Another National Guardsman in murder-suicide tied to PTSD

When I read the headline I thought it was about the story I posted yesterday and then the shock hit that this was another story. Six more deaths tied to combat and four of them never went. two children dead. Two Moms dead. Two National Guardsmen dead. Yesterday it was a Wisconsin National Guard soldier and today it is a post about a Hawaii National Guards soldier. Both of them were tied to PTSD and I sit here in total disbelief. So many still falling into the abyss when so many others have come out of the darkness into healing and I wonder why it is still happening.

Murder-suicide leaves 3 dead
A former guardsman shoots his ex-girlfriend, her daughter and himself

By Mary Vorsino


On Thursday night a distressed Kristine Cass called a friend and said she planned to file a temporary restraining order against the man who, just hours later, would fatally shoot her and her 13-year-old daughter, Saundra, before turning the gun on himself.

"I said, 'I am scared for you,'" said Linda Tsai, a close friend. "She said, 'I'm kind of scared, too.'"

The double murder-suicide happened at about 1:30 a.m. yesterday at 2009 Makiki St., shattering the early-morning calm of the residential neighborhood with a single shot, followed by a shout for help and as many as a half-dozen subsequent gunshots - all over a 10-minute period.

A neighbor said the intruder apparently bent the bars covering a panel of jalousies to enter the Cass home.

Friends identified the shooter as Clayborne Conley, a former Hawaii National Guardsman with a history of violent behavior and mental instability.

Conley was deployed with his Hawaii unit to Iraq in 2004, and friends said he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder.
read more of this here
Murder suicide leaves 3 dead

This is the link to the Wisconsin story.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Wisconsin National Guard Iraq war vet kills pregnant wife, daughter, dogs and self
Wis. woman killed by husband was staying elsewhere The Associated Press

The Suicide Prevention Hotline has had over 2 million calls. Claims for PTSD have gone up and programs have sprung up across the country. The military has been trying to do what they can and change their attitude toward PTSD but that has not worked. What is worse in all of this is the National Guards and Reserves have even less than the regular military soldiers have in terms of mental healthcare and support services.

Now we have two more families and friends left wondering how it all got so bad that two Guardsmen are dead after taking their families with them. These are people who wanted to do more when they joined the Guard. These were not selfish people and they were willing to risk their lives for total strangers when they joined. So why isn't anyone asking why it is these same men decided to take the lives of people they loved when they came home from combat?

Friday, April 2, 2010

Apparent murder-suicide reported in Lawson
Apparent murder-suicide reported in Lawson
By St. Joseph News-PressFriday, April 2, 2010
LAWSON, Mo. — Law enforcement officers continue to investigate what appears to be a murder-suicide involving a recently returned veteran from Iraq.“At this time, we suspect that Alex C. Caton, 23, shot and killed his wife, Michelle, 22, wounded his father-in-law and then committed suicide,” said Brian LaFavor, Lawson chief of police. “We won’t know for certain until the autopsy results are in.”
The Ray County sheriff’s department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol are assisting in the investigation. Mr. LaFavor said Mr. Caton was in the military and had recently returned from service in Iraq.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Family suspects PTSD in murder suicide of Iraq vet and wife
Family suspects PTSD in couple's murder-suicide03:22 PM PDT on Monday, August 31, 2009KREM.com / LEE STOLLREPUBLIC, WA. -- Family members say a young man suspected of killing his wife and then himself in an apparent murder-suicide in Republic may have suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after returning from Iraq.Jessica Armstrong and Chad Olson.Chad Olson, 21, and Jessica Armstrong were found shot to death in the home they shared with Olson's parents early Saturday morning.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Fort Hood Reservist and Iving Police Officer Kills Wife and Self
Irving police officer, wife found dead
WFAA-TV
Investigators say an Irving police officer murdered his wife while their two children were present in their Fort Worth home.
By DAVID SCHECHTER / WFAA-TV WFAA-TV FORT WORTH — Investigators say an Irving police officer murdered his wife while their two children were present in their Fort Worth home. Then, police say, the officer killed himself. The officer was a 36-year-old Army reservist currently on active duty at Fort Hood. Police were called to the 5300 block of Mineral Creek Drive shortly after 8 a.m. Sunday. A woman called police after finding the bodies of her sister and brother-in-law, police said.

Monday, February 18, 2008

When Strains on Military Families Turn Deadly
When Strains on Military Families Turn Deadly
Lizette Alvarez and Deborah Sontag
New York Times
Feb 17, 2008
February 15, 2008 - A few months after Sgt. William Edwards and his wife, Sgt. Erin Edwards, returned to a Texas Army base from separate missions in Iraq, he assaulted her mercilessly. He struck her, choked her, dragged her over a fence and slammed her into the sidewalk.As far as Erin Edwards was concerned, that would be the last time he beat her.Unlike many military wives, she knew how to work the system to protect herself. She was an insider, even more so than her husband, since she served as an aide to a brigadier general at Fort Hood.With the general’s help, she quickly arranged for a future transfer to a base in New York. She pressed charges against her husband and secured an order of protection. She sent her two children to stay with her mother. And she received assurance from her husband’s commanders that he would be barred from leaving the base unless accompanied by an officer.Yet on the morning of July 22, 2004, William Edwards easily slipped off base, skipping his anger-management class, and drove to his wife’s house in the Texas town of Killeen. He waited for her to step outside and then, after a struggle, shot her point-blank in the head before turning the gun on himself.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Airman kills his 2 kids then self
Divorced US Air Force computer expert kills his 2 young children, himself at base housing
The Associated Press
Published: February 27, 2008
A recently divorced airman who served with distinction in Iraq chased his ex-wife out of military housing with a pistol before killing his two young children and himself.Tinker Air Force Base officials on Wednesday identified Tech. Sgt. Dustin Thorson, a military computer expert, as the killer in the shootings Monday.

Friday, March 28, 2008
War Comes Home "The man I married died in Iraq"

"In the Spring of 2002, members of the elite Special Operations units began returning home from duty in Afghanistan. Within six weeks, four Army wives, and one soldier, would be dead.



On June 11, 2002, Sergeant First Class Rigoberto Nieves, who had returned from Afghanistan just two days earlier fatally shot his wife, Teresa, and then killed himself.

Master Sergeant William Wright strangled his wife Jennifer on June 29, 2002, and then buried her body in a shallow grave.


On July 9, 2002, Sergeant Cedric Ramon Griffin stabbed his estranged wife, Marilyn, 50 times and then set her house on fire.

On July 19, 2002, the same day as Master Sergeant Wright was arrested for the murder of his wife, Sergeant First Class Brandon Floyd shot his wife Andrea to death and then and then took his own life.

On July 30, 2002, Fort Bragg police arrested the wife of a major for shooting him in the head and chest while he slept. These homicides made national news, owing mainly to the number of deaths at Fort Bragg in a short period of time extreme prejudice with which the acts were committed. The incident also caused an increased awareness of post-deployment combat-related stress.

These are just some of the stories from my achieves. Too many stories of heartache that didn't need to happen and too many families left behind wondering what they could have done. Even more stories on suicides and attempted suicides all leaving families to wonder what they could have done and even more wondering why no one told them anything that could have helped.

We can think the VA and the DOD are better at doing what needs to be done and they are but the truth is, they are nowhere near where they need to be for their sake and the sake of their families.