AZ - Timothy Romans, 39, & Vincent Romero, 29, slain, St Johns, 5 Nov 2008 - #1

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MeoW333 said:
I'm waiting for more to bubble up, too. It's odd no one picked up any signs. I wouldn't imagine his school district is that big being that they are in a rural area. Everyone in the town either knows each other or is related in some way according to articles. In small towns; everyone knows each other's business usually.
No one saw this coming apparently..
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It's interesting that this boy had been planning these murders for quite some time yet he never said a word to any of his friends about his feelings towards his dad. Little kids usually share their feelings when they are mad at a parent. This boy didn't utter a word to anyone. That is unusual. You would think he would have had at least one friend that he would have said "I hate my dad" or something like that to. But not a word. He knew enough to keep everything to himself so that no one would know what he planned to do.
 
Trino said:
What makes me concerned about the boy's mental stability (other than how he planned the crime) is that I have not read anywhere that he has shown remorse, only that he was scared. The hearing indicated that he swayed and rocked in his chair, that he asked for kisses to put into his pocket from his mother. BUT, no remorse. Certainly, at 8, he understands the permance of death.
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That post makes me cry too. I remember in one of the other posts someone mentioned that he told his mother that his step-mom and dad were always fighting. I remember when I was young my parents fought ALL the time. My sisters and I would congregate in one of the bedrooms, sitting on the bed. Everyone was quiet except me, I cried. My older sister would put me in her lap and rock me back and forth. To this day, and I'm forty-six years old, when I'm scared or can't really handle a situation I rock myself back and forth. He was probably doing that for the same reason. Something was troubling this little guy and unfortunately he must have felt it was something that he couldn't share with anyone (since step-mom had told him that what happened in that house stayed in that house).

Abuse doesn't have to be physical. Sometimes living in a certain situation can feel like abuse.

Don't get me wrong. What the little boy did was wrong but I have to feel like there was some reason other than a spanking that caused this child to break.
 
Lyn1001 said:
seems to be blamed for a lot of things. Blaming divorce is a very touchy subject for me, so I apologize if I'm coming across snippy. There are "norms" and "exceptions" in every situation, just because a kid is from a divorced home, does not mean that he has negative feelings about it.
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I think the issue with this particular divorce is biomom living several states away...don't know how many years she was living so far from her son, but could not have been good for him to be without a mother (not clear on how close he was with stepmom).
 
lizzybeth said:
That post makes me cry too. I remember in one of the other posts someone mentioned that he told his mother that his step-mom and dad were always fighting. I remember when I was young my parents fought ALL the time. My sisters and I would congregate in one of the bedrooms, sitting on the bed. Everyone was quiet except me, I cried. My older sister would put me in her lap and rock me back and forth. To this day, and I'm forty-six years old, when I'm scared or can't really handle a situation I rock myself back and forth. He was probably doing that for the same reason. Something was troubling this little guy and unfortunately he must have felt it was something that he couldn't share with anyone (since step-mom had told him that what happened in that house stayed in that house).

Abuse doesn't have to be physical. Sometimes living in a certain situation can feel like abuse.

Don't get me wrong. What the little boy did was wrong but I have to feel like there was some reason other than a spanking that caused this child to break.
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Where was the stepmom when the Dad and the boarder were shot?
 
I'm not giving up on this little guy. There is *so* much more that occured behind the scenes in this child's life. Gag order will make it difficult to get information, but I cannot let this child go. As with anyone, particularly a child, there is always a history. I think this is one of those cases.

I'll still wait before I pass judgment....
 
OrdinaryLife said:
I'm not giving up on this little guy. There is *so* much more that occured behind the scenes in this child's life. Gag order will make it difficult to get information, but I cannot let this child go. As with anyone, particularly a child, there is always a history. I think this is one of those cases.

I'll still wait before I pass judgment....
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I agree with you 100%. I just don't see an 8-year-old child killing two people without having some sort of abuse going on to make him so angry. Just doesn't add up to me.
 
lizzybeth said:
That post makes me cry too. I remember in one of the other posts someone mentioned that he told his mother that his step-mom and dad were always fighting. I remember when I was young my parents fought ALL the time. My sisters and I would congregate in one of the bedrooms, sitting on the bed. Everyone was quiet except me, I cried. My older sister would put me in her lap and rock me back and forth. To this day, and I'm forty-six years old, when I'm scared or can't really handle a situation I rock myself back and forth. He was probably doing that for the same reason. Something was troubling this little guy and unfortunately he must have felt it was something that he couldn't share with anyone (since step-mom had told him that what happened in that house stayed in that house).

Abuse doesn't have to be physical. Sometimes living in a certain situation can feel like abuse.

