Joy Small was days from escaping her crazed ex-husband when he murdered her and their two children

Killer stopped ex-wife's fresh start

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3411960/Murdered-mum-Joy-was-on-verge-of-fresh-start.html

Crazed ... drug-addled Aziz killed ex-wife & kid

 

TRAGIC Joy Small was days from escaping her crazed ex-husband when he murdered her and their two children, it emerged last night.

Joy's divorce from violent Aram Aziz, 32, came through at the end of last month.

Friends said she planned to leave her home in Leicester and take son Aubarr, three, and daughter Chanarra, two, to Sheffield to start a new life.

But she and the youngsters were found dead in their flat on Saturday - the day after Aziz's body was discovered in a nearby park.

Dead ... tragic Joy Small planned new life

One pal said: "Joy was finally happy and talking excitedly about the move to Sheffield, where she had family.

"She was determined to get away from Aram. He was very possessive.

"He once told her that if she ever left him he'd kill her. It turns out it wasn't just an idle threat.

"Maybe she told him she was leaving the area and he just flipped."

Murdered ... Chanarra and Aubarr

Suspected robber Aziz, an Iraqi Kurd, was well-known to police and it was claimed he had links to people smuggling gangs.The mechanic had huge debts, drug and gambling problems - and a fierce temper.

It emerged last night that he was found by a park worker after hanging himself from a shed roof.

Post mortems were completed on his victims but police said further tests were needed before they can reveal how they died.

A restaurant worker in Leicester's Kurdish community said last night that Aziz was "unhinged".

He said: "He often had a crazy look in his eye.

"He smoked skunk and took cocaine and was always skint."

CUSTODY DISPUTE: FATHER Kills MOTHER in Murder- Suicide After Custody Dispute

Two People Dead After Custody Dispute

http://www.wcyb.com/news/26863394/detail.html

By Preston Ayres

POSTED: 4:31 pm EST February 14, 2011

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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- Johnson City police now say two people died in a weekend murder-suicide.

According to Johnson City police, the two were found with gunshot wounds on the floor of a home on Long Street just before 10:30 Saturday morning.

Police tell us 33-year-old Rebecca Markland died Saturday night at Johnson City Medical Center.

The father of her child, 31-year-old Frankie Hughes, was pronounced dead at the hospital a short time after the shooting Saturday morning.

Officers say a fight for custody of their child broke-out after Markland stopped by the Long Street house.

The child, who's about a year old, was initially taken into state custody and is now with a family member.

The night before the shooting, police were called to a fight between the parents at a Johnson City motel.

Officers say Hughes made threats to harm Markland and himself and was carrying a suicide note.

They found another note after the shooting on Saturday morning.

‘I’ve killed the kids’ Dad tells mom he stabbed them to death: Divorce,Custody Battle

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3412065/Dads-call-to-mum-Ive-killed-the-kids.html

Stabbed to death ... Rolls, 10, and Regina, eight, were found by police in father's flat

Killer stopped ex-wife's fresh start

EX-WIFE was days from escaping Aram Aziz when he murdered her and their two kids

 

By MIKE SULLIVAN, ALEX WEST, GARY O’SHEA and CAROLINE GRANT

Published: 15 Feb 2011

A JILTED father allegedly knifed his two children to death then rang his estranged wife to say: "I've killed the kids."

Horrified police are said to have found Jean-Francis Say, 61, sitting in a chair in his flat a few feet from the bodies of son Rolls, ten, and daughter Regina, eight.

It is thought the children died of multiple stab wounds.

A source said: "The scene inside the house was harrowing. It's hard to imagine how terrified these poor children must have been.

"Why ring up your ex-wife afterwards and tell her what you've done? She is devastated with grief. She thinks her life is at an end."

Neighbours said Say was heartbroken when wife Antoinette left him for another man two years ago and took the children with her.

He told them he only realised something was wrong with his marriage when he got home and found Antoinette had gone. He went straight to the children's school to pick them up - and learned Antoinette had taken them with her.

Sylvia Murphy, 39, who lives in the same apartment block in Southwark, South London, said of Say: "He was very friendly and approachable, always dressed in a suit and looking smart and presentable I always thought he was a really nice man.

