Showing posts with label Jack and Duncon Connolly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jack and Duncon Connolly. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

W.T.F.



In case you missed this post over on the Time's Up Blog it is definately worth repeating. I hope you will consider spreading this important message on every social network on the Internet and other sites like facebook, blogs send it to the media and let those voices silenced, be finally heard. My mother who was a victim in this war of intimate partner homicide taught me prior to her murder at the hands of my father, "if you believe it, own it, if you own it, it will be so." Help me make it happen. Thank you!




As I sip my coffee with cream, pecking away on my computer, reading the bloodshed in the headlines, I am split between those whom you will never read about because they got out of their abusive and violent relationships, and those whose permanent residence is now in a cemetery, their violent lives marked by a single headstone tablet coldly displaying the name, date of birth through the date they died.

There are many mothers and their children who are living their lives without violence because they had a plan to get out of their toxic and abusive relationship. Some enlisted an army of friends, neighbors and relatives, others, by shear will and determination, got out, but you will not ever read about them, they are safe. Some packed their bags and made a new life for themselves across country, others did not stray very far from familiar territory and yet were still able to rebuild their lives.

So why are we seeing bloodshed at epidemic proportions? What are those victims who are being killed doing wrong? And what are those who remain alive doing correctly?

Are the women who are murdered along with their children assisted by a society of pure ignorance when it pertains to domestic violence and intimate partner homicide? Look around folks, you cannot pick up a paper or turn on the news without hearing how another woman was murdered by someone they new intimately. You can't help but read nasty comments on the internet, not from strangers, but, often by friends and realtives who knew both the victim and the abuser, trying to defend the actions of a cold blooded killer, and blaming a victim because she filed for divorce or took the children. Has anyone ever asked the question, "why?" Or is it easier to turn our backs and call victims liars or drama queens even after they or their innocent children are murdered? The phrase "shame on you" (I have a different phase more along the lines W.T.F. but I cannot use it here) to all Americans comes to mind especially when I know in 80% of these tragedies the victims did not have to die. They would still be alive if not for human ignorance. I do not have enough posts to list all those who are dead, but, if I did, it would surpass those killed in both the Vietnam and Iraq war combined.

American soldiers are properly trained and given weapons as they fight and go into battle for our country. Victims of violence during their battle are often given little more then lip service from the legal system and society.

For those who got out of the stalking and domestic violence relationships, do not think for one minute they have or had it easy. These victims swallowed their dose of being beaten and raped within an inch of their lives, not knowing from one moment to the next what their abuser or former partner was going to do to them or their children. Somehow they made it through to see a new sunrise the next morning, and many began, after the beatings and verbal threats against them, a plan to exist in their toxic environments with their lives. It was not easy as many of these women who came and tried before them did not make it and let's remember where those victims are, dead. But, many abuse victims who are now alive had help, be it a shelter for women, a church, an attorney who took favor on them representing them in their divorce or custody case for little or no charge. Or in some situations, they were able to get hold of advocates like me.

With all my heart and soul I would like to believe that someone is listening, maybe even Oprah Winfrey. Let us show the world thay someone cares about the number of murders wreaking havoc in America on the lives of innocent victims of violence, not always women, men too, and are ready to be part of a revolution demanding that the victims of this war be given a level playing field to fight and stay alive. I, for one, am tired of singing in a choir where the lives of victims murdered out weighs the millions of Americans' who are able to be a voice and sing loudly for effective change.


Been there, done that…” Susan Murphy- Milano has turned a tired phrase into demonstrable realism through the gift of her newly published book, "TIME'S UP: A GUIDE ON HOW TO LEAVE AND SURVIVE ABUSIVE AND STALKING RELATIONSHIPS

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Living The Nightmare

Amy Leichtenberg quietly approached the casino boat gamblers with fliers, hoping they may have seen her ex-husband, a known gambler. Three weeks earlier, he abducted the couple’s two young sons and by now all other leads had come up snake eyes. Then her phone rang.

An investigator on the case told her to drive to the McLean County Sheriff’s Department to discuss something new in the case.