Don't get me wrong. What the little boy did was wrong but I have to feel like there was some reason other than a spanking that caused this child to break.
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I really don't put much weight in what the neglectful bio mom has to say about a household she did not live in. The step mom has not come out and spoken and there are always two sides to the story. It makes no sense that they were together for two years before they married and then be fighting just a month or two after they got married. From all accounts Vincent and his wife were very much in love and wanted to make sure they had a long lasting commitment. IIRC, the Priest talked about their relationship. I would think they all as a family attended the Church on a regular basis so many people would be able to see how this family interacted with each other. (The dad, the step mom and the boy) I think if this boy was unhappy it would have played out at school someway. There would be some signs that he was sad or awfully quiet but from all accounts he was a very active kid who loved school and to play sports.

I do understand that she is trying to find excuses for her son. She sure owes him support now for she never gave it to him before now. Guilt has a way of distorting the truth and placing blame on someone else may take her mind off of the way she was a very poor almost non existent bio mother most of his life.

If he is of higher intelligence and mature for his age then I do think it is highly likely this was sparked by his uncontrollable anger. We have seen other young killers murder for the same reason when they became enraged at their parents about something.

He does strike me as quite smart. He knew it was best to eliminate any witnesses. He knew what to say to lure the coworker into the home. He knew to make up excuses why gunshot residue would be all over his clothes. He knew to kill his father when no one was in the house. I feel he may have already had the weapon out before the father came home from work and his father never saw it coming.

imo
 
oceanblueeyes said:
I read in another article she was not at home when it happened. Since it happened around 5:00 pm she may have been at work.

imoo
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Am I the only one who is questioning this? I have only been following this case intermittently, but I too have questioned what happened here.

Here is my impression of the current theory.

Boy shot his father, waited for the boarder to come home, then shot him too. Then went to his neighbor's home and told the neighbor that he thought his father was dead. Then boy basically confessed to police. Boarder was thought to have been killed because he might have been a witness.

But the boy didn't wait for the stepmother to come home and kill her. Why??? Why kill the boarder then go to the neighbor and tell? I don't know it just puzzles me.

Hints of previous domestic violence in the home. Could the boy have been thinking that he was protecting the stepmother, not himself? Could he have been upset because the boarder was aware of problems/possible abuse of the stepmother and didn't do anything about it?
 
Linda7NJ said:
I think we need a reason for it to make sense to us. So we feel better.

The truth is, murder..........never really makes sense.

My son, when he was 8 would every once in awhile do something so stupid it could never be explained. When you ask a child "why" and they respond, "I don't know" in my experience...they mean it. There was no real thought process going on when dumb stuff happens.

In this case....he planned it. That's scary. It wasn't like he was suffering from intermittent explosive disorder, he wasn't delusional, he wasn't in immediate danger. He was thinking, planning....and he killed twice. The second time he lured. That's scary!!!!!!!!!!!
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I agree, Linda.

And in the end I think we will be no closer to making any sense of these senseless killings.

Right, the luring and laying in wait to me is the scariest part of this case although all of it is mind boggling.

He seemed to be a very fast thinker or maybe he was just a very methodical planner.

I wonder if his dad and coworker had just come in from work and since they both worked at the power plant they most likely rode together.

imoo
 
mysteriew said:
Am I the only one who is questioning this? I have only been following this case intermittently, but I too have questioned what happened here.

Here is my impression of the current theory.

Boy shot his father, waited for the boarder to come home, then shot him too. Then went to his neighbor's home and told the neighbor that he thought his father was dead. Then boy basically confessed to police. Boarder was thought to have been killed because he might have been a witness.

But the boy didn't wait for the stepmother to come home and kill her. Why??? Why kill the boarder then go to the neighbor and tell? I don't know it just puzzles me.

Hints of previous domestic violence in the home. Could the boy have been thinking that he was protecting the stepmother, not himself? Could he have been upset because the boarder was aware of problems/possible abuse of the stepmother and didn't do anything about it?
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I am only speculating but since the dad and his coworker worked together at the same place they most likely rode together to work everyday. So imo they arrived home at the same time.

I don't think this boy had any anger toward anyone but his dad. Mr. Romans was just a collateral victim because he was there and the boy knew he would be coming back inside the home once he had finished talking to his wife, where he would see the father's body laying face down on the stairs. He killed him before he could reach the front door and he died on the porch. He had to be watching him approach and had to have the weapon ready to fire.

There is nothing showing that the boy didn't have a great relationship with his step mom. She had been a consistent figure in his life for over two years. Again, imo his anger was directed to his dad. He did not mention being mad at his step mom but did say he was mad with his father.

