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13 comments:
Is there something missing here?
I didn't know Robin, but I can tell you The Vomiter was grossly insensitive in their reporting.
People in Los Alamos should boycott all Los Alamos Monitor advertisers for at least a week in protest of this reporting. Many people are calling for the firing of the reporter, but nothing is going to happen to that hack unless the Vomitor feels it as a loss to ad revenue!
The Vomiter is no longer a local paper. They're owned out of the hillbilly country of Tennessee or Kentucky somewhere.
People of Los Alamos should be and are disgusted. The activity of the couple prior to Robin's death and the state of the victim's lack of clothing added nothing to the story. Robin had a family- parents- maybe sisters and brothers and children. The reporter and his/her supervisor should have thought of Robin's family before publishing this trash that added nothing to the story. How would the Monitor feel if one of their family had died under such sad circumstances? The Monitor added insult to injury by printing such a report?!
Um, I'm very sorry for your loss, if you were friend or family of the victim. But personally I was not offended by the reporting of this story, though I was mightily upset by the crime. I think the circumstances put the crime in a context beyond "Man shoots estranged wife". This extremely sad outcome might actually serve as a cautionary tale for other women who are involved in abusive relationships and help them not drop their guard when their abuser turns on the charm. Hopefully, hearing about the circumstances surrounding this cold-blooded murder and the resources available to women in abusive relationships could help avert another tragedy.
The Albuquerque Journal North covered this story this morning also. Much descriptive detail was provided without being lurid like the Monitor report.
Still, I dont see penalizing the Monitor's advertisers for this one. Most of them are small local businesses who don't need or deserve the hit.
p.s. Lots of community relevance here - first homicide in over a decade, and I'm sure many blog readers know the individuals involved - but is there a direct Lab tie?
Please don't boycot the advertisers - they are not responsible for the Monitor's content. And, as a small business owner here in town, the Monitor is the only advertising outlet we have to get our message out to the public.
On the other hand, cancelling your subscription (which I did over the Clarence Thomas racist cartoon) might send the management of the newspaper a stronger message.
Check this out:
http://www.lamonitor.com/cgi-bin/storyviewnew.cgi?075+News.200885-4545-075-075007.Lead+News
Read the comments.
The Vomiter is a trash newspaper.
What happened happended, I know both people involved, the Monitor covered the story, so what's the problem, facts are facts, some are pleaseant and others are not. If you want "fiction" with a happy ending read a fairy tale.
Suspect Charged in Wife's Slaying
Markham faces second degree murder charge
By CAROL A. CLARK Monitor Managing Editor
First District Court Judge Stephen Pfeffer found sufficient probable cause to try Los Alamos resident Jack Markham on second degree murder in the August death of wife Robin Markham.
Seven handguns were found in the Markham’s bedroom, including four 9mm handguns, which records show is the type of gun that killed the victim. A number of shotguns also were found in the bedroom.
The cause of death was three gunshot wounds to the chest, any one of which would have been fatal, according to an expert witness who testified during Thursday’s preliminary hearing in the Community Building.
Evidence presented Thursday indicated some type of struggle took place as several fingernails were ripped off her hands and there were bruises found below her fingernails and on various parts of her body.
Markham’s attorney, Damian Horn, asked if gardening could have caused her injuries. An expert witness said extremely vigorous gardening could see those results.
Markham, 55, spent the majority of the day hunched over in a wheel chair, staring down at the table in front of him. Horn, fought the first degree murder charge presented by the District Attorney’'s office.
“This was not premeditated,” Horn said. “If anything, one can assume a moment of passion and that would have to go to second degree.”
Assistant District Attorney Krishna Singh called for the stiffer charge. “In the 911 call, he said, ‘they were not arguing’ – after he said he killed her,” Singh said of Markham. “And he didn’t just shoot her once, he shot her three times.”
Singh told the judge Markham told the 911 operator he couldn’t walk, yet a witness saw him driving and he also went around the waterbed in his bedroom to get to the telephone to call 911.
