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What a terrible excuse for a Grandpa 
FL – Sheriff deputy kills wife, daughter, g'daughter; suicide; 3 locations, Plant City, 19 DEC 2018
- Thread starter SeesSeas
- Start date
Court records show Hillsborough deputy went through financial trouble before murdering family
Posted: Dec 20, 2018 06:26 PM EST
Updated: Dec 20, 2018 06:50 PM EST
[...]
Off the job, Strawn had financial issues.
According to bankruptcy documents filed in federal court Strawn and his wife filed for Chapter 13 protection in 2011.
They listed debts totaling more than $57,000 and assets of just over $36,000.
[...]
The bankruptcy case was resolved in 2015, but Chronister says that Deputy Strawn spoke of health and financial trouble after killing his wife, daughter and granddaughter.
"He indicated that he was losing everything," said Chronister.
Hillsborough County sheriff's detectives are now working to find out what Strawn's problems were off the job and what led him to commit such violent acts against his own family.
Posted: Dec 20, 2018 06:26 PM EST
Updated: Dec 20, 2018 06:50 PM EST
[...]
Off the job, Strawn had financial issues.
According to bankruptcy documents filed in federal court Strawn and his wife filed for Chapter 13 protection in 2011.
They listed debts totaling more than $57,000 and assets of just over $36,000.
[...]
The bankruptcy case was resolved in 2015, but Chronister says that Deputy Strawn spoke of health and financial trouble after killing his wife, daughter and granddaughter.
"He indicated that he was losing everything," said Chronister.
Hillsborough County sheriff's detectives are now working to find out what Strawn's problems were off the job and what led him to commit such violent acts against his own family.
i cannot even fathom the horror of hearing your dad come to your door, opening it, and then having him SHOOT and KILL you. Your own father, i can only hope and pray that his poor daughter had no idea what happened to her beautiful daughter and mother before her. Evil does exist in this world
Uncanny parallels - Terry Strawn and his father William Strawn.
Excerpts from below article about William Strawn 30 years ago:
"Thank God I didn't have this urge to go out and kill somebody . . ."
"He's depressed, suicidal," the psychiatrist believes. "If he makes it to jail I wouldn't be surprised if he kills himself. . . "
https://andelman.com/ARTICLES/williamstrawn1989-tbl.html
(The following story appeared in Tampa Bay Life in 1989.)
Profile: Bank Robber
William Strawn
[…]
"Well, they caught me at it," he says with resignation and shame. "They took me back to the bank several hours later, handcuffed, chains around my waist and walked me up to the window outside the bank, people everywhere, all around. And the people who had been there and witnessed it were inside saying yeah, that's him.
"Thank God it was that (bank robbery) and not something more serious. Thank God I didn't have this urge to go out and kill somebody or something like that. I look back now and I think it was like kleptomania or something," he says. "It had to be. I don't know how else to describe it."
Legal and medical authorities don't know how to describe it either.
A lifelong victim of concussions, seizures and two major auto wrecks, Strawn's family, friends, ministers, former students and physicians are attempting to paint a picture of him as a long-suffering man in pain, a man beleaguered by demons, voices and blackouts. They have written 66 letters to Orlando Circuit Judge Jeff Miller begging for leniency and mercy on Bill Strawn's tortured soul.
[…]
Strawn pled no contest to four counts of robbery with a firearm in an Orlando courtroom.
[…]
"When I received the call from Orlando telling me Bill had been arrested I wondered if I knew him at all."
Those are the words of Jean Strawn, Bill's wife of 35 years.
[…]
Dr. Walter Afield, who examined Strawn, thinks the accused is ashamed, embarrassed and of the opinion he should be punished for what he did. That worries Afield.
"He's depressed, suicidal," the psychiatrist believes. "If he makes it to jail I wouldn't be surprised if he kills himself. He's not a jail kind of guy."
