[Springs] Husband charged in public stabbing
Anne Warfield
Husband charged in public stabbing
BY DAVE HUGHES
Posted on Tuesday, January 25, 2005
FORT SMITH — Sebastian County Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Tabor filed
a capital murder charge Monday against Thomas Springs in the stabbing
death Friday of Springs’ estranged wife.
Christina Springs, 41, was a passenger in her sister’s car when it was
rammed Friday by another car at a Fort Smith intersection. According
to witnesses and police reports, the driver of the other car,
42-year-old Thomas Springs of Fort Smith, beat and stabbed his wife.
Christina Springs was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced
dead.
Tabor said Monday that he was still considering whether to seek the
death penalty against Thomas Springs.
Tabor also charged Springs with two counts of aggravated assault
because Christina Springs’ sister, Kelly Repking, and niece, Paige
Garner, were in the white Honda when it was rammed.
Thomas Springs also was charged with being a habitual criminal because
he has been convicted of two or more felonies.
Springs’ arraignment is scheduled Wednesday morning in Sebastian
County Circuit Court.
Springs is accused of deliberately ramming the station wagon he was
driving head-on into the Honda about 9 a.m. Friday at the intersection
of Rogers and Greenwood avenues. Witnesses and police said he got out,
broke the passenger side window of the Honda where Christina Springs
was sitting and began beating her. He then went back to the station
wagon, got an 11-inch hunting knife and stabbed Christina Springs
repeatedly.
Four or five witnesses, one with a crowbar, pounced on Springs and
subdued him until officers arrested him.
Police didn’t give a motive Monday for the slaying. But Christina
Springs left her husband Dec. 14 and took their six children with her
to a battered women’s shelter. She filed for divorce two days before
her death.
In a petition for a court protective order filed Jan. 5, she reported
that Springs physically and verbally abused her and the children. The
petition said he beat her and threatened almost daily to kill her. She
concluded the petition with a plea for help.
Police were called to Sutton Elementary School at Kelley Highway and
North 50 th Street around 8 a.m. Friday when the Springs’ 17-year-old
daughter called to report Thomas Springs was there trying to take away
two younger siblings she was dropping off for school.
Officers stopped Springs from taking the children and ordered him off
the campus. He drove to a nearby street corner where he stopped as
Christina Springs, whom the daughter also called, arrived at the
school, police spokesman Sgt. Jarrard Copeland said.
Copeland said Thomas Springs yelled something at his wife when she
pulled up but did not approach her. Instead, he drove away from the
school north on North 50 th Street. Christina Springs and Repking went
south on the street, Copeland said.
Copeland said patrol officer Brad Lokey followed Repking and Christina
Springs for a short distance to make sure Thomas Springs did not
double back and follow his wife. Lokey then went to another school in
case Thomas Springs went there to try to pick up his other children.
Copeland said officers did not arrest Springs at the school because
the protective order issued Jan. 18 by Circuit Judge Harry Foltz did
not bar Thomas Springs from having contact with his children or from
being on school grounds.
A Jan. 5 temporary protective excluded Thomas Springs from Northside
High School, Ramsey Junior High School and Sutton Elementary School.
At Greenwood and Rogers avenues officer Clyde Forrest was on routine
patrol when he came upon the scene of the slaying as witnesses held
Thomas Springs.
Copeland said Forrest radioed in that there appeared to be an accident
at the intersection, not realizing the seriousness of the situation
until he saw four or five men holding down and fighting with Springs.
Copyright © 2001-2005 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights
reserved.
http://www.nwanews.com/story.php?paper=adg§ion=News&storyid=105969
--
Anne Warfield
indigoace at goodsol period com
http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
Anne Warfield
Murder Suspect Known To Police
By Jeff Arnold
TIMES RECORD o JAR...@SWTIMES.COM
A Fort Smith man charged Monday with the capital murder of his wife
served time in the 1980s after he attacked and threatened to kill her
more than a decade before they were married.
Thomas Leo Springs, 42, was charged Monday in Sebastian County Circuit
Court with capital murder in the stabbing death Friday of 41-year-old
Christina Springs. He also faces two counts of aggravated assault.