“He was fully cognizant during the 911 call,” she said.
Pfeffer pressed Singh for evidence the crime was committed in a premeditated manner. “He was trying to get her to come over,” Singh said. “The victim had been estranged for over a week, she was only coming home to rest. He got angry on July 27 (911 domestic dispute call)...”
The judge reminded Singh the victim went to the home Aug. 1 and Markham didn’t kill her.
“Your honor, in domestic violence the anxiety builds,” Singh said. “She was gone for over a week. He had a whole week to contemplate her leaving him.”
Pfeffer disagreed, instead finding for second degree murder.
Horn said if convicted of first degree murder, Markham was facing 30 years in prison without the possibility of parole. A second degree murder charge could sentence Markham to 17 years in prison because of the firearm enhancement.
“The judge made the right decision,” Horn said. “There was no evidence whatsoever under New Mexico law to bind this over for first degree murder. This clearly is a tragedy ... We’d like a resolution to this for our client’s health and for the people of Los Alamos.”
Others involved in the case chose not to comment.
Markham has been in jail since being charged with an open count of murder for the death of his wife early in the evening of Aug. 4 in their Denver Steel home.
Los Alamos man gets 10 years for murder of wifeTom Sharpe | The New Mexican
5/7/2009
Jack Markham will spend 10 years in prison for shooting his wife, Robin, to death last August in the bedroom of their Los Alamos home.
But the motive for the first homicide in New Mexico's most affluent county since 1994 remains a mystery because Markham — who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder — isn't saying.
A plea bargain between Jack Markham's public defenders and the District Attorney's Office was accepted at a Thursday hearing packed with tearful friends and family of the couple. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Assistant District Attorney Karen Snell said Markham shot his wife three times in the chest, then called 911, but the reason is unknown.
According to people who knew the Markhams, Robin Markham had recently moved out of the home they shared on Pueblo Drive, but returned Aug. 4 because she feared he was suicidal. Police reportedly found seven handguns and several shotguns in the bedroom.
"She went there that day knowing there was a fear he would harm her, but wanting him to know that she loved him," Snell said.
Defense attorney Damian Horne said that in his interviews with Jack Markham, "Not one time did he revile his wife, did he excuse the deed or offer a legitimate cause for this tragedy."
Horn said Jack Markham, 56, might die in prison because of diabetes and other chronic diseases. Markham sat in a wheelchair, hung his head and did not make eye contact with anyone Thursday as he repeatedly apologized for killing Robin Markham.
"She was my wife and best friend, lover, partner, my better half, fishing buddy, traveling companion," he said. "She was my everything."
Not everyone at the hearing was ready to forgive.
Robin Markham's longtime friend, Geri Perrault of Texas, called Jack Markham a "coward" who couldn't shoot himself after he killed Robin. She said she hopes he spends the rest of his life in prison.
"I hope it wears him down," she said. "He'll get no forgiveness from me."
Robin Markham's stepbrother, Kevin O'Neil of Colorado, patted Jack Markham on the shoulder as he walked to the witness stand to ask the judge not to send Markham to a prison with other murderers. O'Neil suggested that in prison, Markham "spend time with the chaplain so you can get to have a personal relationship with Jesus and ask for forgiveness."
Jack Markham's friends asked the judge to go easy on him. His sister, Debbie Crane of South Carolina, said Markham was always there for her when she had problems with boyfriends and children. "I never even saw him yell at anyone," she said.
District Judge Michael Vigil said no one but Jack Markham knows why he killed wife. "I got an idea that all was not well, but none of that justified taking a life," he said.
Following the agreement of the opposing lawyers, Vigil sentenced Markham to 15 years in jail, but suspended five. He said he has no control over which state prison Markham will be assigned to. He has been in the Los Alamos County Jail since the killing.
If Markham lives long enough to be released at age 65 in 2018, he will be required to serve two years of probation and will be responsible for repaying his dead wife's funeral expenses.
Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.
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