Friday, September 28, 2012
"O.C. Man Convicted of Killing Ex-Wife, Her Father After Custody Dispute" by Rick Rojas
In the Los Angeles Times Rick Rojas wrote an article about a man that gunned down his ex-wife and her father, while they were picking up the former couples seven year old daughter. On May of 2011 a judge had ruled in favor of Emily Ford to gain custody of their daughter who had special needs. That evening Emily Ford who was 32, had made an arrangement with her father Russell Ford 62, to pick up her daughter from her ex-husbands Robert Allan Lehmann's home. He had sent his daughter to eat ice cream with his current wife, he then loaded a firearm and waited for his ex-wife to arrive. When Emily and Russell arrived, Emily left her youngest child in the car seat and they approached the house, as they came by the door, Lehmann opened the door and began shooting. They tried to flee the scene but Lehmann pursued them, during the shooting he shot two cars but no one was hurt. He managed to shoot the Fords several times in the back and when they fell to the ground he shot them many times in the back of the head. Robert Allan Lehmann was found guilty by a jury for two felony counts of murder, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office. He could face maximum two life sentence terms without the possibility of parole. His sentencing is scheduled for November 2. This article proves that one can commit crazy and reckless actions when upset or when feeling a sense of loss. Robert probably felt he lost his daughter to his ex-wife, but that is no excuse for brutally murdering her and her father. That poor innocent girl lost a mother and grandfather that day, I am truly sorry for her loss.
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This is truly a tragedy. No one may know what was going through his head when he committed this brutal act. People like this should not be put to jail. They should be executed because we, the taxpayers, will end up paying money for the welfare of this man in his cell. However that is only the judges choice to make.
ReplyDeleteLast week, one of our classmates wrote an article about a man entering a vicious animal's cage in the zoo. I had commented on that article talking about the carelessness of some people and their mentality towards the actions they commit. We see the same example here. A man commits murder on his ex-wife and her father, without realizing the consequences of his actions. Not only will he be sent to jail, but he will also have the burden of carrying the guilt of what he has committed throughout his life. He made the decision of taking away his own daughter's mother by murdering her, but he also made the decision of taking himself out of his daughter's life by being sent to jail for life. A young girl, especially one with special needs, should not grow up without her parents' constant love surrounding her. This man also took away a mother from the woman's second child, who had no part in this situation whatsoever. If the grandfather was listed to be the succeeding caretaker if anything happened to the mother and father, the father made sure that option is out of the way also. He is now trusting his new wife to be the guardian of his special needs daughter. These sort of situations truly are tragic.
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely a gloomy story. Many people in our society, like Robert Allan Lehmann, need help. Not only does he need help, he stole two lives and stole a mother and a grandfather from two kids. This is an unresponsible and a brutal act Lehmann committed. People like Lehmann do not deserve to go to jail and should be executed immediately, especially after a crime like this one. He definitely deserves a harsher punishment, but this one will do as well.
ReplyDeleteMurder. Murder is a very broad topic, sometimes justified sometimes unjust; in this case it was unjust. There is literally no justifiable reason to murder an ex-wife and an ex-father-in-law, because of a great loss. One can not just simply for the love of his daughter, kill the little girl's mother and grandfather. On a separate note I would be interested to know what type of firearm he used. That one little piece of information is very important in a verdict of life or 30 years. If one commits murder, very generally, it is considered third degree murder. If one plans the murder ahead of time, it is second degree murder. If one reloads his firearm and plans the murder ahead of time, it is considered first degree murder, which can get one at least a life-sentence. If Robert had used a shotgun, it would be very unlikely for him to reload his weapon, which one change the verdict completely. If Robert had used a pistol, it would be very likely for him to reload, and that could be determined by counting the bullet-wounds or eye-witness reports of "over-kill".
