Domestic Violence is a problem that touches everyone.
NBC News: Vicki Swenson Plea
The links we shared are based on the Teri Lee case where Steven Van Keuren stalked and killed her. Her sister Vicki Swenson was on NBC news and Extreme Makeover recounting what happened to her. This story is not for the light-hearted. Teri was attacked the first time with butcher knives and stalked until Steven Van Keuren showed up at her home on September 22, 2006 with a gun, broke into the home- which had an armed ADT alarm system that failed on that night- and he shot and killed both Teri Lee, and Tim Hawkinson. Swenson sued ADT and won after ADT attempted several times to get the suit dropped or settle for a mere $500. ADT claimed limited liability- the court held them accountable because several of the features Hawkinson had asked for were not installed properly- mainly the motion sensor for the downstairs. ADT ended up accepting liability, and Van Keuren was convicted of murdering both Tim and Teri- he is serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole.
The links we shared are based on the Teri Lee case where Steven Van Keuren stalked and killed her. Her sister Vicki Swenson was on NBC news and Extreme Makeover recounting what happened to her. This story is not for the light-hearted. Teri was attacked the first time with butcher knives and stalked until Steven Van Keuren showed up at her home on September 22, 2006 with a gun, broke into the home- which had an armed ADT alarm system that failed on that night- and he shot and killed both Teri Lee, and Tim Hawkinson. Swenson sued ADT and won after ADT attempted several times to get the suit dropped or settle for a mere $500. ADT claimed limited liability- the court held them accountable because several of the features Hawkinson had asked for were not installed properly- mainly the motion sensor for the downstairs. ADT ended up accepting liability, and Van Keuren was convicted of murdering both Tim and Teri- he is serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole.
According to Barner and Carney's article Interventions for Intimate Partner
Violence: A Historical Review. Journal of Family Violence, The current state of offender focused criminal intervention came from
another landmark case, Thurman vs the City of Torrington (1984). This case got
national attention and increased attention on enforcing protective orders,
training police on how to enforce them more effectively and how to increase
arrests for Intimate Partner Violence. This case created more laws to protect the safety of
victims and use the criminal justice system in a more assertive way to deal
with offenders. One change was the start
of “no-drop” laws where the victim’s ability to drop charges against an abuser was
removed and the issue of charges rested with the criminal justice system.