Tommy was in second grade and his older brother Angelo was in the sixth grade and each were looking forward to a thanksgiving holiday feast with their family in their illinois suburban home.
Early Wednesday morning, the day before thanksgiving their father baseball coach and "your average good guy" Thomas Mangiantini killed his wife, Elizabeth, 46, she was shot once in the head. The boys killed first, shoting his son Thomas Jr., 8, once in the head, and his other son, Angelo, 12, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds in the head. Afterwards the man took his own life.
Thanksgiving morning the lawn was still covered in crime scene tape and according to news acccounts a few families nearby changed their plans for the holiday making other arrangments for the day elsewhere.
The front pages of the Chicago papers likely moved the story of "President Obama pardons "Courage" (the turkey) in holiday ritual" changing the headline to the tragedy in bold face type " Dad, mom, 2 children found dead."
The man left a note in which investigators are" hopeful" will bring closure to the case---but I am not certain anyone will really know for sure what happend in this home, other then the obvious. A person whom is distraught in the last hours or moments of their life often leaves handwritten notes behind with the reasons for their actions? I have a news flash-you cannot go by what a person writes who is in this frame of mind. All they are really doing is explaining their personal view point. It is not the truth. So while the police are trying to analyze something a psycho killer wrote, the facts in the case, died with the murdered family members. 
Anyway you want to sugar coat this, it is still domestic violence homicide. Okay, police have never been called to the home. Neither parents sought legal services for divorce or separtion. I don't want police or the public to dismiss this as "the man had problems", he was "mentally ill", or whatever other lable someone wants to use.
He carried out a plan to execute his family. Was it because he was sexually abusing one or both of the boys and someone was going to let out their secret? Was it because Elizabeth had finally decided the marriage was over and after the holidays she was going to file for divorce?
Prayers to the friends and family left to cope with such a devasting crime.
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This is heart-breaking. I heard a statistic the other day (White Ribbon Day in Australia was this week) that 1 in 2 Australia women will experience violence at the hands of a man in their lifetime. I was shocked.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy listening to you on Justice Interrupted and the work you do is brilliant for women and families.
How's this for sugar coating?
ReplyDeleteNot so sweet Child Sexual Abuse - Priest
You should be ashamed of yourself for posting such uninformed theories as to why this man did what he did. I am a friend of the family, and while I would never sugar coat what he did, I would also never just making sweeping assumptions that he was abusing his wife and children. We don't know why he "lost it", but those of us who knew their family know that they were kind loving people and this was an isolated tragedy in an otherwise normal life.
ReplyDeleteTCE: I am sorry for your loss and these types of crimes are painful especially when it is a member of our family or a close personal friend. I don't post assumptions and for him to murder his family behind closed doors show us all we never really knoow a person.
ReplyDeleteFamily homicide does not just happen. The person has thought about this for a long time. This was not an isolated tragedy but one that is sweeping the country.
Perhaps if you read a bit of my background you will understand. And that after 20 years this does not get any easier. I wish I had a magic stick , but too many families, women , children and being murdered in their own homes by those whom society who never think capable of such a crime.