Liysa Northon

Liysa Northon
WHY: A Personal Statement 8/09 Everyone asks, 'Why didn't you just leave Chris?' "The whole reason for not leaving was a complex one – I was afraid that this would cause our deaths, based upon both his threats and past behavior and the statistical probability – most women and kids are killed by their abuser shortly after leaving. My only hope was to change his interior process, or defend us, since the police violated the law and did not arrest him when he strangled me in front of the kids. We couldn’t turn to the police for help. I tried that, they failed me, they failed my children. If I could have simply divorced Chris, I would have, but he promised me he would make it his mission in life to hunt me down and kill my children and me. My moral obligation was to protect my sons. If they had arrested and prosecuted Chris, he’d be in alive and in prison, and I would not have missed my sons’ childhoods. "I told my counselor Ilana Fernandez and some pool friends that “going underground” with my sons would be unfair to Don, my first husband and father of the my older son. Don had done nothing wrong and didn’t deserve to never see his son again, and I was certainly not going to abandon my son. "Leaving Chris would have placed the boys in much greater jeopardy – because Chris has already hunted me down the one time I tried to leave, finding me in three days at a remote ranch of a friend. He had already nearly killed me in the past so his threats were not idle. He had the ability, as a pilot, to get a free jump seat on any plane and go anywhere. "I killed Chris to ensure that my children and I remained alive. For no other reason. If I left and left them unprotected with a drunken batterer, it would certainly have been a “failure to protect.” If I took them and was found, I could have been jailed for kidnapping. " --Liysa Northon, 8/09 More: The purpose of this site. Liysa's biographical Statement.	*This site:* Site's Purpose Why I didn't leave Chris Biographical Statement Frequently Asked Questions about Liysa and her case Documentation Liysa's rebuttal to Ann Rule's lies: Liysa_ source.pdf - 496K Download Liysa's essays: My Children's First Free Breath Simple Questions Children Ask Yoga on the Inside Strangulation is a Misdemeanor? Other Resources: Prison Reform Network DivorceNet - What is Battered Woman's Syndrome? Battered women who kill in non-beating situation have self-defense right National Clearing-house for the Defense of Battered Women Worldwide Women's Criminal Justice Network Liysa's Photography with Getty Images: Getty Images Media Center SEATTLE WEEKLY ARTICLE DISCREDITING ANN RULE'S BOOK ABOUT LIYSA THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY THE WALLOWA COUNTY CHIEFTAIN REFUSED TO PRINT THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN'S FRONT PAGE FEATURE

WHY: A Personal Statement 8/09

Everyone asks, 'Why didn't you just leave Chris?'
"The whole reason for not leaving was a complex one – I was afraid that this would cause our deaths, based upon both his threats and past behavior and the statistical probability – most women and kids are killed by their abuser shortly after leaving. My only hope was to change his interior process, or defend us, since the police violated the law and did not arrest him when he strangled me in front of the kids. We couldn’t turn to the police for help. I tried that, they failed me, they failed my children. If I could have simply divorced Chris, I would have, but he promised me he would make it his mission in life to hunt me down and kill my children and me. My moral obligation was to protect my sons. If they had arrested and prosecuted Chris, he’d be in alive and in prison, and I would not have missed my sons’ childhoods.

"I told my counselor Ilana Fernandez and some pool friends that “going underground” with my sons would be unfair to Don, my first husband and father of the my older son. Don had done nothing wrong and didn’t deserve to never see his son again, and I was certainly not going to abandon my son.

"Leaving Chris would have placed the boys in much greater jeopardy – because Chris has already hunted me down the one time I tried to leave, finding me in three days at a remote ranch of a friend. He had already nearly killed me in the past so his threats were not idle. He had the ability, as a pilot, to get a free jump seat on any plane and go anywhere.

"I killed Chris to ensure that my children and I remained alive. For no other reason. If I left and left them unprotected with a drunken batterer, it would certainly have been a “failure to protect.” If I took them and was found, I could have been jailed for kidnapping. " --Liysa Northon, 8/09