Slain child's dad knew wife wasn't stable, Mansfield police say
By EVA-MARIE AYALA
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
May. 01, 2008
MANSFIELD -- Michael Maxon was warned by mental health professionals not to leave his wife alone with their son in the weeks before the 1-year-old's death, according to an arrest warrant affidavit released Wednesday.
Maxon was arrested last week on suspicion of abandoning a child in the June 2006 death. A judge is expected to begin hearing testimony today in the capital murder trial of his wife, Valeria Maxon. She is accused of drowning the boy, Alex, in the family's hot tub at their Walnut Creek Estates home in Mansfield.
Valeria Maxon, 33, had been hospitalized several times and attempted suicide at least once, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
According to the document, Michael Maxon recorded messages on a cassette tape and had his wife listen to it when she was depressed. He told police it was a form of treatment, the affidavit states.
"I'm a mother," he is heard saying on the tape, according to the affidavit. "It's all my fault."
"Life is so deliciously miserable."
"Our son is riding on the short bus."