XPost: alt.connecticut, uk.politics.guns, alt.planning.transportation
XPost: alt.education.alternative
From: thanks.democrats@splcenter.org

On Palm Sunday, 1984, police responded to a report of shots
fired at 1080 Liberty Avenue. They found 2 women and 8 children
dead of point-blank gunshot wounds to the head. Two elements
made the scene especially macabre: one, the victims were seated
or reclined in a gruesome still-life, a few lounged in front of
a television, another in the bedroom had been napping, and one
woman held a tin of pudding and a spoon; two, a 13-month-old
baby girl crawled among the corpses’ feet, crying. She was the
only survivor.

After 9 days, the police investigation turned to Christopher
Thomas. A cocaine addict with 3 priors for assault, Thomas often
bought drugs from the home’s owner, Enrique Bermudez. Thomas had
also accused Bermudez of sleeping with his wife.

Thomas’s defense attorney, Martin Schmukler, argued that what
came to be known as The Palm Sunday Massacre was a case of
manslaughter and not of murder, as Thomas’s history of
depression and addiction to cocaine constituted sufficient
emotional duress to account for his actions.

The jury agreed. Christopher Thomas was convicted of 10 counts
of first-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 25 to 50
years. He has been eligible for parole since 2009, but as of
this writing, he remains incarcerated.

The surviving toddler, Christina Rivera – having lost her
mother, 2 half-brothers, and several cousins – was taken from
the murder scene by Joanne Jeffe, one of the first responding
police officers. Jeffe eventually adopted her.

https://archives.law.virginia.edu/dengrove/writeup/palm-sunday-
massacre
 

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* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)