In what has been the latest installment of tragically violent, family disturbances which have resulted in homicide, Angela Harrison of Graham, WA was informed Saturday that her husband James had murdered their five children before ending his own life; in an apparent suicide. The horrific nature of this crime was so riveting that it was featured on the national news segment of a major broadcast network. Although Ms. Harrison has finally broken her silence over the past few days to address the media, there are still some lingering questions which have gone unanswered.
Despite this very heinous, cowardly, and selfish act by James Harrison to kill his children in cold blood, where was Angela on last Friday night, the last night that her children were last seen alive? According to the Monday edition, April 6, 2009, of the Tacoma News Tribune, Mr. Harrison had sought out his wife and located her at a convenience store in Auburn, WA, where she informed him of her desire to end the marriage and that she was planning to leave him. There is still no credible explanation for her absence from the home; was it because she was working the late shift or is there some other reason? If Angela was afraid that her husband might become physically abusive when she came home, then why didn’t she contact the police?
And what about this anonymous and unnamed ‘friend’ of Angela’s whom she confided in about her marital troubles and was such a source of strength and support to her? This friend seems to have taken a behind-the-scene ‘special’ interest in the teetering-on-the brink-of-collapse situation of a married woman. Angela claims that her male friend showed her she deserves to be treated better than that and he was the one who helped her arrive at this decision to leave her husband, James; not her relatives, co-workers, marriage/family counselor, or girlfriends, but this individual. Usually, when someone mentions a ‘special’ friend who is a member of the opposite sex, it is in many cases a codeword for something more going on between them; especially when one of the parties has to defend the association in public.
There have been rumors and innuendo of Ms. Harrison having an extra-marital affair, to which she has denied. There is however, not such a clear distinction that can be drawn between not having an ‘affair’ or a ‘relationship.’ A person can experience intimate physical contact or voyeurism/erotica [‘looking but not touching’] and yet say that they aren’t having an ‘affair’ because to most people the act has to involve sexual intercourse.
What about someone in a ‘relationship,’ where there is conduct involving: closeness, sharing, communication, trust; that is given to another person in the form of attentiveness, warmth, loyalty, verbal expression and physical contact that is not given to one’s spouse/life partner; what would these acts be considered? Not only that, but could these things be seen by the other domestic partner such that the individual not feel betrayed or hurt? So when one says that they aren’t having an affair in the technical sense but confides in someone else exclusively of the opposite sex because he understands her so well, then one would have to be incredibly naïve not to believe that ‘something’ else isn’t going on; now, what that ‘something’ is, only Angela and her friend know for certain.
While not wanting to play the blame game or further subject Ms. Harrison to a guilt trip because of the incredible pain, grief, and mourning that she must be going through, this is not the time for second-guessing and incriminations because what is done cannot be altered. Whatever might should have been done in the past cannot be relived and in a home where there was once the joyous sound of laughter and the usual, albeit predictable ruckus of children in ages ranging from seven to sixteen, are now replaced with haunting silence, empty spaces, and cherished memories before a shrine of flowers, cards, candles, and stuffed animals.
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
April 8, 2009
pbks@hotmail.com
