[Karl smashes a table of glasses in fury]
Ginny: God. That man looks *really* pissed.
Holly Gennero McClane: He's still alive.
Ginny: What?
Holly Gennero McClane: Only John can drive somebody that crazy.

There was a joke going around in the 1960s. They found a black man hanging from a noose in a magnolia tree, a massive log chain wrapped around him, cinder blocks tied to his feet, his throat slit, and 47 rounds from various caliber guns embedded in him.

"Worst case of suicide I ever seen," said the county sheriff. When I hear of a really excessive homicide, that phrase always springs to mind: the worst case of suicide I ever seen.

You Always Hurt The One You Love

You've seen it a zillion times, in movies and on cop shows. The rookie arrives at crime scene first, examines the body cursorily, and announces to the veteran who arrives later, "His wallet is missing. Looks like a robbery."

Depending on the show, the veteran may sneer at the tyro, or he may be kind to the beginner, remembering that he, too, had once been wet behind the ears. "No. There are thirteen stab wounds. When someone gets stabbed that many times, it's because the killer is really mad, and you don't get that mad unless you know the sumbitch you're killing." Unless it's on a broadcast network, and in that case, they dub the word "fellow" where the lips are reading "sumbitch".

Love And Marriage

I was talking to a marriage counselor in a waiting room once, and I said, "All couples fight, right? So how do people decide they need a marriage counselor?"

He said that not all couples fight - but if they don't, it usually means the marriage is over. They're waiting for the right minute to jump ship, or perhaps they assume their mate will die soon. And, he said, not all fights are bad. Some couples deliberately pick fights, either for the excitement of the fight itself, or because they're addicted to "makeup sex." If they fight fair, fighting isn't bad. It's when fighting gets vicious that things get out of hand.

"So," I said, "Who's usually at fault when a couple divorces?" The guy said that the woman usually is the one who files for divorce, but usually the guy has already moved out of the house. So in that case, he asked, is it his fault for leaving, or her fault for driving him away?

No, he said, there's almost always plenty of blame to go around. It takes two to fight. Mentally, I thought to myself, "But it only takes the cooperation of one for a mugging."

You're Too Fat

When people fight, he said, they say things they don't mean, things that aren't true, because they go for the quick. You know how women always ask, "Do these pants make my butt look big?" If a woman asks that, she thinks her butt is too big - so no matter what the guy thinks, he will tend to tell her that she's too fat.

"And men have poorer verbal skills, so they resort to using their fists?" No, he said, actually men tend to use words, and women are more likely to physically attack, but they have lesser upper body strength - and besides, guys don't like to admit that they were beat up by a woman. A few years ago, he said, in Indiana, they were about to pass a law requiring cops to make arrests in domestic violence cases, if they observed one party attacking another, and the state legislature was swamped with calls from cops saying that most of the time, they saw women attacking men, not the other way around, so the legislature voted down the law.

Roseboro Homocide

There's a case in the local news right now. The DA is calling it a case of lies, betrayal, greed and obsession. Apparently, Michael Roseboro had been having an affair with another woman for two months. He called her, telling her that he was leaving his wife. His wife died that same day.

He sent her an email at 7:49 in the morning, saying "I am so deeply, madly, and completely in love with you, baby. I have never experienced feelings like this in al of my 41 years... and I know the best is yet to come."

The autopsy showed that Mrs. Roseboro was beaten to death, and had a puncture wound to her head. Her injuries also included strangulation, and drowning. He called police that day, saying that he found his wife's body in the family's swimming pool. Investigators said they noticed scratches on his face at the time.

The Holly Genaro Rule

They'd been married 19 years, and had four kids. He denies having killed his wife. The scratches on his face might indicate that he and his wife had an argument, but not that he killed her; there's no real evidence of that, but police admit they haven't considered anyone else a suspect. And given the 13-stabbings rule, it sure looks like he was involved in his wife's death.

Under the "Holly Genaro Rule", he would appear to be guilty; I'd hate to be on that jury, though. And while domestic violence sits poorly with me, I keep thinking about that marriage counselor, saying that there's generally plenty of blame to go around. Without knowing the first thing about him, I have a hard time thinking that he deliberately set out to kill her, as the DA seems to suggest. Does he have a history of psychiatric instability? I find it much easier to believe that he told her he was leaving, a fight erupted, and things got out of hand.

That's the problem with having greater upper body strength. You get the blame. Of course, the problem with having lesser upper body strength is that you take a really long swim at the bottom of the pool.

It's a sad situation.

Other Bloggers On Related Topics:
crime of passion - Die Hard - Holly Genaro - John McClane - makeup sex - Michael Roseboro - strangulation - swimming pool