There is nothing in this world that could ever justify killing those children. The dad got exactly what he deserved, which was death.

I can vouch for the mental damage that infidelity can cause. I was absolutely on the brink of homocide, and a 30 second experience changed me forever.

I wouldn't have killed a child, but I did almost lose control of myself.

BS.

The man was an abuser from way back. Last year he had a CPS case opened against him because he slapped one of his daughters...and all he was sentenced to was time in a parenting class.

The TOTAL sum of guilt lies on both of those horrible adults that brought those lovely children into this world and did NOTHING to protect THEM.

Do you think that some people are so easily unhinged that it won't take much to send them over the edge?

I dated a young man in college, and we became engaged my third year. We decided on a year long engagement, which meant that I could finish my senior year of college. Well, he started making 'different' plans...in the hopes of (I felt) rushing me to altar. He bought a house...for us...puchased a car for me to drive back and forth to campus (I lived on campus in the dorm)..and when he presented all this to me...with his new 'plan' I bolted. WOW...this is NOT what we discussed and decided. Oh, but he wanted it to happen sooner more than later.

I broke the engagement, returned his ring...and was promptly hit with the suicide threats. I was not going to be emotionally blackmailed so I didn't bite. My Mother, however, told me that IF he did succeed...it would be MY fault....because I broke the engagement. W T H. I don't think so. Clearly, he is unstable, and lacking in coping skills to resort to such an act when disappointment hits home. It wasn't the end of the world ya know. Maybe he saw it as the end of his?

So...do you think that some people are just primed and when something like this comes along they become irrational and psychotic?

committed

I am a FORENSIC JUNKIE and i watch many many many (true) forensic shows and yes people can just snap. It happens all of the time, a lot of the stories are just that where a seemingly NORMAL person just snaps and kills their spouse or OP if there is an A.

I don't understand but i have watched too many shows where it happened to not believe it is possible.

I never will understand ANYONE who can murder or rape a child though, it goes against EVERYTHING in ME to even HEAR of such stories.

I agree! Like I said earlier, to drive one crazy, it is a very short drive in some cases. You just never know.

"Like I said earlier, to drive one crazy, it is a very short drive in some cases. You just never know."

Exactly. Clearly there were some problems in the family. And perhaps the father was controlling and crazy. But I blame mom too, because her duty was to protect the children. If she had been out finding a shelter, I would feel differently.

But she was gambling with another man at the Casino. Her kids and husband had no idea where she was. The oldest daughter helped the husband track her down with a GPS on mom's phone.

The message is that neither parent protected their children - he by murdering them, and she by throwing gasoline on the fire.

It's too bad that all these happy little cheating spouses, who think they are doing something romantic and fun and adventurous and just getting some harmless "me time", don't realize that they are actually toying with the atomic bomb of human emotions.

There's only one thing that will bring out a more primal, instinctive, defensive reaction than having one's spouse interfered with - and that's having one's children interfered with.

Which may explain why the BH in this case did what he did.

(notice I said "explain" - not "condone".
Mulan