Man gets 15 to 30 years for killing wife after she killed their son

[smile72]

BRENTWOOD, N.H. -- A New Hampshire man was sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison Friday for beating his wife to death with a flashlight after he came home to find she had strangled their 4-year-old son with a ribbon and tried to kill their 7-year-old daughter.

Christopher Smeltzer, 38, pleaded guilty to killing Mara Pappalardo, who was hospitalized several times for mental illness. Prosecutors say she was paranoid, obsessed with death and convinced her husband and mother-in-law were plotting to take her children away.
"When I walked into the room, as soon as I saw my son, I knew something was very wrong," Smeltzer told the court before he was sentenced, his voice breaking at times. "I knew he was dead. And I lost all control. Enraged, I struck my wife. I did something that was not going to bring my son back."
Smeltzer was charged with second-degree murder in the November 2010 killing at their Auburn home. Prosecutors later downgraded that to manslaughter, saying he was provoked by the sight of the still bodies of their son, Mason, and daughter, Mercey.
He arrived home Nov. 7 to find Mason with a ribbon around his neck and Mercey with a scarf around hers. He thought both were dead. Pappalardo tied a blue rope around her own neck in an attempt to kill herself, although prosecutors said she died from both strangulation and Smeltzer hitting her in the head with the flashlight.
Smeltzer did not call 911. Instead, he snipped the ribbon off Mason's neck and removed the scarf from Mercey's. Then he took all the pills he could find -- painkillers, sleeping aids and methadone -- and lay down on the couch to die.
He was awakened the next morning by Mercey, who asked if her mother and brother were breathing and requested a cup of tea. He made her one, then called his father and 911.
Smeltzer, who was wearing handcuffs Friday, wept while talking about how much he misses his son. "I miss my wife as well," he said. "I miss Mara's smile and heart and the way she played with our children."
He apologized to her family. "I brought more pain and sorrow," he said, adding he wishes every day he had a rewind button.
Judge Tina Nadeau said if Smeltzer earns a college degree and completes anger management behind bars, his minimum sentence would be reduced to 10 years.
Before Smeltzer spoke, a court-appointed guardian representing Mercey played a recording of the child reading a letter to the judge in which she said her father killed her mother and Mason. "If he loves me, why would he try to kill me?" she said. "If my daddy gets out, how will I keep safe Please keep him in jail for the rest of his life."
After that, prosecutor Jane Young got up and said the recording is contrary to statements Mercey has made in the past, in counseling and interviews. She repeatedly had said her father had taken the scarf off her neck. She has said she remembers her mother carrying her into the bedroom, but doesn't remember what happened next, Young said.
Prosecutors said there is no evidence that Smeltzer killed Mason

Source:http://www.heraldnet...12029855/0/NEWS

Opinions???????

 

[Hells Malice]

Assuming things happened like he said, I can actually see where he's coming from. It looked like she murdered both of their children, and he dealt swift justice to her. While...wrong, I honestly don't feel any sympathy for her. Though what he did AFTER that makes him a moron. He should have immediately called 911.

I hope the daughter is well taken care of, is about the only thing I can really say about this.

 

[Blood Fetish]

What brand of flashlight did he use?

 

[Ace Overclocked]

What brand of flashlight did he use?

are you being a troll here?
poor kids, fucked up world 0.o

 

[smile72]

Yes, he is being a troll.

 

[Sicklyboy]

What brand of flashlight did he use?

Dude. If you're going to beat someone to death, you use a fucking Maglight. Only way to do it.

 

[wasim]

Poor kids. And this incident will be haunting them for the rest of their life.

What brand of flashlight did he use?

Dude. If you're going to beat someone to death, you use a fucking Maglight. Only way to do it.

 

[Sicklyboy]

Joking aside, though, this is terrible news. That lady deserved to die how she did for killing the son and attempting to kill the daughter. I think the man is at least emotionally justified for what he did, but I can't even really decide whether I think imprisoning him was the right thing to do or not. (On a legal level, yes, it's right. But on a moral level, I don't even know...)

Edit - http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=819.0 Extremely fucking relevant. Topic about usefulness of Maglights as weapons.

 

[Pyrmon]

Joking aside, though, this is terrible news. That lady deserved to die how she did for killing the son and attempting to kill the daughter. I think the man is at least emotionally justified for what he did, but I can't even really decide whether I think imprisoning him was the right thing to do or not. (On a legal level, yes, it's right. But on a moral level, I don't even know...)

