A homecoming prank and its outcome breaks hearts and then warms them: Bullying victim Whitney Kropp was nominated for homecoming court as a joke, but her small town rallies around her.
Wives Who Kill Abusive Husbands – Barbara Sheehan on Anderson Cooper Today!
Wednesday, August 01, 2012
Anderson speaks with Barbara Sheehan, the Queens resident who shot her retired cop husband 11 times with two guns. She was recently found not guilty of the fatal shooting, but faces five years in prison on a gun possession conviction, and is currently out on appeal.
For the first time, Barbara talks about enduring years of abuse, and shares what really happened that fateful morning.
Since the show…
Barbara’s attorneys have been working on her appeal. She says she’s grateful for all the support her family has received, but she’s still having trouble finding a job.
Check your local listings for show times.
http://www.andersoncooper.com/episodes/wives-who-kill-abusive-husbands/
Filed under Barbara Sheehan
Turning Around: A Mother (Shari Johnson) Embraces Her Gay Daughter
Listen to Shari Johnson, author of Above All Things interview with Sean Cole.
Click on the link to hear the full interview:
http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_71812_full_show.mp3/view
Don’t forget to order your copy of Above All Things on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Above-All-Things-Evangelical-Christian/dp/0985024801/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343828429&sr=1-2&keywords=above+all+things
Filed under Shari Johnson
Jennifer Sheehan Was ‘Relieved’ When Mom Killed Dad
July 17, 2012
When Jennifer Joyce Sheehan’s mother killed her father, she was relieved.
“He was such a monster in all of our lives,” Sheehan told ABCNews.com. “I was always so afraid that he was going to kill my mom. It’s such a relief that he’s gone.”
Barbara Sheehan killed her husband, retired New York police officer Raymond Sheehan, as he shaved in the bathroom on the morning of Feb. 18, 2008. She shot him 11 times after suffering years of violent abuse and threats from him.
“My mom would never hurt anybody,” Jennifer Sheehan said. “He [Raymond Sheehan] would say it all the time—that he was going to kill her, us, the rest of the family. If she didn’t protect herself, he would have not only killed her, but the rest of us, too.”
But after the relief wore off, Jennifer Sheehan, 26, and her brother Raymond Sheehan, 22, faced another terrifying reality—the possibility that they could lose their mother to life in prison for murder.
The siblings tell their mother’s story in their new book, “In Bed with the Badge: The Barbara Sheehan Story,” available today.
“We were stunned,” Raymond Sheehan writes in the book. “It all happened so fast that for a moment I lost my equilibrium. I felt as though I had been spun around a hundred times, then forced to stand still and walk.”
When the case went to trial in 2011, Jennifer and Raymond Sheehan stood by their mother and testified against their father.
The siblings are part of a long line of children who have watched their parents go through high-profile trials.
Just this year, the children of ex-Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, two-time presidential candidate John Edwards and legendary pitcher Roger Clemens have been subjected to the grueling and invasive ordeal of watching their fathers go through trials.
But what effect does the trial process have on these offspring, both young and older, especially in highly publicized and scrutinized cases?
“You have the parents undergoing a huge stressor and the child trying to cope with how that affects them and their world,” Dr. Alan Kazdin, a professor at the Yale University department of psychology, told ABCNews.com. “The fallout could be huge.”
The stress is the first thing Jennifer Sheehan recalls from her mother’s trial.
“Just being there for the short amount of time that I was, listening to closing arguments and a couple of people testifying, waiting for the jury’s decision—the anxiety is just through the roof,” she said. “There’s no way to describe it. You don’t even really have feelings. You’re so anxious, you’re so scared.”
Barbara Sheehan was charged with second-degree murder and two gun possession charges. She faced 25 years to life in prison, but was acquitted of murder and one of the gun charges. She could still face jail time for the second gun charge. Jennifer Sheehan was 25 years old during the trial in Queens, N.Y. and Raymond Sheehan was 22.
Jennifer Sheehan said that one of the most painful parts of the trial was being shocked by the lies she felt her father’s side of the family told in court.
She said that in the time leading up to her father’s death, her mother had told his family that things were really bad and that she needed their help. Jennifer Sheehan said her father’s family shut them out and testified in court that nothing was wrong with their son.
