Father kills 4 children, self after spousal dispute (2006 US murder totals - 8788 and rising)

Fort Wayne Journal Gazette ^ | 7/04/06

[Libloather]

Father kills 4 children, self after spousal dispute
Associated Press
Posted on Wed, Jul. 05, 2006

An undated photo provided by the Gustine Police Department shows twins Alyssa Branscum, 5, left, and Taylor Branscum. The twins and their two other siblings were found dead in their Gustine, Calif., home Tuesday, July 4, 2006, officials said. The children apparently died of gunshots to the head, and their father, Trevor Branscum, 38, died of a self-inflicted wound, Mayor Jim Bonta said. Police Sgt. Vince Inaudi said the children appeared to be sleeping when they were shot. The evidence was consistent with a murder-suicide, but the department planned to conduct a full homicide investigation, he said. (AP Photo/Gustine Police Department)

GUSTINE, Calif. – A man who was seen arguing with his wife Tuesday later killed his four young children with a hunting rifle before turning the gun on himself, officials said.

Authorities identified the dead siblings as Aubrie Branscum, 12; Jacob, 10; and twins Taylor and Alyssa, 5.

The children apparently died of gunshots to the head, according to Mayor Jim Bonta.

Their father, Trevor Branscum, 38, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Authorities told the mayor Branscum had to reload the rifle before each shot.

Bonta said that the family had lived in Gustine for several years and that police were unaware of any previous problems with the family.

“They were happy; they were doing fireworks together last night,” Bonta said.

The bloodshed came about an hour after a store owner called police to report that Branscum and his wife, Amanda, were having an argument. Police said that as the woman drove away in a van, her husband dove through the window.

Authorities said that after police were called to the Branscum home before 2 a.m., officers saw Amanda Branscum lying in the road uninjured; the father and children were found dead inside the house.

[motormouth]

Thanks for pointing this thread out to me. :o)

[starfish923]

Nice graphic. You obviously know a lot about nagging. I guess you either do a lot or hear it a lot....which explains you a lot.

You are old enough to be married with a puerile call sign like that?

Ignore button: ON

[starfish923]

I cant believe I didnt see this thread before.. but, now that I have: I think you are a disgusting piece of crap. Where did you get such insight on abusers? Know any personally? You are a judgemental, narrow minded, piece of work.

Let's see.

1. You have just trolled on to this thread at the very end of a very incomplete story of a murder and suicide from WEEKS ago and seem very excited to be here.
That says VERY SICK things about you. I wonder which moron told you of the feeding frenzing against me. Have you SO LITTLE in your life that THIS is what floats your boat?
Pathetic.
Perhaps you are very, very young and know no better.
I only answer the pings to this. I don't troll the weeks-old stories of murder/suicide and, like buzzards after carrion, rush to bash the latest cause celebre.
Sad.

2. You start out with insulting me because you OBVIOUSLY haven't read everything I've said. Otherwise you would not have made such an ignornant response.
Either you can't read or are too lazy to go through all of my dialogues and merely INSULT me to hide your ignorance and/or sloth. Perhaps it's both.
Either way, my IGNORE BUTTON is ON for you.

But then, with call signs like "HOTTIEBOY" and "motormouth," I guess you all explain yourselves from the get-go. One can ONLY hope that neither of your breed.

[starfish923]

I guess that graphic explains you and your thinking powers. People usually insult with what most familiar to them.
Perhaps YOU have taken the stuff WAY too much and for WAY too long a time.

Time for you to detox and rehab from the stuff.

[najida]

I wouldn't make fun of other folks names darlin', considering yours is slang for a rectum.

[motormouth]

WOW.. you are a funny one arent ya?

You are a waste of space on this thread, hell, on this site. Your posts were cruel and ignorant....was it your ass that was typing those, cuz I swear it was a load of sh**.
As for your ignore ON button, I have a button for you too... wanna guess what it is?

But all the same, you have great day.

[starfish923]

I wouldn't make fun of other folks names darlin', considering yours is slang for a rectum.

Which name is slang for rectum? HOTTIEBOY would be my best guess. Motormouth would also be an EXCELLENT choice too, but who knows. Who cares? Oh, I forgot...YOU care.
That is disgusting. But, then, you are HERE at the feeding frenzy.

I guess the fact that YOU know that information about slang for rectum tells me ALL I want to know about YOU. Perhaps it's a badge of honor to you that you not only know such toilet stuff but use it publically, showing everyone else how conversant you are with such gutter language.
I guess it's been used on you a lot. People often insult with what hurts them the most.

Your parents must be very proud of you.
With your reply you show your upbringing, manners and character here....or lack of them.

[motormouth]

"One can ONLY hope that neither of your breed"

Hey, smartass, was that supposed to say "One can ONLY hope that neither of YOU breed."

your=you

Im just checking, I wouldnt want to falsely accuse you of being stupid as well as arrogant.

[wallcrawlr]

One hopes she will have learned something about disputes, arguments and fighting.

Have you?

[starfish923]

One hopes she will have learned something about disputes, arguments and fighting.
Have you?

