[TX] Murder-suicide of McAllen police officer Guadalupe Lozano & wife Norma Laura Gonzalez

Police rule McAllen deaths a murder-suicide
The Monitor
Victoria Hirschberg
May 23, 2006

At two gravesites in different cities Monday, two families mourned the loss of their loved ones.

In Weslaco, it was the family of 35-year-old McAllen police officer Guadalupe Lozano. In Mission, it was the family of 29-year-old educator Norma Laura Gonzalez.

Based on preliminary autopsy results, it appears Lozano strangled Norma Laura Gonzalez — the name her family prefers — and then shot himself, McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez said.

Shortly before 7 a.m. Thursday, Lozano called the police department’s business line and requested assistance. Upon arrival, police found the married couple of about two years dead in their North McAllen home. They had no children together, but Lozano had a 7-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter from a previous marriage.

Gonzalez was recently promoted to the director of education at McAllen’s Sylvan Learning Center, which closed Monday for her funeral. She had worked as an elementary science teacher in the McAllen school district, said Sandra Vela, a consultant with the center who hired Gonzalez about one year ago.

"She had just a wonderful personality, very sweet, calm and professional, just so together in every way," Vela said. "She loved her job. She worked a lot of hours and she had a lot of energy."

Gonzalez was working toward a master’s degree in business administration at the University of Texas-Pan American. Vela said many of her co-workers and former students attended her funeral.

Lozano worked as a crime scene investigator and had been with the McAllen Police Department for about 61/2 years.

Many police officers and city workers from various departments attended his funeral. His brother Juan Lozano spoke of his sibling as a dedicated officer and urged his colleagues to reach out to those with problems "if they’re going through what my brother was."

"I wish he (had) looked for help," Juan Lozano said during the funeral. "But wishing is too late."

Rodriguez said the final autopsy is still pending.

"It’s sometimes difficult to understand and grasp these things and why they happen," he said.

Victoria Hirschberg covers Hidalgo County government and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4466.

[police officer involved domestic violence oidv intimate partner violence ipv abuse law enforcement public safety lethal fatality fatalities murder texas state politics]

[NJ] Barbara Vanaman shot & killed by police officer husband

Initially the news reported that last week Millville Police Officer Robert Vanaman shot his wife Barbara to defend himself from her knife attack. But after a day the quoted law enforcement spokespersons and media alike have been asking aloud - who stabbed him? Vanaman decided to not freely talk to investigators and has retreated with a lawyer.

Police: Millville Officer Kills Wife In Domestic Dispute
Wife Allegedly Stabbed Officer
(NBC 10 Philadelphia)
May 11, 2006

MILLVILLE, Pa. -- Millville police said they are investigating a homicide that involves one of their own.

According to the Cumberland County prosecutor, the wife of a Millville police officer allegedly stabbed her husband and the officer then shot her in a domestic dispute at their home at Wedgewood Court and Shamrock Lane.

The wife was killed. The officer is being treated at a hospital.

Police have not released the names of the couple involved

Neighbors told NBC 10 News that the officer and his wife were the "perfect couple," and that they were very social.

The Millville Police Department have not released any other details and the investigation is continuing.

[WA] Not forgetting Jane Anne Evans Jermy

JEFFERSON COUNTY JAIL
Deputy arrested on assault charges
By Julie McCormick Sun Staff
October 26, 2000
Frank Jermy reportedly grabbed his wife by the throat and pushed her onto the bed. Kitsap County Sheriff's Deputy Frank Jermy is in the Jefferson County jail without bail pending his first court appearance on a domestic violence felony allegation. Jermy, 41, was booked into jail Wednesday following release from four days of what Undersheriff Dennis Bonneville called medical custody after his arrest Sunday... The couple's two minor children were witnesses to the incident...

Jane Anne Evans Jermy
10 Feb 1957 - 22 Sep 2004
Jane Jermy worked as chief deputy coroner of Kitsap County for several years. She was a reserve police officer with the Poulsbo Police Department and a volunteer emergency medical technician with the District 10 Fire Department.[police officer involved domestic violence oidv intimate partner violence (IPV) abuse law enforcement public safety fatality fatalities alleged said suicide washington state unsolved unresolved]

[FL] Sgt. Baker, a pile of screaming articles, & this awful tossing and turning

I-SPY YESTERDAY IN THE NEWS THAT GROVELAND POLICE SGT. JESSE BAKER IS STILL PATROLLING THE STREETS EVEN AFTER OFFICERS COMPLAINED AND A NEWS STATION OUTTED HIM LAST YEAR THAT HE BEAT HIS WIFE - ADDING THAT THE CHIEF KNEW IT WHEN HE HIRED BAKER ONTO THE FORCE. NO - BAKER'S NOT JUST STILL WORKING SINCE THAT JOURNALISTIC EFFORT LAST YEAR - BUT PROMOTED TO SGT. SINCE THEN. (WAIT TIL' YOU SEE WHAT "BEAT" MEANS HERE!)