Thomas Springs has three previous convictions for second-degree
battery, all involving his wife directly or indirectly. He was
sentenced to two years in prison with an additional three-year
suspended sentence on July 24, 1987, after pleading guilty to
second-degree battery and fleeing.
The two, who married Sept. 11, 2002, argued at a Fort Smith grocery
store on April 12, 1987, before Thomas Springs dragged Christina out
of the store back to their nearby apartment. Springs then threatened
to kill her and dunked her head in a bathtub full of water before
police arrived, according to a police report.
Christina Springs told police her future husband was trying to drown
her.
Six months before pleading guilty to the second-degree battery of his
future wife, Thomas Springs pleaded no contest to second-degree
battery for attacking a man who attempted to break up an argument
between him and his future wife, according to a police report.
The man told police Thomas Springs was about to throw Christina off
the balcony at their apartment when he tried to interfere and was
attacked.
Then in January 1990, Christina Springs signed an affidavit for an
arrest warrant for Thomas Springs, claiming he got a butcher knife
from the kitchen and threatened to kill her and their children.
The warrant was eventually withdrawn at Christina Springs' request,
said Sgt. Jarrard Copeland of the Fort Smith Police Department.
Prosecutors filed a petition to revoke Thomas Springs' suspended
sentences in February 1990 based in part on the allegation, but they
withdrew the petition after Christina Springs dropped her complaint.
In 1995, Thomas Springs was convicted of second-degree battery a third
time after he bit a police officer who responded to a domestic
disturbance between him and his wife. He was given a two-year
suspended sentence after pleading no contest to the charge.
Christina Springs told police she and Thomas Springs were arguing when
he swung open a door and hit her in the head. She said she did not
believe he hit her on purpose, according to a police report.
Court and police records show no further incidents between the couple
until Fort Smith police were called Jan. 1 to the Crisis Center for
Battered Woman where Christina Springs had gone with her children.
Police were told that Thomas Springs was seen driving around the
shelter. He was pulled over by an officer not far from the shelter a
short time later and told to leave the area and not come back,
Copeland said.
Police were called to the shelter again Jan. 2 and 3 after Christina
Springs claimed she saw Thomas Springs driving near the shelter. But
he was gone before police arrived, Copeland said.
On Jan. 4, Christina Springs sought a temporary protective order
against her husband, alleging he had battered her several times in
front of their children.
Christina Springs also claimed her husband had previously kidnapped
her, tied her up with duct tape, held a knife to her throat and
threatened to slice her throat, cut her into pieces and throw her
remains in a hog pen, in her affidavit seeking the protective order.
At the end of the affidavit, Christina Springs wrote, "please help
me." The order was granted Jan. 5.
Following a hearing Jan. 18, Circuit Judge Harry Foltz issued a
one-year protective order forbidding Thomas Springs from having
contact with his wife, except when absolutely necessary for the
purpose of visitation with the couple's six children.
The next day, Christina Springs filed for divorce from her husband;
two days later, she was dead.
Just before 8 a.m. Jan. 21, police were called to Sutton Elementary,
5001 Kelley Highway, when the Springses' oldest daughter was dropping
off two of her younger siblings.
The daughter saw Thomas Springs at the school trying to pick up the
children and called police and her mother, Copeland said.
Police told Thomas Springs that he couldn't take the children and
ordered him to leave the area. Christina Springs and her sister, Kelly
Repking of Fort Smith, also showed up to check on the children.
The women asked a police officer to follow them to make sure Thomas
Springs wasn't following them.
"The officer followed her a ways from the school until it was clear to
him that he (Springs) wasn't following them," Copeland said.
About 9 a.m., Christina Springs, 41, and her sister, Kelly Repking,
were traveling south on Greenwood Avenue approaching Rogers Avenue,
with Repking's 2-year-old daughter in the car.
Thomas Springs was traveling west on Rogers Avenue when he saw them
and turned right, hitting their vehicle head on, according to police.