Leichtenberg excitedly made the two-hour drive to the police station, allowing herself to daydream about her two boys—9-year-old Duncan and 7-year-old Jack—happily greeting her there.

Inside the station, she didn’t see her boys waiting for her. Instead, Beth Kimmerling, the county coroner, introduced herself.

"No!" Leichtenberg screamed, quickly realizing her hopeful daydream turned into her worst nightmare. "No! No! No!"

The coroner couldn’t even get the words out, telling Leichtenberg that Duncan and Jack—the joys of her life—were dead. And her ex-husband was dead, too, taking his own life after killing both his sons.

"Where are my babies?!" Leichtenberg remembers asking frantically through sobs. "Where are my babies?!" The coroner told her the boys’ bodies were with their father’s body in the back of the police station.

"I want my boys as far away from him as possible!" Leichtenberg remembers yelling, punching a desk and nearby concrete walls.

As the coroner left, Leichtenberg dissolved into a chair, crying, screaming and shaking. She felt numb. She felt empty. She felt like joining her sons in heaven. "I want to see my babies," she remembers telling authorities. No, they told her. Not yet. Not now. Not in their condition.
She begged them. They refused.

To read the entire story about Amy Leicchtenberg in the October issue of Chicago Parent click HERE.

Amy Leichtenberg was a guest on the Susan Murphy Milano show to listen to the interview it plays from this site automatically make sure the volume of your computer is turned on. Susan's show will resume again on Wednesday October 7, 2009 at 4:00 PM.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

"The Killing Fields"

Domestic violence is not a pre-existing condition for which coverage may be denied by insurance companies- it's a crime. Insurance companies should not be able to discriminate against crime victims. Yet they have for years.

If you are a victim of domestic violence and have either been admitted by way of your personal physician to being a domestic violence victim, visited a hospital emergency room for treatment after being injured by an abuser and you live in Arkansas, DC, Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming, your insurance carrier will not cover treatment costs label you with a pre-existing condition that could extend to coverage for your home mortgage and life insurance policies.

In a year where funding for domestic violence programs for legal, childrens programs and shelter services have been cut or removed all together by states including the most devastating budget cuts in California the rise of injury and death to victims will continue because the very system they is suppose to serve and protect is now beyond repair. There is no one size fits all cure to stop this nationwide epidemic. Education and awareness has done little to assist a nation that often refuses to see domestic violence as a crime.

In the end the system is throwing their hands in the boxing ring with the abuser as he scores another victory on his victims, all because law enforcement and the judicial system are unable to enforce the very laws put in place to stop not only the violence but the senseless assassination of its' innocent and helpless victims.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

"Moving Beyond Murder" Exclusive Interview with Amy Leichtenberg



The last time Amy Leichtenberg saw her two boys alive, something was not right. The father of the children was acting strange when they met at the police station. Amy refused to hand over her boys on March 7th, 2009 an officer threatened her if she didn't give them to their father, she would be arrested according to her lawyer.

That moment will be forever etched in the mind of Amy Leichtenberg, her children found dead at the hands of their father 3 weeks later.

Although the wounds will never heal, the loss can never be replaced, Amy Leichtenberg is on a mission to change a civil and criminal legal system whom allows dangerous parents to have access to their children. Where poorly trained "persons" are making decisons in family court across the country without taking into account the dangers associated with mental heath evaluators, appointed lawyers for the children (G.A.L.) judges and law enforcement turning their heads to this rising epidemic.

There are no adequate words to convey the courage and strength Amy Leichtenberg has shown in just a few short months. She will be our guest for the entire hour in an exclusive interview this week on the Susan Murphy Milano Show where we will also take live calls.

If you have a question for Amy and are unable to call in please email me at contact@movingoutmovingon.com and it will be read on air Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Show Time: 4:00 PM EST 3:00 PM CST 1:00 PM PST

Call-in Number: (347) 326-9337


If you miss the show it will replay automatically right here on this site all you have to do is make sure the volume on your computer is turned on and up.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Family Court and the Judicial Murder of Children's Lives


Yesterday, on the Susan Murphy Milano Show we highlighted mothers who have lost custody of their children because the court system in this country is ill equipped to properly deal with family issues involving the safe placement for custody of minor children.