To read the full article visit: http://abcnews.go.com/US/jennifer-sheehan-relieved-mom-killed-dad/story?id=16786930#.UAWTLXB0TE5
Filed under Uncategorized
Children of NYC mom who killed husband pen book
Children of NYC mom who killed husband pen book
COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press
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FILE – In this Sept. 23, 2011 file photo, Raymond Sheehan, the son of Barbara Sheehan, leaves a New York courtroom as proceedings in his mother’s murder trial break for the day. Believing that she shot and killed Raymond’s abusive father in self-defense, the jury went on to acquit his mother on the murder charge. Raymond and his sister, Jennifer, have written a book about their mother’s ordeal entitled, “In Bed With the Badge: The Barbara Sheehan Story.” The book will be published Tuesday, July 17, 2012, through Changing Lives Press, and also as an e-book. Photo: Rick Maiman / AP-
FILE – In this Sept. 23, 2011 file photo, Raymond Sheehan, the son…
FILE – In this Sept. 23, 2011 file photo, Barbara Sheehan leaves a New York courtroom as her trial breaks for the day. Sheehan, who was accused of fatally shooting her retired police officer husband, was eventually acquitted of murder when the jury believed that she shot him in self-defense. Sheehan’s adult children have written a book about their mother’s ordeal entitled, “In Bed With the Badge: The Barbara Sheehan Story.” The book will be published Tuesday, July 17, 2012, through Changing Lives Press, and also as an e-book. Photo: Rick Maiman / APFILE – In this Sept. 23, 2011 file photo, Barbara Sheehan leaves a…
NEW YORK (AP) — Jennifer and Raymond Sheehan say their lives changed forever — for the better — the day their mother shot their retired police officer father to death.
Neither witnessed the shooting on Feb. 18, 2008. When they got the call, they expected to hear that their mother was dead. They figured her end was only a matter of time after years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of their father, Raymond Sr.
So when Raymond Jr. learned it was his dad who was dead, he felt an immense relief. “Like a weight lifted off my shoulders,” he said.
But there was more stress to come. Their mother, Barbara, would be tried for murder and their family’s dark, disturbing secrets would be cracked open in court.
Less than a year after Barbara Sheehan was acquitted for fatally shooting her husband 11 times at their Queens home, her children have published a book about the ordeal.
“In Bed With the Badge: The Barbara Sheehan Story” goes on sale Tuesday. It details her life and descent into abuse and despair, and includes notes and recollections from Raymond and Jennifer and from family friends who witnessed the abuse.
The two siblings said they focused the account on their mother — and not their own experience — because they hoped her story would serve as a cautionary tale for other abused women and help them see the early warning signs.
“Going through everything after my mom killed my father, living their experiences, we wanted to show other people the importance of getting out of a bad relationship before it’s too late,” Raymond Sheehan said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The 22-year-old took the stand in his mother’s defense last fall during the trial, which was much more difficult than writing the book, he said. He was grilled on his childhood and admitted on the stand that he thought of suicide, telling of horrific memories where his mother was burned by scalding pasta sauce thrown by his angry father.
“All the personal stuff came out in the trial. That was the big thing,” he said. “The book felt almost easy.”
The trial was brutal for the family. Jennifer and Raymond took leave from school and from work to be with their mother, who was out on bail after mortgaging two family homes. Aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends filled the courtroom seats, many donning purple — the color for domestic violence.
And dirty laundry was aired. Jurors heard of the elder Raymond’s consistent threats, his physical and verbal abuse, and bizarre sexual habits he forced on his wife, as Barbara and her children testified that he created a culture of fear at home. They said they never told anyone, especially the police, because he said he would kill them if they did.
Prosecutors argued Barbara was a woman happy with her life and a willing participant in her husband’s sexual proclivities. They suggested she killed her husband for money. Friends testified the couple seemed normal and happy, and they did not suspect anything violent at home.
But the elder Raymond’s children said the 49-year-old former police sergeant put on a nicer face for the public.
In their book, the siblings explore the question of why their mother would stay with an abusive man for more than 20 years. They interviewed her about her past and learned of his manipulative behavior as far back as the first dates.
“I think after this all happened and she realized how bad the psychological and physical abuse was that she was going through even then, she started thinking back and realizing ‘Oh, this wasn’t normal,’” said Jennifer Sheehan, 26.
The 250-page book includes a robust appendix. “Domestic Violence, How to get Help, Cops as Abusers and other statistics” is designed to give readers some helpful tools, Jennifer Sheehan said.
“We want people to know the signs of what an abuser is and what they do to control you, even from the very beginning,” she said.
Raymond is getting married and will be in graduate school in New York in the fall. Jennifer lives in San Diego and works as an oncology nurse. Barbara Sheehan, 50, convicted on one weapons charge and sentenced to 5½ years in prison, is out on bail while appealing her conviction.
Barbara Sheehan didn’t comment for this story. Her children said she was happy with the book.
A call to Raymond Sheehan’s brother Vincent was not returned.
Changing Lives Press is the book publisher. The book costs $24.99. It also will be available as an e-book.
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