Thomas Springs then approached the women's vehicle, broke out a window
and began to beat his wife before retrieving a large hunting-style
knife from his vehicle and allegedly stabbing Christina Springs in the
chest, the back and her legs, police said. She was later pronounced
dead.
Several passers-by stopped and tried to help the women. One man used a
crowbar to hit Thomas Springs while four others used their fists until
they were able to hold the suspect down until police arrived, Copeland
said.
Sebastian County Prosecuting Attorney Steve Tabor said the two
aggravated assault charges were filed against Thomas Springs for
ramming the car, with Repking and her daughter named as the victims.
Tabor said a decision on whether to seek the death penalty for Thomas
Springs will be made after reviewing his criminal history.
"At this point it is certainly an option that's under consideration,"
Tabor said.
The couple's six children were turned over to the Department of Human
Services.
http://www.swtimes.com/archive/2005/January/25/news/1_murder_suspect.html
tiny dancer
"Anne Warfield" <indi...@aolxxx.com> wrote in message
news:41f7802b....@news.prodigy.net...
> From the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette--
>
> Husband charged in public stabbing
Thanks for the update on this one Annie, I hope they do seek the DP.
td
> BY DAVE HUGHES
>
> Posted on Tuesday, January 25, 2005
>
> FORT SMITH - Sebastian County Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Tabor filed
E/C Annie
Don't you wonder why this woman had 6 children by this man and
eventually married him in 2002 after at least 15 years of abuse, one
for which he served time. Guess it's a typical battered woman syndrome
murder. My sister lived in a physically abusive situation for 15 years
which ceased after she required ER treatment/stitches. Her dh was
comptroller for a major supplier of farm equipment and treasured his
professional standing. Then she went thru 12 years of discreet
punches/emotional abuse that don't show. Finally, had him removed from
the home. His 2nd wife jumps when he speaks. I can't imagine living
like that. He's a great dad, too :-> As soon as his
physically/mentally disabled daughter no longer required $$$ from him,
he's never had her back in his home.
annie
Anne Warfield
<tinyd...@nowhere.com> wrote:
>
>"Anne Warfield" <indi...@aolxxx.com> wrote in message
>news:41f7802b....@news.prodigy.net...
>> From the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette--
>>
>> Husband charged in public stabbing
>
>
>
>Thanks for the update on this one Annie, I hope they do seek the DP.
>
It's just awful. And I don't want to blame the victim, but why oh why
did she marry him in 2002, *after* he'd already served time for trying
to kill her?
Anne Warfield
>Don't you wonder why this woman had 6 children by this man and
>eventually married him in 2002 after at least 15 years of abuse, one
>for which he served time. Guess it's a typical battered woman syndrome
>murder. My sister lived in a physically abusive situation for 15 years
>which ceased after she required ER treatment/stitches. Her dh was
>comptroller for a major supplier of farm equipment and treasured his
>professional standing. Then she went thru 12 years of discreet
>punches/emotional abuse that don't show. Finally, had him removed from
>the home. His 2nd wife jumps when he speaks. I can't imagine living
>like that. He's a great dad, too :-> As soon as his
>physically/mentally disabled daughter no longer required $$$ from him,
>he's never had her back in his home.
>
>annie
Yes. It really astounds me. She married him *after* he was in prison
for trying to murder her!
I'm glad your sister's ex is an ex.
tiny dancer
> On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 13:51:42 -0500, "tiny dancer"
> <tinyd...@nowhere.com> wrote:
>
> >
> >"Anne Warfield" <indi...@aolxxx.com> wrote in message
> >news:41f7802b....@news.prodigy.net...
> >> From the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette--
> >>
> >> Husband charged in public stabbing
> >
> >
> >
> >Thanks for the update on this one Annie, I hope they do seek the DP.
> >
>
>
> It's just awful. And I don't want to blame the victim, but why oh why
> did she marry him in 2002, *after* he'd already served time for trying
> to kill her?
I agree with you there. I don't know why anyone would do something like
that. I can understand staying with someone because you're afraid to leave,
but I think I'd be gone long before it came to that.