WHAT I SAW YESTERDAY THAT GOT ME STARTED:

Groveland father shook girl, left her critical, cops say
Orlando Sentinel - Orlando,FL,USA
May 12, 2006
... they arrived at his Groveland home Wednesday night, Groveland police Sgt. Jesse Baker said...

AND I RECOGNIZED THE NAME & I RECALLED AN ARTICLE FROM LAST YEAR THAT I HAD GATHERED:

Florida Officer With History Of Domestic Violence Patrolling The Streets
Story by wftv.com
November 14, 2005
...Officer Jesse Baker was acquitted in court of the attack on his wife, but a state inspector general later questioned that verdict and whether Baker should ever be allowed on the street again... Baker was fired from the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission after they determined he had battered his wife, leaving her hospitalized for a week. A jury never heard testimony from her and Baker was found not guilty, but a subsequent investigation by state officials indicated "you were responsible for the battery of your wife," further finding that he "left her unconscious for six hours... while he went to work"... Baker's wife suffered bruising over 75% of her body. In Baker's court files, a counseling evaluation states that he'd taken full responsibility for his actions... Baker's wife, Pamela, died from heart trouble a year to the day after Baker was officially fired from Florida Fish and Game. But in spite of the scathing report in which Baker was fired as a wildlife officer, he was hired by Groveland Police Department. The police chief knew about Baker's past but didn't want to talk on camera. The chief told 9 Investigates that he is confident in Baker's ability and even gave him a lie detector test before hiring him...

I STARTED RESEARCHING AND NOW I'M SITTING ON A PILE OF SCREAMING NEWS ARTICLES FROM 1997 ON. THOUGH BAKER WON THE CASE BACK IN 1998 HE WAS FOUND LATER TO HAVE BATTERED HIS WIFE IN A SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATION, RIGHT? THAT'S WHAT LAST YEARS ARTICLE ABOVE SAYS. IT DIDN'T SAY HOW ABUSED THOUGH. LOOK AT EXCERPTS FROM ONE OF THE ARTICLES FROM MY SCREAMING PILE AND TELL ME THAT A POLICE CHIEF IN GROVELAND FLORIDA CAN JUSTIFY HIRING AND PROMOTING JESSE BAKER:

Was It Domestic Violence?
Wife says she can't remember how she got cuts, bruises
THE ORLANDO SENTINEL
May 26, 1998
By Frank Stanfield
...Pamela Baker, 44, her body a mass of huge bruises and cuts, her collarbone broken and a shiner under one eye, stares bleakly into the camera lens on Sept. 14, 1997. Some of the bruises in the 8-by-10 color photos are huge, black splotches that cover her buttocks. Others on her body are sickly, yellow areas intersected by nasty-looking cuts. Her legs are a mass of mottling. More than 75 percent of her body was covered in bruises. "I've seen dead people who haven't looked this bad," said Assistant State Attorney Sue Purdy...

PAMELA DELOLA

PAM IS GONE.
NO ARTICLE ABOUT HER PARTING.
JUST THAT MENTION IN THE ONE LAST YEAR ABOUT HER HEART IS ALL I COULD FIND.
SO MANY QUESTIONS.
I'M TOSSING
AND
TURNING

(I FOUND THE HEADSTONE PICTURE ON A MYSPACE PAGE OF SOMEONE WHO KNOWS HER PAINFULLY WELL - HERE KEPT CONFIDENTIAL.)

[MO] Officer gunpowder-on-his-hands Partee says he didn't kill wife Karla

Karla Marie Parker (Partee)

Learning about Karla's life and her death on September 2nd, 2001 for me is a journey that I'm not done with yet. I'm not fully satified and won't be for the forseeable future. I found one article and searched for almost two hours for another one - unsuccessfully. How could that be? I know how to find news. I was relieved after that time however to find a beautiful family memorial site, each page with a selected gospel song, packed with family pictures. There is no discussion of Karla's death there, but the article shows that there are family members challenging the finding that Karla committed suicide. (Karla's twin sister Karmen stands in the gap, full of faith with the joy that surpasses human understanding.) The recent news item was that a jury for the family's wrongful death lawsuit deadlocked and a new trial was ordered.