We don't even know what year the domestic calls were made and who even made them. I have a suspicion that there may have been volatile times between the father and the bio mother, maybe even concerning her picking the boy up or disputes on what property would be removed from the house and by whom.

imoo
 
Is the bio mother still in St. Johns, or did she go back to Mississippi? There's no traffic light in the entire town, so I would bet there aren't hotels/motels there either.
 
Hi
I would like to say we do not know if bio mom was neglectful at all. I feel if she was neglectful she would have never visted him period and she did visit him.she may have had to go further away to be able to support herself or even for moral support.It's hard to live where all her ex relatives are.how do we know dad didn't try to keep her away.I know that does happen.We just don't know all the reasons.Having a new mother in the picture might have been the problem too.Maybe this child felt his father was keeping him from his mother.I know that happens too.My heart really went out to this child when I heard this and he is a child.I really pray his mother is there for him now.Because that's who I feel he really wanted the whole time.
Quote
The hearing indicated that he swayed and rocked in his chair, that he asked for kisses to put into his pocket from his mother.

This does not show a bad mother to me if he wanted kisses in his pocket from his mother.It also doesn't show a bad kid to me.Who did he kill and who did this child want to be with?I think that says alot.I pray they give this child help.Not condemnation.This story really makes me sad.This story hits way too close to home.It really makes me think the way I behave and what I and we think and say in front of our kids can have a profound effect on them.

suzanne
 
suzannec4444 said:
Hi
I would like to say we do not know if bio mom was neglectful at all. I feel if she was neglectful she would have never visited him period and she did visit him.she may have had to go further away to be able to support herself or even for moral support.It's hard to live where all her ex relatives are.how do we know dad didn't try to keep her away.I know that does happen.We just don't know all the reasons.Having a new mother in the picture might have been the problem too.Maybe this child felt his father was keeping him from his mother.I know that happens too.My heart really went out to this child when I heard this and he is a child.I really pray his mother is there for him now.Because that's who I feel he really wanted the whole time.
Quote
The hearing indicated that he swayed and rocked in his chair, that he asked for kisses to put into his pocket from his mother.

This does not show a bad mother to me if he wanted kisses in his pocket from his mother.It also doesn't show a bad kid to me.Who did he kill and who did this child want to be with?I think that says alot.I pray they give this child help.Not condemnation.This story really makes me sad.This story hits way too close to home.It really makes me think the way I behave and what I and we think and say in front of our kids can have a profound effect on them.

suzanne
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Tiffany, the stepmother was not in the picture when the father and bio mother divorced. Vincent has raised the child ever since he was 2 years old. Tiffany and Vincent just married in September after going with each other two years.

Surely if she wanted she could have moved to a closer state than MS that is far away if she wanted to spend time with her son. She hadn't even seen him but 2 weeks out of a year and a half. Sure doesn't sound like she was a good mother to me.

In court this boy exhibited no remorse or emotion. That is much more revealing then him telling his mother to put kisses in his pocket.

I don't think this had one thing to do with who he wanted to be with. IMO it had everything to do with him being mad at his father. So he made him pay dearly and took out the innocent witness who just happened to be there the day he premeditated to murder his father.

What it shows me is parents need to take heed and make sure they lock up their weapons so they can protect themselves from being murdered by their own children in case they become angry with them. May be a good idea to lock their bedroom doors at night and remove the knives from the kitchen too.

imoo
 
OBE - I didn't mean to seem accusatory in my last post at all and I apologize if I came across that way. I was really just interested in your point of view, which I appreciate entirely. I am normally an advocate for victims of murder as well. However, in this particular case, I am going to wait for more info on the "murderer." Of course, I don't want to believe that an 8 year old kid is capable of premeditated, cold-blooded murder. We have all seen enough cases of abhorrent child abuse on these boards to know what people are capable of doing to their own babies. There have been many times when I wish the babies being hurt could have shot their abusers. I am just not willing - yet - to buy into the story that this little boy killed his father and boarder because he was spanked by his stepmother. Just doesn't add up to me.
 
QUOTE from mysteriew...
"But the boy didn't wait for the stepmother to come home and kill her. Why??? Why kill the boarder then go to the neighbor and tell? I don't know it just puzzles me. "



I answered this in an earlier post. Personally I think he may have wanted to kill the stepmother also. He might have laid in wait until she came home. The fact that the kid did not get the roomer all the way in the home and had to kill him in the doorway changed his plans. Remember he called him to get him back inside.
The stepmother would see the body and run for help or even someone in the neighborhood might see the body. He wasn't big enough to pull the body inside and continue killing so he had to change plans.
 
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