I learned about these things a long time ago.

1. This is SUPPOSED to be a discussion thread. It was for quite a while. People are allowed to have different views and if you had bothered to read all the posts, then you would know that I defended my point of view -- which DID start out with "I wonder" -- all along, even silencing the gainsayers.
The civil discussion was finished.

2. It has turned into a bash thread the last several posts, by people who DIDN'T start out to have a discussion by any stretch of the imagination. Their SOLE purpose for being at the end of this thread is to come in at the feeding frenzy of insults to ONE sole, lone poster.
That's the behavior of bullies, cowards and gutless wonders who only venture forth in packs, like howling hyenas, all excited about the kill.

3. People like that are the bottom-feeders of this site. You know that because they have nothing to ADD to the discussion. They have ONLY insults, name-calling and puerile graphics.
That SHOWS their thinking....upbring, manners and character, or lack of them. Their families must be so proud of them. < sarc. >

4. These posters go on my ignore list.

5. The ridiculous and hilarious part is that THEY won't remember months from now.
I will reply to something with which they TOTALLY agree and they will give me the "high fives" and such. It's absurd that they spew their venom and hate with such alacrity and then FORGET whom they insulted. Ricidulous!
They CAN'T be so stupid careless and short-sighted to believe that I won't remember, can they? Rhetorical because they CAN be so.
Naturally, I won't respond because I am more orderly in my thinking. I KNOW where those posters come from, but they scatter their insults and toilet mouths with such frivolity, carelessness and amazing quantity that they FORGET whom they insult.
I don't.
I treat them like poisonous spiders. I avoid them. I keep my eye on them and steer clear but I don't engage.
One doesn't hate these people because what they write is simply part of their nature. They can't seem to be anything else.
Undoubtedly they are more to be pitied than anything else.
As I wrote above, one hopes they don't breed.

[Toby06]

You seem like a classic abuser, and that's why you have your knickers in such a twist. You must have gone too long without kicking a puppy or stepping on a baby chick.

Please, go get yourself some professional help.

Have you stopped beating your wife yet?

[starfish923]

Did you see this?

"One can ONLY hope that neither of your breed"
Hey, smartass, was that supposed to say "One can ONLY hope that neither of YOU breed."
your=you
Im just checking, I wouldnt want to falsely accuse you of being stupid as well as arrogant.

He corrects MY one error in spelling then shows HIS own FOUR errors in grammar and punctuation.

1. He left out the apostrophe in "I'm" and "wouldn't."
2. He forgot that he asked a question and left out the question mark at the end of "...was that supposed to say...."
3. He has to put either a period or semicolon after "Im just checking" because that is required in English. Perhaps he doesn't even know that one.

It's not carelessness, is it? It's either TOTAL IGNORANCE of grammar or sloth. Perhaps both.

See how silly he seems with his attitude of correcting me? It's downright amusing. I even smiled at this poster. I really ought to THANK HIM for making my point so clearly and succinctly, shouldn't I?

I NEVER correct posters' English grammar, punctuation or spelling because SOMETIMES the poster might be very smart and have incredibly clear, straight thinking, BUT have little or no training in writing. They don't deserve that anyone should call them on their mistakes because it's the content of their communication that means something, not necessarily the style.
Most know that lacuna in their training and most try to get the communication style correct because it IS important to be precise with words. They are powerful.

Finally, you notice that he CONTINUES the insulting.
My, what an ANGRY person. He probably explains his anger and insults with a variety of excuses. Wouldn't be surprised.

Ah, time for my second cup of coffee.

[wallcrawlr]

...are you still talking?

[wallcrawlr]

Ah, time for my second cup of coffee.

i'd suggest sex

[Toby06]

With a human, this time.

[starfish923]

Here's another one.

You seem like a classic abuser, and that's why you have your knickers in such a twist. You must have gone too long without kicking a puppy or stepping on a baby chick. Please, go get yourself some professional help. Have you stopped beating your wife yet?

I am a woman, an older one.

People usually insult with what's most prominent in THEIR lives. That shows that this person MIGHT (Notice the conditional use here.) have some REAL serious problems with his anger.
He's the one who seems to need much help. But that's just my opinion. I don't know the person. THANK GOD for small favors.

Oh, another thing about Free Republic.
It's OKAY to insult a person's thinking, ideas and logic. It's NOT OKAY to insult the person. Those are called ad hominem attacks. Supposedly, they are forbidden on this site. No moderators here, I guess.

COFFEE.

[starfish923]

i'd suggest sex

Let me guess; you are male.

[Tatze]

It's OKAY to insult a person's thinking, ideas and logic. It's NOT OKAY to insult the person. Those are called ad hominem attacks. Supposedly, they are forbidden on this site. No moderators here, I guess.

If the moderators were paying attention, I think you would have been banned long ago. You are extremely abusive to just about everyone else on the thread.

[Toby06]

If the mods were watching, you'd have been zotted a long time ago.

Pot/kettle & all that!

[Tatze]

GMTA