Edit - http://brilliantgame...php?topic=819.0 Extremely fucking relevant. Topic about usefulness of Maglights as weapons.

Isn't the sentence extremely reduced if the killing happened at a time of heightened emotions? I even remember a case were the guy was pardoned for killing his father because of that.

 

[nando]

he probably killed them both and tried to pin it on his wife.

 

[Foxi4]

Assuming things happened like he said, I can actually see where he's coming from. It looked like she murdered both of their children, and he dealt swift justice to her. While...wrong, I honestly don't feel any sympathy for her. Though what he did AFTER that makes him a moron. He should have immediately called 911.

I hope the daughter is well taken care of, is about the only thing I can really say about this.

I'm assuming that he was acting under the influence of alot of emotions that'd be hard to explain for someone who hasn't experienced what he did.

Imagine if you opened the front door and find your kids dead and your wife/husband happily told you that he/she killed them, that said, your wife/husband had a history of mental ilnesses on his/her record. There were probably numerous things that went through his mind immediatelly based on instincts, among those would be the need for immediate retribution and obviously "fear for his own safety". The woman was clearly not sane and likely to be a hazard for him, thus he "removed" her.

If I were his attorney, I'd plead temporary, circumstantial insanity. In a moment of such extreme stress, I'm pretty sure he was not responsible for his actions entirely. Afterall, it clearly shows he loved his children AND his wife - immediatelly after killing her, he attempted suicide. After losing his children AND losing his wife, he clearly lost the "sense" of his life - his actions were erratic, non-planned and unreasonable.

He feels responsible, he feels remorse, he knows he's done wrong but he acted upon an impulse, a very basic instinct of protecting his own family from danger. Admittedly "too late", but we cannot forget that in such circumstances he wasn't thinking logically.

 

[Hells Malice]

I never knocked on him for killing his wife. Totally in agreement with that set of actions.

The whole taking a bunch of pills and trying to kill himself instead of getting help for his kids (who appeared dead, but he's not a doctor, and his daughter was indeed alive) was what he did moronically.

 

[Foxi4]

I never knocked on him for killing his wife. Totally in agreement with that set of actions.

The whole taking a bunch of pills and trying to kill himself instead of getting help for his kids (who appeared dead, but he's not a doctor, and his daughter was indeed alive) was what he did moronically.

Well, in his honest judgement at that time they appeared dead. It's likely that the noose made from the scarf loosened as opposed to the band on the boy's neck, allowing small ammounts of air to enter her system, thus sparing her life. The breathing must've been so hardly noticable that he assumed she was dead. Besides, he was just told they were dead by the culprit herself, upon examination they appeared to be dead, his wife was admitting guilt so he had no objective reasons to doubt that his children were gone.

As for the pills, I think he just lost it. He assumed that he no longer had children and just killed his wife, making his further existence simply pointless. He knew that living on would only bring pain and suffering connected to the loss of his beloved ones, so he tried to "cut it short". I bet the only moment of happiness that day was when he was awoken by the little girl - at least one was spared from the "massacre".

 

[Hop2089]

He should have ran and called 911, she didn't have a gun or knife which can kill a man so there was no reason to beat her to death.

 

[Foxi4]

He should have ran and called 911, she didn't have a gun or knife which can kill a man so there was no reason to beat her to death.

You clearly underestimate the creativity of insane people. A spoon can be a weapon in the hands of a madman, in this case, a mad woman. A mentally unstable person can use anything as a weapon, moreover, an insane person is very likely to recieve a sudden adrenaline rush once attacking, becoming much "stronger" than you'd assume. Why do you think they keep dangerous loonies in special vests that prevent them from using their arms? To prevent them from hurting themselves and people around them, of course.

Every single object in your direct vicinity can be used as a weapon. The husband used a flashlight and managed to kill the woman despite the fact that flashlights are quite obviously not made for killing anyone. The same could happen the other way around, so your argument about guns and knives is as moot as it gets.

Facts are that the man was faced with his wife who in a state of insanity with previous history of mental ilnesses killed his children and admitted it with no remorse. She was also potentially dangerous and you can't say she wasn't because you weren't there. In a fit of rage, the man exacted revenge, and as much as this is a horrible thing to do, at the time it was sensible to him and hardly "non-justified", unless you find having your children killed "a minor disturbance".

 

[Gahars]

I have to agree with the court here; killing his wife in a fit of rage afterward was still wrong.

That's not saying that I don't feel for the guy, though; I couldn't possibly imagine what he must have been going through.