Domestic partner killings drive St. Paul homicides

Half of the eight people reported killed in St. Paul this year have died allegedly at the hands of their domestic partners.

On Sept. 17, Ramsey County prosecutors say John Gordon Weisner, 56, shot and killed his longtime partner Mona Turner, 54, shortly after she told him she wanted to leave. The charges say Weisner fired a shotgun once at Turner and then tried to stab himself to death with a knife.

Turner is one of four people killed in St. Paul this year allegedly by a romantic partner.

Becky Smith, program manager at the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women, said every abusive situation is unique. But one trait is fairly common: an abusive partner is driven by a desire to control the other person.

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"And often the domestic violence homicide can occur at a point where the aggressor feels the loss of power and control," she said.

Smith said that moment often comes when an abused woman chooses to leave the relationship. According to a report by the coalition, most domestic violence homicide victims are women.

Domestic violence was responsible for the deaths of 16 women and two men, according to the coalition's 2014 Femicide report. The report says five people who were either friends, family or interveners were also killed.

However, police say this year two St. Paul men were killed by their girlfriends. Ramsey County prosecutors say on May 29, Sherry Ann Henderson, 48, stabbed her boyfriend, Addison Hillard, 57, to death. According to the criminal charges, Henderson had a history of abusive behavior toward Hillard.

Smith didn't comment directly on those cases, but she said sometimes women kill their partners in self-defense. And she said it may not always be obvious to an officer responding to a domestic violence call which person committed a crime. Smith said officers need to look for defensive wounds or other signs that might tip them off.

Ken Sass, commander of the St. Paul Police Department's family violence unit, said that's what his officers do.

"Our officers are trained to look for independent evidence that they can show who the primary aggressor was," he said.

Sass said the officers assigned to the unit also try to help prevent further conflicts. Sass said sometimes that means they work with prosecutors to get longer sentences for repeat offenders or connect victims with social services. He said St. Paul is recognized nationally for how it combines these different elements.

Ultimately, Sass said the goal is to prevent domestic homicides by intervening in volatile situations before they become lethal.

"Any domestic homicide is too much. But unfortunately there are a few every year," he said.

The Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women said each year the number of domestic violence homicides across the state varies from the teens to the mid-40s. Coalition officials say there were 23 reported in 2014. This year appears on pace to at least match that, with 22 alleged domestic violence homicide victims.