Talkhttp://www.herewomentalk.com/and is a regular contributor to the nationally syndicated The Roth Show with Dr. Laurie Rothhttp://www.therothshow.com/