"When I found out what happened I was in complete shock, I couldn't sleep. I can't believe anyone could do that to children. The kids were both lovely. Rolls was an adorable little boy."

Sylvia said Say fought a custody battle for the children but was only allowed to see them on weekends.

She added: "The dad seemed like the busier parent. He always took them to school and picked them up.

"He always said he was the one who did everything for the kids and all his wife did was sleep and go to work."

Crime scene ... Say's apartment

DAN CHARITY

French-speaking Say, believed to be from West Africa's Ivory Coast, recently confided his troubles to Sylvia and begged her to help him in his ongoing struggle for more access to the children.

She said: "He seemed absolutely devastated and poured his heart out to me about the kids.

"He said 'I gave them everything at Christmas, a Nintendo Wii and a Nintendo DS.'

"He asked me to write a good character reference for him to give to his solicitor as he was trying to get the children back.

"He wanted a shoulder to cry on, I don't think he had anyone to turn to. He thought I would be able to help him get the children back."

Antoinette, who is thought to have dialled 999 after Say allegedly phoned her on Sunday, was yesterday too upset to speak at her new home in Holloway, North London.

A friend said: "She's crying and can't speak to anyone. It's such a difficult time and she's so shocked."

Horror find ... flats where Say lives

A neighbour of Antoinette's said Rolls, who was autistic, and Regina were polite children who had clearly been well brought up.

She added: "They were always with their mum and were so well behaved. I never saw them out on their own. Most of the kids round here are terrible. But these two were the kind who opened doors for you. They seemed intelligent." Police were yesterday searching a communal garden outside the housing association flats in Empire Square where the children were found dead.

Polite

Others who live in the flats described Say as quiet but cheerful and polite. A caretaker said: "He was a nice man and was always smiling. I think he worked as a security guard and occasionally did stewarding at football matches."

Plumber Scott McEwan said: "We knew something had gone badly wrong because there were lots of police around on Sunday.

"Then we saw officers in paper suits going in and out of the flat. I just couldn't believe it when I heard that two kids had died." Police sources said Say, who is accused of murder, has not yet spoken to officers attempting to interview him. He appeared briefly at Camberwell Green Magistrates' Court yesterday.

Balding and powerfully-built, he confirmed his name, address and other personal details through a French interpreter. He was remanded in custody. Say was last night said to be on suicide watch after allegedly threatening to harm himself.

English Martyrs School in Southwark, which Rolls attended before he moved away with his mum, declined to comment.

DID you know the family? Ring us on 020 7782 4104 or email exclusive@the-sun.co.uk

m.sullivan@the-sun.co.uk

Family tragedy: Murder/suicide leaves infant without parents

 

http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/News/article.php?ID=86607

Family tragedy: Murder/suicide leaves infant without parents

By Becky Campbell
Press Staff Writer
bcampbell@johnsoncitypress.com

Johnson City police are wrapping up their investigation into a weekend shooting that is now classified as a murder/suicide.

The argument between Frankie Hughes, 31, and Rebecca Pugh Markland, 33, that led to the Saturday morning shooting was apparently over custody of the couple’s 10-month-old son, according to JCPD Sgt. Billy Church.

Church said Hughes had recently been released from prison after serving a sentence for a forgery conviction, and also had a 2002 conviction for obtaining narcotics by fraud.

The shooting occurred at 901 Long St. a little before 10:30 a.m. Church said that Markland went there to ask Hughes for some money.

While she was there, the two began to argue, Church said. That’s when Hughes shot Markland and then himself.

Angela Wilcox, a friend of Markland’s who rode to the house with her, was apparently outside when the shooting occurred.

She told police she heard what sounded like “firecrackers,” so she drove a few blocks down the street — with Markland’s son — and called 911.

The man who lives at that house, Eddie Yakley, was home when the shooting happened but told police he was in his bedroom when he heard the shots.

Yakley told police that he saw Hughes put the gun to Markland’s face, but didn’t see her get shot. Yakley also told police that he didn’t see Hughes shoot himself.

According to Church, police found a note on Hughes indicating that he intended to kill himself.

It was the second suicide note police found in connection to the case in as many days.

On Friday, Markland flagged down a police officer near Johnson City Medical Center.

She told the officer that Hughes had held a gun to her and threatened to shoot her while she was holding their child.

