John Battaglia

John Battaglia (center) with his victims, Faith (left) and Liberty (right), on February 14, 2001[1]

John David Battaglia (born August 2, 1955[2]) is a convicted murderer on Texas death row.

Background

Battaglia, who once served as a Marine, was an accountant.[1] His accountancy license, under license ID T02946, was granted on March 4, 1985, and expired on August 31, 2001; this license was revoked due to his criminal actions.[3] He had a daughter from a previous marriage.[4] He had previously committed physical domestic violence against his first wife.[5]

His second ex-wife, Mary Jean Pearle, resided in Highland Park, Texas in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.[6] His daughters with his second ex-wife Pearle, Faith and Liberty, born in 1992 and 1995,[5] were students at John S. Bradfield Elementary School in Highland Park. They were 9 and 6 years old, respectively, when they were murdered.[7]

At the time Battaglia was on probation for hitting Pearle; she was attempting to get his parole revoked,[4] saying that he was harassing her over the telephone and that he should be placed in jail because of his history with domestic violence. Battaglia had not previously hit either of his daughters with Pearle.[5]

Crime

Battaglia murdered his daughters on May 2, 2001.[2] The murder took place at Battaglia's loft apartment in Deep Ellum in Dallas.[8] Battaglia called Pearle, and the murders took place during the phone call. Pearle left them there for a planned dinner, but Battaglia instead took them into his apartment.[4] During the phone call Battaglia asked Faith to say to Pearle "Why do you want Daddy to go to jail?" Before her death Faith cried "No, Daddy, please don’t, don’t do it." Liberty was shot five times and Faith was shot three times.[1] Battaglia told then Pearle "Merry Fucking Christmas".[9] Pearle terminated the call and dialed 9-1-1.[1]

Battaglia then went to a tattoo parlor and got two roses, representing his daughters, on his left bicep.[4] He was arrested shortly afterwards.[1] Police confiscated 16 firearms from the house.[4]

Texas authorities stated that Battaglia killed his daughters out of retaliation because Pearle had complained to his probation officer.[1]

Aftermath

Polunsky Unit, which houses Texas men's death row

Around the 2000s this was one of a spate of domestic homicides related to the Park Cities, Highland Park and University Park, two wealthy enclaves in the metroplex. Stephen Michaud of the Dallas Observer wrote "never in memory have the Park Cities been jolted by such unspeakable, and apparently similar, family homicides as the three most recent killings, all of which occurred in a 25-month cluster."[6]

No, Daddy, Don't!: A Father's Murderous Act of Revenge, a 2003 nonfiction book by Irene Pence, is about the murders.

During the 2002 capital murder trial, in which Howard Blackmon was the lead prosecutor, jurors deliberated for 19 minutes before convicting him.[1] Battaglia is held at the Polunsky Unit near Livingston, Texas. On May 1, 2002 he entered death row there.[2]

He was scheduled to be executed on March 30, 2016, but the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay so the court could examine Battaglia's attorney's saying that the man was not mentally competent to be executed. The State of Texas did not challenge this stay, so Battaglia was not executed.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Dallas man John David Battaglia granted stay of execution for killing daughters, 9 and 6, while his ex-wife listened helplessly on the phone." Associated Press at the New York Daily News. Wednesday March 30, 2016. Retrieved on March 31, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Battaglia, John David ." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on March 30, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Individual Licensee - BATTAGLIA, JOHN D." Texas State Board of Public Accountancy. Retrieved on March 31, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Mervosh, Sarah. "In killers’ minds, love never left" (Part 3 of Deadly Affection). The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved on March 31, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 "Man Kills His Two Kids As Revenge Against Ex." ABC News. May 18, 2002. Retrieved on March 31, 2016.
  6. 1 2 Michaud, Stephen G. "Killers Among Us." Dallas Observer. Thursday March 28, 2002. Retrieved on March 31, 2016.
  7. ↑ Anderson, Joel. "Father charged in two daughters' fatal shootings at loft apartment" (Archive). Associated Press at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Thursday May 3, 2001. Retrieved on March 30, 2016.
  8. ↑ Mervosh, Sarah. "John Battaglia, Texas death row inmate who killed daughters, loses latest appeal." The Dallas Morning News. July 15, 2015. Retrieved on March 30, 2016.
  9. ↑ Hoffberger, Chase. "Does John Battaglia Remember He Murdered His Children?" (Archive). Austin Chronicle. March 25, 2016. Retrieved on March 31, 2016.
  10. ↑ Mervosh, Sarah. "Execution postponed for John Battaglia, Dallas man who murdered his ‘little babies’." The Dallas Morning News. March 30, 2016. Retrieved on March 0, 2016.

External links

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