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, the person who suffered the most from this entire story is the young girl who lost her father, her mother, and her grandfather. What this man did was unfair to his child and unfair to the murder victims. No matter what his reasoning was, this case can not be justified. His conviction is well-deserved. Lehmann was clearly not in the correct mental state when committing this crime, and he should definitely be put in a mental health program in prison to prevent him from hurting anyone else.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very devastating and heart-breaking topic. To think that there are these types of people in the world who gain pride in killing others. The young girl must be very traumatized from what has happened to her parents and her grandfather. If she were younger, she may have not remembered what had happened to her family. However, at the age of seven, I am sure she will remember this until the day she dies. This man's actions can never be forgiven, and surely, the daughter does not wish for her father to be forgiven for the harsh crime he has committed.
ReplyDeleteThis man is selfish and immature, not to mention crazy. He did not care what would be the consequences of his actions. Now his little girl is going to grow up without a mother, grandfather, and even a dad. If he honestly cared for his daughter he would put her needs before his, but it is obvious that this man is mentally sick. Also, killing his ex-wife and ex-wife's father did not solve any of his problems; he only managed to make things worse. I feel so lucky when I think about how many terrible parents there are in this world and how mine are not one of them.
ReplyDeleteThis story fills me with sadness, horror, and pure anger. How mindless and heartless does a person have to be to take two innocent lives? Let alone the mother and grandfather of his child. This man deserves to be punished without mercy.
ReplyDeleteThis is by far one of the worst stories I have heard this year. This man is truly crazy to be able to have done whatever he did. He killed two innocent people. He stole the lives of two people. His act was barbaric and inhumane. As you stated, I too feel sorry for that little girl to lose not only her mom and grandfather, but also her father, as he is going to jail. Why would one do such a thing?
ReplyDeleteLehmann's frustration of losing custody of his daughter is not a reason to murder his ex-wife and father-in-law. Lehmann’s wrongdoing results in him to never see his daughter. The child will eventually become knowledgeable of her father’s act, and consider not having a mutual communication or relationship with him. It is truly tragic and devastating that this incident occurred. Society needs to take his event into consideration, and see that one is allowed to express their emotions without the use of weaponry, and come to a common compromise with their significant other.
ReplyDeleteThe actions people do are always unpredictable and unexpected. Divorce and losing custody of a child can cause a huge impact on someone, but they should not take it to that extent where they commit murder. There are many ways for solving problems like this and his actions were quite childish, immature, and unacceptable. If this man cared so much for his daughter, he would have cared for his daughter to grow up with a mother and grandfather. The daughter's loss will cause a huge impact in her life and I agree with you Rosemary, I am also quite sorry for the girl.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a tragic article to read. I understand that as a father he felt pain and anger because he felt as if he lost his daughter, but that does not give him reason to shoot people. His ex-wife was doing her part by letting her daughter visit him, therefore he had no legitimate reason to commit such a crime in front of his child. Not only did he really ruin the chances of seeing his daughter, but he also ruined his seven year old daughter's life by taking away her mother and grandfather.
ReplyDeleteEmotions are a factor of the actions of all people. It can lead to risky, dangerous, and irrational behaviour. The question, in this situation, is not weather Robert Allan Lehmann's actions were cruel, injust, or just plainly immoral, instead it is the inquiry that results after such an occurrence. How can a father hurt his own daughter in any way, shape, or form? Pain and hurt can cause irrational ideas to spark within a person, but any person should be able to control their emotions with logical reason. Lehmann must spend the rest of his life in jail and he has rid his daughter of the priviledge of: a mother, a grandfather, and a proper father. All actions have consequences; every human must contemplate the results of their own actions. Ultimately, the innocent are the ones who are struck with grief due to situations such as these; unfortunately, Lehmann's daughter was the innocent piece that was placed in a cruel game that can be compared to a labyrinth.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, just because the man's ex-wife had custody of their daughter, but that does not necessarily mean that the she would have forbidden the girl from seeing her father. It does not matter how enraged a person is, killing has no merciful excuse. No person has given life to another person. I will never side with Lehmann no matter what his excuse is for his actions. He should be given a vicious prison time because he took away his own daughter's mother. Once the child grows up, she will never forgive her father for this and she will hate him forever. I agree that this is a complete tragedy and I am sorry for this girl's loss, for she did not deserve it.
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