the architech

check out this article http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=89590



Abused wife cleared of husband's murder
Friday Mar 3 19:41 AEDT

A former primary school teacher who lay in wait in a "sniper's nest" and shot dead her abusive husband has walked free from court after she was cleared of murder.

Warren MacDonald had subjected his wife to years of physical, psychological and sexual abuse and had raped her on the night of his death, the Victorian Supreme Court was told.

Claire Margaret MacDonald, 39, pleaded not guilty to murdering her 40-year-old husband at the couple's property in Acheron, north-east of Melbourne, on September 30, 2004.

After more than a day of deliberations, a jury of seven women and five men found Mrs MacDonald not guilty of murder.

They also found her not guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Upon hearing the jury foreman read out the verdicts early on Friday evening, Mrs MacDonald burst into tears in the dock - as did a juror - and was greeted with hugs from her supporters.

"I just want to go home," she told reporters outside the court.

In acquitting Mrs MacDonald, the jury accepted the defence argument that she killed her husband in self-defence.

During the trial, the jury was told Mr MacDonald raped his wife on the night he was shot dead after she incorrectly stored a sack of potatoes.

Crown prosecutor Ray Elston argued the teacher murdered her husband in cold blood.

"(This) doesn't smack of an apparent case of self-defence, nor does it smack of a loss of control provocation," he told the court.

Mrs MacDonald had told police: "Warren and I have had our arguments but nothing would cause me to do this ... I wouldn't hurt a fly."

But after the couple's children were questioned by police, she broke down and confessed to killing her husband.

She told police she killed Mr MacDonald because "he did not deserve to live", the court heard.

He told the jury she donned camouflage gear and hid in a "sniper's nest" in bushes for 90 minutes before shooting her husband six times.

Defence lawyer James Montgomery said during the trial his client killed her husband but the "devoted mother" did so after years of abuse.

Mr Montgomery described his client as "meek, mild" and a "devoted mother".

He said Mr MacDonald "totally dominated" his family through fear during his 17-year marriage.

A friend of Mrs MacDonald's, Anne Hall, told the jury she heard Mr MacDonald warn his wife: "If you ever leave me I will track you down and kill you."

Ms Hall also said Mr MacDonald often abused his wife calling her a "stupid woman, bitch and whore".

A former neighbour, Patricia Brown, told the court Mr MacDonald was very firm with his children and would punish them by making them do push-ups.

"If they did something wrong (they were) made to get on the floor and do push-ups, even the two-year-old, which I thought was a bit rough," she said.




I almost agree with what she did, but this is almost setting the precedent that if someone is horrible enough to you it's ok to execute them.

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No Typical Raver

lol australia.
rape should be punished by death, dont you think?

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NATO

I agree with that very much...rapists should be put to death.

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CareSieB

i definatly agree with the the ruling, with abusive husbands who rape, intimidate, hit, and psychologically maltreat their own families, sometimes its the only way to get out....

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the architech

Firstly, although I do agree that rapists should get the death penalty, if a rapists or child molester goes to jail it's pretty typical that he'll die there, so go to the police and have someone else legally kill him. it wasn't her place to play judge and executioner...as cool as vigilantes are. I agree he deserved to die, but the ruling was wrong. by law she was guilty of murder in my opinion.

Weaver

yeah, i agree with the architech. The husband was a sleaze, but justified or not, she still murdered him.

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kandeegirl2

i agree with you two ^^

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ACTUALLY CARESIEB

most people havent been in a serious abusive home, i was for a number of years, and then my mother worked in the field of domestic abuse assistance for years.....sometimes it really IS the ONLY way for the woman to safely get out....

Weaver

or have him arrested on accounts of assult, rape, child abuse, psychological distress and emotional distress.

He would be away for a long time, and probably get pretty roughed up in prison.