Mental health experts prescribed in court by a judge on a “short list” mandated to determine the fitness of a parent and the well being of the children. What is often not determined is the safety of the child, especially when there are serious issues including sexual abuse, as we heard from Taylor’s mother a case in Virginia that wreaks of cover-up all in the name of winning a sick game called “Maternal Deprivation Abuse”. Imagine a legal system who determines financial matters and legal property disbursements using the same method on human lives under the age of 18 with total disregard for the safety and mental wellness of a child. A legal system taking on the burden of proof and yet throws it in the waste basket under their judicial bench. Sadly, with no regard for human lives and more importantly children unable to defend themselves from two evils the courts and their abuser parent as discussed in Lundy Bancroft latest book.

The switchboard was inundated with calls from across the country from mothers asking for solutions on behalf of the silenced, their own children. After the show the email box filled up quickly because we were unable to get to all the callers woith questions.

One particular note we received on face book happens to be in my neck of the woods in Will County, Illinois. The same county where the trial for Christopher Vaughn is yet to begin for the brutal slayings of Kimberly Ellen Vaughn, 34, and her three children, Abigayle Elizabeth Vaughn, 12; Cassandra Ellen Vaughn, 11; and Blake Philip Vaughn, 8; all of Oswego, were found in June of 2007, shot to death in an SUV in far Illinois southwest. "Neighbors and friends said they were a nice family and a quiet couple."

This of course it is also the same county Drew Peterson was finally arrested for the murder of Kathleen Savio and remains a suspect in the vanishing act of Stacy Peterson. And let us not forget that Lisa Stebic also from Will County going through a divorce has vanished and no one has been arrested. All of these women and in other cases across the country murdered because their abuser’s were not willing to split assets financially, pay child support or allow their wives to move on with their lives. These women fought and lost with their lives all in the name of a system that is like the storybook character humpty dumpty. It cannot be put back together again because it is broken.

The note said: "I know you are an advocate and maybe you can help - Right now in Will County Courthouse there is mother actually fighting for custody of her two little girls that have undergone sexual abuse. She has DNA evidence - Will County Sheriff's police refuse to send evidence over to the DA and she is being given run around. The DCFS case worker is friend of ex-husband's family and refuses to believe that there is anything going on - Basically they want her to recant and submit herself to intensive therapy which is unwarranted... based on her career, lifestyle and children's success from a previous marriage. The action is occurring in Room 300 in the Will County Courthouse- Many wonder how The Connelly children wound up dead... anyone watching in that courtroom can see how awful our family courts can be…."

On Wednesday, July 8, 2009 at 3:00 PM Central Time on The Susan Murphy Milano show will continue the discussion on Mothers losing Custody. Returning to the show are Co-Founder of Protective Mothers Alliance and the case of Taylor and her mother’s fight to regain custody of her daughter lost to a system that denies a mother her rights.

If you would like to email your questions before the show we will try to answer them on-air. The address is kindlivingpress01@gmail.com. Please include the state and city where you live as different laws apply.

We will be taking your calls live at 347-326-9337- Mark computer calendar for 7/8/2009-LIVE!

To listen to the show Mother's Without Custody"turn on the volume on your computer and it will automatically play.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Mother's Losing Custody on The Susan Murphy Milano Show


In April, 2009, over at Women In Crime Ink I wrote about Amy Leichtenberg who filed orders of protection against Michael Connolly more than once after his repeated physical and emotional abuse in the later years of their marriage. Amy filed for divorce that year and moved out of their home. In a 2006, a petition for a protective order against her husband was filed, saying that his "controlling and obsessive behavior" included threats to kill himself and others along with a series of bizarre demands he made of her. Within a 15-month period, Connolly violated the orders of protection 57 times. He killed both children Jack age 7 and Duncan age 9.

