Hello Gaia
Glad to have you here. I'm by no means an expert on this case...just from what I've read here and from Matt Birkbeck's book....in fact his book was how I even heard of this forum. I've had my eye on this case for a few years now.
I agree with your thoughts..I had similar ones after reading the book. My guess is that she didn't kill him because she had Stockholm Syndrome...or was truely just so broken by him that couldn't fathom doing anything to him.
With the school principal, you echo my thoughts exactly. I really do try to reign in my irritation, if not anger, at him, because I wasn't there that day, I wasn't in his shoes. I didn't go through what he did. At the same time though.....honestly.....I do want to slap him upside the head. I work with children...if something like that happened, I already know what I would do...we've had training on what we would do due to the types of situations that the kids who come to us are coming from. I would rather myself die then anyone take any child in my care, and I truly mean that with all my heart. I'm sure the principal now probably feels like beyond crap, and I'm sure this will be with him for the rest of his life.
If I remember correctly from the book, no one at the school knew that Michael wasn't his son at this point. If he had known that, maybe things would have been different. Michael's own foster family had no clue of what FDF was capable of and what was in the past. I don't know how none of that information filtered down to them, but it didn't. He was such a beautiful child himself, Michael. He resembles my 2 year old son in his younger pictures and as an attachment parent, my heart just bleeds for what this little boy suffered...for what both him and his mama suffered. I can't ever read the book again, I just take it too personal.
FDF has won and gotten away with so much, it is unbelievable that he still walks upright among us. I too don't know why the media outlets aren't all over this...it's the type of sensational story that you find only in movies or books. You'd think Oprah, with her background in surviving abuse, would be interested...or Dateline with their love of lurid stories, or 48 Hours or SOMEONE!!!!!!!! It's an election year...so I doubt she'd get any press this year at all anyway.
I want FDF knocked off his pedestal so badly....Sharon's real identity found and Michael found....maybe even relatives of Sharon if she has any. I do NOT want him going to his grave and taking all his secrets with him! I am just one small person though...with no investigative background or anything...so there's no way I myself can make it happen, but if ones who knew people in the media outlets could make things happen....maybe all this can finally come to an end.