Markland and her son got away unharmed. She gave police a handgun case for a 9mm pistol. She told officers it was the case for the gun Hughes used to threaten her.

Police escorted Markland to that hotel room so she could get her belongings. Hughes was gone, but officers found a note indicating he intended to kill Markland and then himself.

Markland also told police that Hughes had stolen her prescription for clonazepam. Police found the empty prescription bottle in the room, according to the report on the incident.

Hughes died a short time after the shooting and Markland died Saturday night from her injuries.

The Department of Children’s Services was called to find an appropriate custodian for the couple’s son.

Report Details Sabotage of Birth Control

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/15/health/research/15pregnant.html

February 15, 2011

Report Details Sabotage of Birth Control

By RONI CARYN RABIN

Men who abuse women physically and emotionally may also sabotage their partners’ birth control, pressuring them to become pregnant against their will, new reports suggest.

Several small studies have described this kind of coercion among low-income teenagers and young adults with a history of violence by intimate partners. Now, a report being released Tuesday by the federally financed National Domestic Violence Hotline says 1 in 4 women who agreed to answer questions after calling the hot line said a partner had pressured them to become pregnant, told them not to use contraceptives, or forced them to have unprotected sex.

The report was based on answers from more than 3,000 women, but it was not a research study, those involved said.

“It was very eye-opening,” said Lisa James, director of health at the Family Violence Prevention Fund in San Francisco, which worked with the hot line on the report. “There were stories about men refusing to wear a condom, forcing sex without a condom, poking holes in condoms, flushing birth control pills down the toilet.

“There were lots of stories about hiding the birth control pills — that she kept ‘losing’ her birth control pills, until she realized that he was hiding them,” Ms. James added.

One respondent described having to hide in the bathroom to take her pill. Another said that when she got her period recently, her partner was “furious.”

The hot line’s report did not include a comparison group and did not gather information about the participants, who were questioned anonymously; nor was it published in a peer-reviewed journal. It was based on answers to four questions posed to 3,169 women around the country who contacted the domestic violence hot line between Aug. 16 and Sept. 26, 2010, who were not in immediate danger and who agreed to participate. About 6,800 callers refused to answer the questions.

Of those who did respond, about a quarter said yes to one or more of these three questions: “Has your partner or ex ever told you not to use any birth control?” “Has your partner or ex-partner ever tried to force or pressure you to become pregnant?” “Has your partner or ex ever made you have sex without a condom so that you would get pregnant?”

One in six answered yes to the question “Has your partner or ex-partner ever taken off the condom during sex so that you would get pregnant?”

The questions were devised by Dr. Elizabeth Miller, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine at the University of California, Davis, whose earlier papers on reproductive coercion prompted interest in the subject.

“It’s really important to recognize reproductive coercion as another mechanism for control in an unhealthy relationship,” Dr. Miller said. At the same time, she added, younger women and girls dating older men may be confused by the pressure to become pregnant.

“If you can put yourself in the shoes of a 15-year-old dating an 18- or 19-year-old man, which is not an unusual scenario, and he says to her, ‘We’re going to make beautiful babies together,’ that’s pretty seductive.”

But Dr. Miller said more research was needed to understand the men’s motivations.

“One of the things that comes up a lot is: What are the guys thinking?” she said, adding that her own research suggested some answers.

“Some have an intense desire for a nuclear family, and many who had experiences of a dysfunctional family home want something better,” she said. Some young men, she said, “want to leave a legacy, and say, ‘I’m not sure how long I’m going to be around.’ Gang-affiliated young men want the status that comes with having babies from multiple women.”

Dr. Miller’s paper, published last year in the journal Contraception, reported that at five family planning clinics in Northern California, one-third of 683 female patients whose partners were physically abusive said the men had also pressured them to become pregnant or had sabotaged their birth control. Of 191 women who reported birth control sabotage, 79 percent also reported physical abuse, the study found.

The associations help explain why young victims of violence by intimate partners are at an increased risk for unplanned pregnancies and for sexually transmitted diseases.

Ms. James, of the Family Violence Prevention Fund, said that despite the new attention to reproductive coercion, she doubted it was a new phenomenon.

“I just think not enough people have been asking the question,” she said.