If I was Karla's sister I would have to rise up too. About newlywed Karla's death, from the one article:

"...Carla Partee died of a gunshot wound to her head. Nigel Partee admitted to Florissant police that the couple had quarreled after attending a wedding reception, and that the quarrel had escalated into a shoving match. He said she shot herself. He said he got gunshot residue on his hand when he tried to stop bleeding from the head wound..."

Yet retired St. Louis police officer Harold Mansfield, who the article cites as a firearms EXPERT, said there is only ONE way that the gunpowder residue could have gotten on Officer Partee's hands - and it not from stopping bleeding.

I have to bang a pot and a pan and say that there is no noticeable attention to this case, and there should be.

"...Florissant police applied for a warrant against him on a charge of manslaughter, but it was rejected by the prosecuting attorney's office. Nigel Partee was never charged..."

Love and blessings to Karla's family - who have no doubts where Karla is now.

(Note: Officer Nigel Partee works at St. Louis Community College, but the police there are not "security guards." They have state training and the powers of arrest.)

UPDATE.
NO NEW NEWS BUT ADDING MORE OF WHAT I HAVE NOW.

Karla Marie Parker Biography
http://karlamarieparker.tripod.com/id2.html

Karla Marie Parker Scholarship Fund
for Outstanding Business Students
http://karlamarieparker.tripod.com/id5.html

Kidney Donor Karla Marie Parker
National Kidney Foundation
1/31/72 - 9/2/01
During the short years of Karla's life she made a strong impact on a lot of people. She had a smile that you'd never forget. The love she had for Jesus Christ is the Cross and Bible. Her favorite flower was the red rose. She gave up her love for the piano for her devotion to God and Education. She always dreamed of owning a pink baby grand and she is our angel. She gave anything she had to others that were in need. Even in death she was still giving. Through her gift of life, her light will still shine. Her favorite Bible verse was 1 Corinthians 13:13. Gloria Parker - Kirkwood, MO
http://www.kidney.org/transplantation/donorFamilies/quiltPatchDisplay.cfm?square=BB0505

COUNTY JURY DEADLOCKS IN WRONGFUL DEATH SUIT
By William C. Lhotka
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/04/2006
Did Carla Parker Partee kill herself in the master bedroom of her condominium in Florissant in the early hours of Sept. 2, 2001, as the St. Louis County medical examiner's office concluded? Or did Nigel Partee, a campus officer at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, fatally shoot his bride of six weeks, as some of her relatives have alleged? Those were the primary questions before a jury in St. Louis County Circuit Court this week in a wrongful death civil lawsuit against Nigel Partee by the dead woman's family. But after six hours of deliberations over two days, the jury of 10 men and two women told Judge Maura McShane on Thursday that they were hopelessly deadlocked. McShane declared a mistrial and said she would schedule the lawsuit for a second trial. Carla Partee died of a gunshot wound to her head. Nigel Partee admitted to Florissant police that the couple had quarreled after attending a wedding reception, and that the quarrel had escalated into a shoving match. He said she shot herself. He said he got gunshot residue on his hand when he tried to stop bleeding from the head wound... Florissant police applied for a warrant against him on a charge of manslaughter, but it was rejected by the prosecuting attorney's office. Nigel Partee was never charged. Karmen Parker, Carla's twin, testified under questioning by the family's lawyer, Harold Whitfield, that her sister would never have shot herself because she was "absolutely terrified of guns" and would never touch one under any circumstances. Under cross-examination by defense attorney Alan Mandel, Parker conceded that suicide is an irrational act. In closing arguments, Mandel cited the findings of Case - "one of the most respected medical examiners in the United States" - and pointed out to the jury that the victim had a past history of suicide attempts. He said that if the jury found Nigel Partee liable, it would "put a mark on him for the rest of his life that he intentionally killed his wife." Whitfield argued that Partee did exactly that. He cited the testimony of retired a St. Louis police officer, Harold Mansfield, a firearms expert. Mansfield said the only way Nigel Partee could have gotten gunshot residue on his hand was from handling the weapon. Whitfield alleged that circumstantial evidence showed that "Mr. Partee intentionally shot his wife, Carla Partee, in a spirit of anger." Whitfield sought damages ranging from $450,000 to $1 million...
[police officer involved domestic violence law enforcement fatality fatalities murder suicide unsolved unresolved usur missouri state politics]