[…]
Excerpts from below article about William Strawn 30 years ago:
"Thank God I didn't have this urge to go out and kill somebody . . ."
"He's depressed, suicidal," the psychiatrist believes. "If he makes it to jail I wouldn't be surprised if he kills himself. . . "
https://andelman.com/ARTICLES/williamstrawn1989-tbl.html
(The following story appeared in Tampa Bay Life in 1989.)
Profile: Bank Robber
William Strawn
[…]
"Well, they caught me at it," he says with resignation and shame. "They took me back to the bank several hours later, handcuffed, chains around my waist and walked me up to the window outside the bank, people everywhere, all around. And the people who had been there and witnessed it were inside saying yeah, that's him.
"Thank God it was that (bank robbery) and not something more serious. Thank God I didn't have this urge to go out and kill somebody or something like that. I look back now and I think it was like kleptomania or something," he says. "It had to be. I don't know how else to describe it."
Legal and medical authorities don't know how to describe it either.
A lifelong victim of concussions, seizures and two major auto wrecks, Strawn's family, friends, ministers, former students and physicians are attempting to paint a picture of him as a long-suffering man in pain, a man beleaguered by demons, voices and blackouts. They have written 66 letters to Orlando Circuit Judge Jeff Miller begging for leniency and mercy on Bill Strawn's tortured soul.
[…]
Strawn pled no contest to four counts of robbery with a firearm in an Orlando courtroom.
[…]
"When I received the call from Orlando telling me Bill had been arrested I wondered if I knew him at all."
Those are the words of Jean Strawn, Bill's wife of 35 years.
[…]
Dr. Walter Afield, who examined Strawn, thinks the accused is ashamed, embarrassed and of the opinion he should be punished for what he did. That worries Afield.
"He's depressed, suicidal," the psychiatrist believes. "If he makes it to jail I wouldn't be surprised if he kills himself. He's not a jail kind of guy."
[…]
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Hey there! I'm local, but clueless other than what I find by sleuthing.
Terry has a twin brother and an older sister. Also, there are 7 other adult children (Terry's nieces/nephews):
Obituary: William "Bill" John Strawn Jr. | Plant City Observer | Plant City Observer
William “Bill” John Strawn Jr., 82, of Plant City, died Aug. 21, 2016, at his home.
He was born in Norfolk, Virginia. He was a real family man and loved his grandchildren. He was a devout Christian who loved, played and coached football. He had a career in education. He was a people person and will be terribly missed by his family and many, many friends.
He is survived by. . .
https://andelman.com/ARTICLES/williamstrawn1989-tbl.html
Bill and Jean Strawn met as students at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green and have been together ever since. They live - along with all four of their parents, Strawn's brother Richard, twin sons Terry and Perry, 29, daughter Valerie, 32, their spouses and children, six cows, five rabbits, five horses, two geese, a donkey and a goat, 21 people and 20 animals in all - on a 15-acre Plant City farm with an estimated market value of $300,000. They have lived there since 1981.
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SBBM
How surreal and horrifying this must be for his twin brother, especially if they're identical. I wonder if that fact would prove helpful for those trying to fathom what would motivate a "normal" husband/father/brother/uncle to carry out such treacherous deeds. I know in the past that twins have supplied scientists and investigators an opportunity to delve into the ages-old "nature v nurture" debate when it comes to abnormal psychology. MOO.
My personal beliefs don't include the existence of a real life "Devil" or Demons, but sheesh, it sure does feel like something "possessed" this man. . . if not literally, than certainly figuratively. IMO
FB posts indicate a married son in Colorado.
? ? Andrew may be Theresa Edgemon Strawn's son adopted by Terry. ? ?
SM posts indicate a large and loving family who are in shock.
We will likely know more about extended family if obituaries are published.
Hillsborough deputy's murder-suicide is rare but fits pattern
Study says a majority of officers who kill loved ones before themselves were in good standing with their departments at the time.