OzzieAnnie
"tiny dancer" <tinyd...@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:K0YJd.17661$ky2....@bignews4.bellsouth.net...
Thing is, sometimes these women don't leave because they believe it
when their husbands say they'll kill them if they leave. And many
times, their husbands DO it. As many times as I've read about this
same crime, over and over - I'm beginning to think battered wives DO
save their own lives by staying around for as long as they do. I
mean, I don't understand how this woman came under her husband's
(jailer is more like it) control in the early days, but as time went
by it sounds to me like she certainly feared for her life. I wonder
if he made her account for every moment of her day every single day,
made her not use birth control so as to have more children to
cripple her freedom that much more - if one doesn't have family -
who lives far away and/or who can give heaps of money to get her and
the kids far away with changed names - I'm beginning to believe
there truly isn't the option for safety in the lives of these women
and their children. To live for so long with such terror. How can
this be? This particular case is so shocking, SO shocking. To think
he lurked outside the shelter where she was staying... It just seems
like there ought to be some way for courts to put 'domestic'
terrorists away too (and not just the other kind of terrorists)...
OA
G W Shrub
"OzzieAnnie" <Long Ago and Far Away> wrote in message
news:41fa13f8$0$9783$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...
...
> Thing is, sometimes these women don't leave because they believe it
> when their husbands say they'll kill them if they leave. And many
I wonder if you can hire the local bounty hunters to do an extraction -
provide protection while all her property and her children are removed from
the home.
--
GW
Anne Warfield
Away> wrote:
>Thing is, sometimes these women don't leave because they believe it
>when their husbands say they'll kill them if they leave. And many
>times, their husbands DO it.
I do understand this. I just thought that the years he spent in jail
would have given her a window of opportunity for getting loose. Maybe
not.
OzzieAnnie
Oh. You want me to address the *facts*. (lol - I was on a roll!)
OA
Anne Warfield
Away> wrote:
>
>"Anne Warfield" <indi...@aolxxx.com> wrote in message
>news:41faa4f6...@news.prodigy.net...
>> On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 21:29:24 +1100, "OzzieAnnie" <Long Ago and Far
>> Away> wrote:
>>
>>>Thing is, sometimes these women don't leave because they believe
>>>it
>>>when their husbands say they'll kill them if they leave. And many
>>>times, their husbands DO it.
>>
>> I do understand this. I just thought that the years he spent in
>> jail
>> would have given her a window of opportunity for getting loose.
>> Maybe
>> not.
>>
>
>Oh. You want me to address the *facts*. (lol - I was on a roll!)
Facts? We don't need no steenkin' facts! <g>
G W Shrub
"tiny dancer" <tinyd...@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:K0YJd.17661$ky2....@bignews4.bellsouth.net...
> I agree with you there. I don't know why anyone would do something like
> that. I can understand staying with someone because you're afraid to
leave,
> but I think I'd be gone long before it came to that.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/119458_chief26ww.html
Saturday, April 26, 2003
Tacoma police chief shoots wife, kills himself
By LEWIS KAMB, PHUONG CAT LE, ANGELA GALLOWAY and RUTH TEICHROEB
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTERS
GIG HARBOR - Tacoma's police chief shot his wife and then himself in the
parking lot of a strip mall Saturday afternoon while the couple's two young
children were nearby.
David Brame died at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tacoma about 6 p.m. His wife
Crystal remained in critical condition today at Harborview Medical Center in
Seattle (she died and a few days later so did he).
On Friday, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that Crystal Brame, 35,
had accused her husband in court papers of pointing his service revolver at
her and trying to choke her during two separate incidents in the past six
months.
The couple were going through a divorce.
Brame, a veteran officer who rose through the ranks to become chief in
January 2002, denied those allegations in court papers filed in King County
Superior Court last month (it also turned out that he had raped a woman
while in the force and covered up other crimes).
Saturday's shooting happened at about 3:10 p.m., said Pierce County
sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer.
"We don't believe other people are involved," Troyer said. "The victims were
the chief of the Tacoma Police Department and his wife. We believe he shot
her and then shot himself."
--
GW