This newspaper editorial appeared today in the Statesman-Journal in Salem, Oregon. The author is unknown, but is a member of the Statesman-Journal Editorial staff. I've included the link. In accordance with Posting Guideline #4 I will only post the text of the editorial, which is interesting as to what people here are thinking, but not all of the related news stories. Use their search feature and look for "Longo" followed by a space to find related articles concerning the pre-trial twists in this story.
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=57081
String of familicides a horrifying pattern
Christian Longo and other abusive fathers must be held accountable.
February 21, 2003
To outsiders, there’s no rationality to Christian Longo’s pleas of both guilty and not guilty in the deaths of his wife and children.
That’s not surprising. There’s no rationality as to why any man would kill his own family.
Last week, Longo pleaded guilty to killing his wife, MaryJane, 34, and daughter Madison, 2. But he proclaimed his innocence in the deaths of his children Zachery, 4, and Sadie Ann, 3, and will stand trial in March.
All four bodies were found in December 2001 in the coastal waters of Newport and Waldport. The killings were the first of three such familicides in Oregon, raising the question of whether these were horrible coincidences or whether Longo’s depraved actions somehow influenced others.
A year ago, Robert Bryant went on a rampage in the McMinnville area. Authorities said he shot his four young children, his wife and himself.
Last month, Edward Morris was indicted in the deaths of his pregnant wife and three young children, whose bodies were found in December in the Tillamook State Forest.
About 50 familicides occur each year in the United States. The killer most often is a man who imposes an overly rigid structure on his family, who sees himself as the center of his family, and who has suffered severe financial, marital or social losses, according to experts who study familicides. Such men are skilled at hiding their dysfunction from the world while controlling their family.
As jury selection began this week for Longo’s trial, defense lawyers said they would detail his life and the psychological, financial, social and religious factors that helped turn him into a killer.
Nothing can bring back the Longo, Bryant and Morris families.
We must demand that society hold Longo and abusers like him fully accountable for their crimes. And we can hope that Longo’s trial will give police and psychologists greater insights — insights that might help keep another family alive someday.