By Melinda Miller
The Buffalo News
When Jean Hartwig shared an apartment with Thomas Murphy, she had a court order that said he had to “refrain from offensive behavior” while an abuse case against him was pending. That order was still in effect on April 24 when police found Hartwig, 63, strangled to death in her bed. Murphy, 59, is charged with her murder.
Ashley Whiting, 21, was killed in her Lackawanna home on July 1. Her husband, Daniel Whiting, 28, is charged with stabbing the young mother to death, and then cutting himself to support his story that intruders had attacked him and his wife.
Although domestic violence is a private crime, experts say there often are warning signs when the abuse could culminate in the victim’s death. On Thursday morning, the Erie County District Attorney’s Office announced it has received a $900,000 federal grant to create a Domestic Violence High Risk Team to help spot those warning signs and could prevent at least some intimate partner homicides.
“We know there are many more (domestic violence) victims than we and law enforcement see,” acting District Attorney Michael J. Flaherty said in announcing the grant. “Often, we found out about them at the scene of a murder.”
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