Another form of abuse is referred to as parental alienation, but it is “maternal deprivation abuse” that is when a father makes Mommy pay for wanting to leave the relationship. It also happens during divorce in family court. The abusive husband does everything in their power to make mom crazy, unfit, insane and convinces court appointed mediators, judges and mental health experts to give them custody. This goes beyond parental alienation and the children who grow up without their mothers in these cases grow up to a world of hurt, anger, pain and destruction. Or they wind up murdered by their parent.

It is an epidemic. The legal system is enabling an abuser to continue using money, manipulation and control all because his wife wanted away from her violent relationship or to simply end the marriage.

This form of abuse is also called “maternal deprivation abuse” that is when a father makes Mommy pay for wanting to leave the relationship. It also happens during divorce in family court. The abusive husband does everything in their power to make mom crazy, unfit, insane and convinces court appointed mediators, judges and mental health experts to give them custody. This goes beyond parental alienation and the children who grow up without their mothers in these cases grow up to a world of hurt, anger, pain and destruction.
On Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 3:00 PM Central Time on The Susan Murphy Milano show will discuss this important topic on Mothers losing Custody with the Co-Founder of Protective Mothers Alliance and the case of Taylor and her mother’s fight to regain custody of her daughter lost to a system that denies a mother her rights.

We will be taking your calls live at 347-326-9337.

Monday, June 22, 2009

"Maternal Deprivation Abuse" or Parental Snatching of Children


Mothers seeking to end their abusive relationship and file for divorce are meeting additional hurdles within the legal community when the courts refuse to hear or allow evidence of abuse. A recent example turned deadly, are the lives of Jack and Duncan whose father had serious psychiatric issues and yet a judge continued to allow visitation. When he was finally allowed to take the 2 boys on unsupervised visitation he killed them.

In other cases mothers just simply vanish similar to Stacy Peterson, Kelly Currin Morris, Lisa Stebic, Renee Pernice, Rachel Conger and others whose bodies will likely never be recovered all because they wanted out of their abusive marriage. These men to whom they married were not likely to split financial assets or allow their wives or “property” to go on living unless it was under their controlling environment. Instead the abuser's have moved on and if they have not been arrested for murder they have moved on with their lives demanding their children adjust without their mothers. Predators of the worst kind snatching their children away from the very person who brought them into this world.

Or, the women are murdered in cold blood like Renee Pagel, Ronda Reynolds, Crystal Brame, Linda Yancy, Barbara Vanaman, and thousands of others all because they wanted to end their marriage not their lives.

This form of abuse is also called “maternal deprivation abuse” that is when a father makes Mommy pay for wanting to leave the relationship. It also happens during divorce in family court. The abusive husband does everything in their power to make mom crazy, unfit, insane and convinces court appointed mediators, judges and mental health experts to give them custody. This goes beyond parental alienation and the children who grow up without their mothers in these cases grow up to a world of hurt, anger, pain and destruction.

On Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 3:00 PM Central Time on The Susan Murphy Milano show will discuss this important topic on Mothers losing Custody with the Co-Founder of Protective Mothers Alliance and the case of Taylor and her mother’s fight to regain custody of her daughter lost to a system that denies a mother her rights.

Monday, April 20, 2009

All But My Soul


(The Connolly Children)

I was asked to consult on a horrific case of a small child whose severe bruises and cries for help through our lovely and thoughtful court system fell on deaf ears.

If you are a parent or a family member of someone going through a nasty divorce or custody battle, I am asking that you pay close attention to this post.

I sat in a conference room watching a video tape of a small child. Happily playing about the house, that is until the doorbell rang. When the adult answered the door and the child sees who is there, piecing gut wrenching screams come out of this child in a way I have never heard before.

"Please Mommy. Mommy. Don't let him take me, please, please help, help it goes on and on for what felt like forever, it was hard for me to be composed as I watched a father take the child up over their shoulder and out to the car. This was not a child over reacting who didn't want to go with daddy. This is a child who feared for their safety, without exception. The tapes included two solid months of video visitation. On this last visit the child returned with severe bruises. You would think the first immediate contact would be the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services, no it would not. The agency is overburdened, no excuse, but it is and in this case the child is too young to specifically give details upon this return visit or any other according to the child welfare worker when the mother tried to make out a report with the agency.

