What is it they ask of abused/battered women...
Suzanne Vezina
'why don't you just leave?' Isn't that the favourite question of those
wondering why abused/battered wives don't just leave their husbands?
Well, time and again, the dead bodies of women who did leave, or attempted
to leave, answer that question. Gives more credence to the 'battered
women syndrome' defense with each body.
And why is it that so many men can't deal with the breakup of their
relationships without resorting to murdering their spouses and/or their kids.
December 13, 1997
'EVIL' HUSBAND JAILED
360-POUND KILLER GETS LIFE FOR BARRIE MURDER OF WIFE
By ALAN CAIRNS -- Toronto Sun
BARRIE -- A 360-pound man with an "evil mind" was sentenced yesterday to life
with no parole for 12 years for killing his 95-pound wife, then trying to
hire a hitman to torture and kill her boyfriend.
Ronald Lawrie, 35, was a "controlling, manipulating husband" who has shown no
remorse for slaying his 28-year-old wife Janice, Ontario Court Judge Paul
Hermiston told a packed and tearful courtroom.
In almost three hours in court, Lawrie never once looked at the 30 people
seated in the court pews and showed no emotion when Hermiston passed
sentence. Leaving court in handcuffs, Lawrie gave a wide smile and cheerily
asked a Toronto Sun writer when the story would run.
In what appeared to be a random sex killing, Janice Lawrie's nearly naked
body was found in a woodlot between Barrie and Midhurst on May 31, 1996. It
was later determined she died from loss of oxygen from being strangled and
then stabbed in a lung.
Almost four months later, Barrie OPP and city police charged her domineering
husband with first-degree murder.
Lawrie revealed for the first time yesterday, when he pleaded guilty to
second-degree murder, that he strangled his wife in a rage after she told him
she was leaving him and admitted to an affair with one of her customers.
Lawrie's lawyer, Dan Brodsky, said Lawrie, believing his wife to be dead, put
her tiny body in a hockey bag and took it into the woods. He tried to make it
appear she had been raped and stabbed her in the chest.
"This is a crime of passion, a crime of desperation and a crime of jealousy
carried out at the heat of the moment," said Brodsky. During the probe,
police learned that Lawrie, who was receiving $27,000 a year from the
Workers' Compensation Board for a bad back, controlled his diminutive wife
and the $100,000 annual salary she made as a pharmacist at a Zeller's
store in Orillia.
"Janice told friends that she was effectively being controlled by the accused,
said prosecutor Fred Graham. "He controlled all finances and controlled all
decisions." Lawrie, raised in Markham and at one time a top chef in city
restaurants, drove her from their Barrie home to work and back each day.
A month after his arrest, Lawrie attempted to hire a hitman through a jail
inmate, who told police about it. Wire taps show Lawrie offered $10,000 to an
undercover officer if he would "torture" his wife's boyfriend into signing a
confession that he had killed Janice Lawrie. Then the hitman could kill the
boyfriend and make the death appear like a suicide.
Lawrie's children, Brittany, 8, and Katherine, 4, are now in foster care.
Janice's boyfriend, Patrick Stott, is hiding in another province under the
witness protection program.
Copyright 1997, Canoe Limited Partnership
All rights reserved
--
Suzanne Vezina df...@freenet.carleton.ca
sve...@sprint.ca
John Mertl
Suzanne Vezina wrote:
>
> 'why don't you just leave?' Isn't that the favourite question of those
> wondering why abused/battered wives don't just leave their husbands?
> Well, time and again, the dead bodies of women who did leave, or attempted
> to leave, answer that question. Gives more credence to the 'battered
> women syndrome' defense with each body.
>
> And why is it that so many men can't deal with the breakup of their
> relationships without resorting to murdering their spouses and/or their kids.
>
Posting news doesn't solve the problem, Suzanne. There are many reasons
why women don't leave abusive relationships. Economic, mostly.
Emotional, often. Feelings of loyalty to the family, very often. And
fear. Every case is different. You know that as well as anyone.
Hyperbole, in that "so many men" can't deal with the break-up of their
relationships, doesn't help the situation much either. There are, I
think you would agree, many, many more relationships that end without
violence (in either direction). I think you're right, though, that there
are many (too many) cases where the man is unable to deal with the
prospects of losing his wife and family, and resorts to violance.
Implying that it might be the general rule does no one any good.
If you are interested in a genuine discussion about why the men, who do
resort to violence in these situations, do so, then I think you have to
look at the cases. Who are the men who resort to violence? What were the
socio-economic environments in which they lived? What were their beliefs
about the role of women in marriage, in the household, in the community?
By merely suggesting that MEN should change their ways, and everything
will be okay is a wee bit simplistic. Suggesting, on the other hand, as
I'm sure you intended, that we ought to consider more progressive
environments where boys and young men are raised, would be far more
reflective of your incisive intelligence. There may be ways, even, that
we can help those men who are stuck in a pattern of unhealthy behaviour
(and there are many programs that provide this service), though I am not
so hopeful of men over the age of, say, 40.
The real question remains, why do the men, those who resort to violence
faced with the imminent dissolution of their relationships/families,
resort to violence? Their beliefs about family. Their beliefs about the
role women should play. We could go on and on. Finding the superficial
causes of their behaviour is not very difficult. Discovering why these
men believe these things is another matter altogether. And, I think,
worthy of some discussion.
John Mertl
jme...@microstar.com