Husband stabbed wife to death on Valentine's Day Daughter, 9, called 911

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/northnorthwest/ct-met-wife-stabbed-20110215,0,1539658.story

 

A Des Plaines-area man whose wife was reportedly planning to leave him is accused of stabbing her to death on Valentine's Day as their 9-year-old daughter listened to her screams from the next room, authorities said.

Heriberto Ramirez, 48, was being held in lieu of a $10 million bond Tuesday, a day after authorities said they found his wife Alicia Ramirez dead on the floor of their bathroom with 35 stab wounds following a 911 call from the girl.

Heriberto Ramirez, of the 400 block of West Touhy Avenue, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his 45-year-old wife.

According to court documents, the couple's daughter heard her father drag her mother into the bathroom and called police. Ramirez hung up the phone as his daughter called for help, but sheriff's police dispatched to the home found the woman's lifeless body. Family members told authorities that Ramirez's wife had planned to leave him, the court documents said.

The girl was taken into protective custody of the Department of Child and Family Services, police said.

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The Cook County sheriff's police have responded twice before to the house since 2007, according to court documents.

AGs re FLAW FV Amendment BILL CONSULTATIONS

 73% (almost 3 out of 4) support the amendments in the Family Law Amendment (Family Violence) Bill and only 17% against.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

HON. ROBERT McCLELLAND MP

MEDIA RELEASE

Tuesday, 15^th February 2011

STRONG RESPONSE TO family violence BILL CONSULTATION

Attorney-General Robert McClelland today said there has been a strong community response to the Gillard Government’s draft Family Law Amendment (Family Violence) Bill 2010.

Mr McClelland said more than 400 submissions were received during the public consultation process on the draft Family Violence Bill.

A total of 73 per cent of respondents expressed support for the measures and a further 10 per cent made no specific comment on the Bill but offered information about personal experiences.

“The public interest generated by the Family Violence Bill demonstrates that family violence is a significant concern within the Australian community,” Mr McClelland said.

“The Bill has received significant backing from the community and key stakeholders in the family law system.

“The level of interest and support from the community around these changes indicate two things – that the Government is responding to a clear need to improve and strengthen aspects of Family Law, and that the overwhelming majority of the community supports the Bill as it stands.”

The Family Violence Bill proposes amendments to the Family Law Act 1975 to provide better protection for children and families at risk of violence.

Submissions were received from key stakeholders in the family law system, individuals, peak bodies, academics, judicial officials and organisations.

The majority of submissions supported measures to protect children in the family law system, broader definitions of family violence and child abuse, the removal of the mandatory costs orders provision and changes to the ‘friendly parent’ provision.

“I would like to thank those individuals and organisations who contributed their views on the Bill,” Mr McClelland said.

“There were a range of views and perspectives put forward, including a number of personal accounts of experiences with the family law system.

“The Government will consider this input and outline its response in due course.

“This Government takes the issue of addressing and responding to violence very seriously, and the draft Family Violence Bill sends the clear message that family violence and child abuse are unacceptable.”

The Family Violence Bill complements a range of other measures implemented by the Australian Government to strengthen the family law system’s response to family violence and child abuse including:

• The development of a multidisciplinary training package for lawyers, judicial officers, counsellors and other professionals working in the family law system, to improve consistency in the handling of family violence cases;
• A pilot of coordinated family dispute resolution for families experiencing violence;
• The development of minimum guidelines for screening and risk assessment for family violence; and
• Improving collaboration between the Federal family law and the State and Territory child protection systems.

“The Gillard Government is also working with the States and Territories to develop a national recognition scheme for domestic and family violence orders,” Mr McClelland said.

“The scheme will include a national database for orders to assist the enforcement of orders by State and Territory Police.  

“Governments will consider a detailed proposal for the establishment of the scheme and database when the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General meets next month.

“There are huge advantages of having a central system where information about domestic violence and family violence orders can be accessed by law enforcement agencies, rather than require victims of violence to take steps to register violence orders when they move from one state to another.”

The consultation paper and draft Family Violence Bill are available on the Attorney-General’s Department website at www.ag.gov.au/familyviolencebill.

Contact:         Ryan Liddell - 02 6277 7300 or 0427 225 763