Next step was a forensic child abuse specialist. There are few experts available in the area of child forensics and the waiting list for an appointment takes months.

Throughout this ordeal the mother had been contacting the child's attorney referred to by the courts as a "guardian ad litem" a fee based attorney who is appointed by the courts to represent the best interest of the child or children in divorce cases. And the child's attorney never returned a single phone call to the mother during these two months.

If a mother does not turn over a child where there is court ordered visitation, parent (any parent) will be in violation of that court order and subject to a court fine and arrested.

It took a lot of phone calls and visits to the court house, the old, who you know, not what you know to have visitation temporally suspended. And in this case the child's lawyer had heard the phone messages and decided to sneak a motion in the back door to have another person pick up the child for visitation, this motion has now been overturned. And for the time being the father's visitation has been suspended, pending further investigation.

I do not know how much investigation, if any, is required when you have such strong evidence, but at least he is prohibited from seeing the child, for now anyway.

The child's attorney was just trying to save his sorry butt, instead of protecting the minor child. This is just one single case out of hundred's of thousands that take place in divorce courts across the country.

Yes, I realize there are disciplinary systems in place to deal with incompetent lawyers, but, a system such as this is poor at policing and monitoring themselves throughout the country.

In a divorce where their are children, the first priority should be the welfare of the wee ones. Case after case, clearly that is not happening and it is getting worse as we have seen in the murders of Duncan Connolly age 7 and Jack Connolly age 9, murdered by their father during visatation.

Some things you can do: No matter what your attorney says, make sure you are at each court appearance, even when they tell you it's just a status hearing. You are paying for a lawyer to represent you, You not paying for foot shuffle and lip service that does not represent your best interests.

Create a phone log with a time and date of everyone your leaving message as it pertains to your divorce or custody case and what you said oin a message or to an actual voice.

A simple idea would be to create a log on your computer email it to yourself and then print it off. This is important, it will show the dates and times of each contact and activity regarding your case.

If you suspect child abuse, call the child protective agency in your state and make a report over the phone, Be sure to get the name and extention of the person with whom you spoke.

Next contact your lawyer, explain what you believe is happening. If you feel your not getting anyplace, take the child to your family doctor, or call around to hospitals and ask for a doctor who specializes in abuse cases, if possible. If there are marks on the child take pictures and or use a video camera. Your cell phone may also take pictures consider using that and emailing to your computer.

It's also very important to remain as calm as possible, be patient during this process.

Do not take matters into your own hands and stop visitation let the professionals handle the alleged allegations.If your lawyer is not addressing your needs, not responding or representing you properly, begin looking for a new attorney.

Do not be afraid of the legal system. Do not let your attorney bargain out your life, it may not be in your best interest, only in theirs, as is with many cases.

An excellent book on the subject is "All But My Soul, Abuse Beyond Control" buy Jeannne I. King, PhD. She will also respond to emails and is often hired as a consultant in these cases where child custody and abuse are suspected. Her Website is: http://www.allbutmysoul.net/

I have committed a legal taboo. I do so only for the sake and safety of the children. Disclaimer: I, AM A LAWYER. The Information I have provided is based on my opinion and experience only. It is not to be taken or used as legal advice. It is purely for information to assist you in making informed decision. Please seek proper legal advice from a lawyer.

Author of "Defending Our Lives" (Doubleday), and "Moving Out Moving On" when a relationship goes wrong

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Supervising Murder



[L]Jack age 7 [R] Duncan age 9

To read about the murders of Jack and Duncan Connolly by their father and the injustice within the family court system go Women In Crime, Ink.

Condolences and cards can be mailed to:

Amy Leichtenberg C/O The Johnson's

809 E Elm StreetLeroy

IL 61752

Family spokesperson Brandi Tuley is asking people to sign their name to an online petition that says Judge Souk should be held accountable for his contribution to the murders of Jack and Duncan Connolly by their father Michael Connolly.

You can view the petition at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/justiceforjackandduncan/index.html.

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