"Lesbians tried to touch me and give me AIDS."

[onager]

How's that for a WTF statement? Brought to us, as usual, by our good buddy Jebus and one of his assistants here on earth.

That's a direct quote from Colette Reyes, currently and for the next 45 years living rent-free thanks to the state of Texas. After she shot her husband Arthur in the head.

On-Topic Part - Arthur Reyes was one of us atheist scum. That seems to have been part of the problem.

Though he and his wife had been committed Xians all their lives, after Arthur got his PHD he started researching the Bible. He eventually decided his religion was "utter farce" and started arguing with his wife (and her whole family) about it. See? SEE? The Fundies are absolutely right, edumacation turns you against Gawd and will soon infect you with lesbian-transmitted AIDS. So there!

As a new Militant Atheist and enemy of humanity, Arthur corrupted the family's two teen daughters and they stopped going to church too.

Arthur then filed for divorce, which is where his trouble really started. And sadly ended.

There's no denying Colette Reyes had deep-seated mental problems for most of her life. But when offered treatment and medication, she refused to accept them. And self-diagnosed herself as needing more religion.

Her defense attorneys tried for the Abuse Excuse, plus not guilty by reason of insanity.

That blew up in their faces when, in a very unusual development, both daughters testified that Colette was often the abuser in the family. e.g., she had literally dragged one daughter out of the house by her hair during an argument. (ETA for full disclosure: there had been 2 police complaints made involving Arthur & Colette, both apparently arguments that escalated. But Colette claimed long-term spousal abuse, for which there was no evidence.)

The daughters also suspected the murder was pre-meditated. Mom was not a bit happy about the impending divorce, and they had seen/heard her calculating the benefits of a big life insurance payout vs. alimony.

Colette really tried to help her defense lawyers, by interrupting her trial to scream interesting stuff like "I am the Chosen One of Christ!" The jury didn't buy it, though it seriously pissed off the judge.

I caught Colette's story on that wonderful educational TV show "Snapped!" on the Oxygen Channel. Just searching on her name and "murder" brings up many articles about her.

[JNelson6563]

1. Isn't interesting how religion holds great appeal

to many of the mentaly ill?

It's also such a great hiding place for those with nefarious intentions.

Julie

[onager]

2. It's sad. Even one of her lawyers said...

If Colette Reyes had only followed medical advice, her husband would probably still be alive.

That assumes she wasn't thinking about the financial gain. But I'm skeptical about that part myself and assume she was. Like good ol' Fred MacMurray in "Double Indemnity," whenever a spouse becomes Surplus To Requirements, I assume the other spouse often starts thinking about turning that person into a pile of cash.*

Her problems had been diagnosed over 10 years before the killing. But as noted, she just flatly refused to accept the diagnosis. God and Jesus would take care of her.

The saddest thing of all - Arthur Reyes was found in his garage, in a pool of blood, by his 17-year old daughter. Who immediately called 911 and had to say: "I think my Mom did it."

Not a memory I'd wish on anybody.

*Which reminds me of a hilarious case, because nobody died - Dalia Dippolito in Boynton Beach, FL. Hired a hit man to kill her husband. The hit man she hired was a cop, of course. The police faked a death scene, complete with dead body. Then down at the police station, her "dead" husband walked into the interrogation room. What a surprise! The police videos went viral on YouTube.

[Bryce Butler]

4. Apparently, Dalia Dippolito is getting a new trial...

http://www.local10.com/news/dalia-dippolito-conviction-reversed-granted-new-trial/27224540

[onager]

5. Thanks! Interesting update.

Using my psychic powers, I predict she'll be found guilty again.

I'm surprised her lawyer wasn't allowed to question the jury individually about pre-trial publicity.

Last year I did jury duty in L.A. County, and got called into the jury pool for a pretty infamous local "love triangle" murder case. (Massive jury pool to find the Lucky Twelve on that one. Something like 130 of us.)

During voir dire, we were grilled about how much we had seen/heard on the case. It was all over the media when it happened. I knew very little about it, because I was living outside the USA when the murder occurred. In the end, I was excused (defense attorneys hate me).

Some years ago, I did jury duty and got called in on another murder case. And who do I see sitting at the defense table? Leslie F'ing Abramson - the lawyer who defended the Menendez brothers.

I would have almost confessed to murder myself to get off that case. It had the potential to drag on for decades, with Abramson involved.

In that case, the judge herself made a sort of joke, and asked if any potential jurors did NOT know the defense attorney. Nope, we all knew her. And I got knocked out of the pool pretty early. Did I mention that defense attorneys hate me?

[AtheistCrusader]

7. Haha wow, she's nuts.

The recordings of her calling her husband and denying the whole thing are just... amazing.
Sociopath.

[onager]

9. Her hubby wasn't exactly a prize either...

He got busted for selling "investment opportunities" that turned out to be a Ponzi scheme. At the time of his attempted killing, he was paying restitution to the victims. (Which wasn't his noble, selfless idea, but the judge's. It was either pay restitution and get paroled, or go to prison and do hard time for his full term.)

According to some of their acquaintances, he met Dalia when he phoned an outcall escort service and she happened to be on duty that night. IIRC both Dalia and Mike denied that. But other people remembered it.

I'm really grateful for the state of Florida. Between the financial scammers and the creative but inept killers, sometimes it makes California seem downright boring.

[LiberalAndProud]

3. On the subject of her self-diagnosis,

I'm not sure.

But when offered treatment and medication, she refused to accept them. And self-diagnosed herself as needing more religion.

There are many sects which reject medical intervention on whole myriads of problems, including and probably especially mental health problems. Might she have been taking advice from spiritual counselors? No mention of church affiliation in the reports I have read so far. That leaves me plenty of room to speculate, I guess.

[onager]

6. Can't find anything on a specific affiliation, either.

Refusing treatment seemed to be a personal thing with her, not part of doctrine. But like yourself, I'm just speculating.

Reyes grew up in Haiti and IIRC, the "Snapped" show just said she had a strict Xian upbringing.

Her sister appears in the show, and was obviously very angry about Reyes' husband becoming an atheist. Other people on the show said he "openly mocked" her religion. But we atheists hear that all the time. And we know how even the most polite disagreement with a believer can get conflated into arrogance, mocking, etc. etc. One neighbor said their community had an informal Bible study group and Reyes always attended.

Whatever her affiliation, she seemed to really go off the deep end at some point. One person on the show said Reyes would accost people in the shopping malls and start preaching. e.g., she would go up to little kids and say: "Obey your parents or you will go to HELL!"

[Gelliebeans]

11. I can only

Speculate that it may of been a control issue. Her being out of control and unable to influence the children also she had no control over him. Sometimes the dynamics in a marriage change when something like this happens. I'm not excusing it just trying to understand.
I also think bad shit happens just because people are bat shit crazy. So

It's a shame he was murdered when it may of felt to him as he was finally living an authentic life for himself.

[Curmudgeoness]

8. Although I think that she is batshit crazy,

I think it was all about the money. The divorce was definitely a necessity, if he was an atheist and she was obsessed with religion. But it really was about her not wanting to be divorced.....and there is no alimony in Texas.

[beam me up scottie]

10. One of our local Mega Church pastors got off on an insanity defense in Texas.

He claimed he was possessed by demons when he nearly decapitated a woman who was showing him a house for rent. He got paint on his new boots and slit her throat.

Says he was an atheist at the time, found Gawd in prison, went on to become a wealthy preacher but never apologized to the family of the woman.


Sometimes time it's difficult to tell where the line is between mental illness and religious mania, is it possible to know if the woman in the op really believes she's the Chosen One or if she's faking it?