Why Can't We See It?

I read a very upsetting story two days ago in the Post-Gazette about a woman who moved from Pennsylvania to California after the murder of her three children,all under the age of 10, at the hands of her estranged husband who then turned the gun on himself. How does anyone ever get over such a thing?

They were in a child custody battle as their divorce proceedings were heating up and they'd been separated for three months, with the wife living with her sister at the time of the tragedy. In cases like these I always think that the children were never anything more than possessions to the murdering spouse-- pawns to be shifted about, withheld, or swept off the board altogether in one furious move. How awful. How unforgiveable....it's the worst thing imaginable to me.

The telling thing in this case is that the husband had changed life insurance beneficiaries three days before the murders, naming an 'undisclosed' party as the recipient. The wife is now trying to get a law passed that makes it mandatory that persons be informed when there is a change of beneficiary.

I'd like to take that a step further and make it mandatory that a person be told when someone TAKES OUT a large insurance policy on their life, and that the beneficiary be named. Too many murders happen because of greed. How often have we heard these same scenarios, so it's way past time for a change.

I wonder too-- how people with such horrible impulses pass as normal in this society? Did she have an inkling what a monster she was leaving when she left him and took her children? They were murdered on a weekend when they were in his care, and no, I don't think she knew: the mother would not have allowed it if she'd had even a hint that he was capable of that kind of atrocity-- so it's just really, really scary to me that the inside of some people's heads writhe with who knows what unspeakable thoughts. Christ. Isn't it frightening? If you want to read more about the case, and how the lady is coping with her fractured life, read the story here in the article itself. You poor, brave lady...God help you.