First post. I knew JD in childhood. Needless to say, I am shaken to the core. I am grateful for the sleuthing and compassion. I wanted to offer these two thoughts.
Trigger: Beyond the money and lawsuits, I suspect that FD saw the possibility that JD might try to escape with the kids again. He was supposed to have the kids that weekend (unsupervised?) for the first time since she moved to NC iirc. If he knew the kids were going to GF after school, right before he was supposed to have the kids, maybe he realized JD might not bring them back. (Either for the weekend or maybe for good? Speculation.) If she were to succeed - she would have tricked him, outsmarted him, disobeyed him ... she would have won- again. I don’t think he would be able to stand her winning that round. I don’t think he could take the WILLFULNESS.
A related note: My gut says he was afraid of her. I remember JD as being a quiet observer, fairly private, a little sarcastic and wry. Also: Strategic and competitive and brilliant, all in a quiet way. When the cash was coming in from her dad, and she was busy being pregnant and having kids - he probably could care less about who she was. She was serving her purpose. He probably just nodded at her jokes and laughter and supported her being a writer because she needed the approval and it kept her quiet. But when he sensed that she was pulling away from him - turning on him - I bet it drove him insane. He may not have known what was in her heart but he could probably smell dissent a mile away and not being able to control her - I bet he found that frightening. He couldn’t control her inner flame. So he extinguished it. All IMO and MOO.
Why the posts stopped: Because home life was no longer fun, amusing, or an anecdote to share. The relationship went south and it was no longer safe to write about it. Plus iirc she said in her blog (Patch or website I don’t recall) that he questioned her about sharing life online. If I was terrified of my husband I think that would shut off the taps pretty quick.