December 21, 2018
[...]
While rare, a shocking break in behavior fits a pattern for law enforcement officers who kill loved ones before themselves, according to a 2014 study titled “Homicide-Suicide in police families: an analysis of cases.''
“Our current results suggest that the majority of perpetrators were employed and in good standing with their departments at the time,” noted the Journal of Forensic Practice, which used media reports to compile data about such incidents over a seven-year period.
Other known factors about the killings also fit a pattern. The vast majority of officers who kill family before themselves are white males using a service weapon, according to the study. Most are patrol officers, as opposed to supervisors, and work at a local department.
[...]
Strawn’s remaining family has declined to talk about the killings or what may have led up to them. As is often the case in suicides, the exact trigger may never be known.
[...]
In killing three family members plus himself, Strawn fits into the “family annihilator” category, said Adams, co-director of Emerge, a counseling program for men who abuse women.
[...]
Study says a majority of officers who kill loved ones before themselves were in good standing with their departments at the time.
December 21, 2018
[...]
While rare, a shocking break in behavior fits a pattern for law enforcement officers who kill loved ones before themselves, according to a 2014 study titled “Homicide-Suicide in police families: an analysis of cases.''
“Our current results suggest that the majority of perpetrators were employed and in good standing with their departments at the time,” noted the Journal of Forensic Practice, which used media reports to compile data about such incidents over a seven-year period.
Other known factors about the killings also fit a pattern. The vast majority of officers who kill family before themselves are white males using a service weapon, according to the study. Most are patrol officers, as opposed to supervisors, and work at a local department.
[...]
Strawn’s remaining family has declined to talk about the killings or what may have led up to them. As is often the case in suicides, the exact trigger may never be known.
[...]
In killing three family members plus himself, Strawn fits into the “family annihilator” category, said Adams, co-director of Emerge, a counseling program for men who abuse women.
[...]
EmeraldInsight
Homicide-suicide in police families: an analysis of cases from 2007-2014
Journal of Forensic Practice, Vol. 17 Issue: 2, pp.101-116
https://www.researchgate.net/public...ide_in_police_families_Aggression_full_circle
Homicide-suicide in police families: Aggression full circle
March 2007
Homicide-suicide in police families: an analysis of cases from 2007-2014
Journal of Forensic Practice, Vol. 17 Issue: 2, pp.101-116
https://www.researchgate.net/public...ide_in_police_families_Aggression_full_circle
Homicide-suicide in police families: Aggression full circle
March 2007
A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, December 29 at 1:00 P.M. at Bethany Baptist Church, 3409 Cork Road, Plant City, where the family will receive friends beginning at Noon.
Mrs. Theresa Edgemon Strawn - View Obituary & Service Information
Obituary for Mrs. Theresa Edgemon Strawn
Theresa Kay Edgemon Strawn, 54, of Plant City, Florida, born on June 26, 1964 in Lakeland, Florida, entered into eternal rest along with her daughter, Courtney Breanne Strawn, and granddaughter, Londyn Faith Strawn, on December 19, 2018.
Ms. Courtney Breanne Strawn - View Obituary & Service Information
Obituary for Ms. Courtney Breanne Strawn
Courtney Breanne Strawn, 32, of Plant City, Florida, born on December 1, 1986 in Brandon, Florida, entered into eternal rest along with her daughter, Londyn Faith Strawn, and mother, Theresa Kay Edgemon Strawn on December 19, 2018.
Londyn Faith Strawn - View Obituary & Service Information
Obituary for Londyn Faith Strawn
Londyn Faith Strawn, 6, of Plant City, Florida, born on May 10, 2012 in Brandon, Florida, entered into eternal rest along with her mother, Courtney Breanne Strawn, and grandmother, Theresa Kay Edgemon Strawn on December 19, 2018.
Mrs. Theresa Edgemon Strawn - View Obituary & Service Information
Obituary for Mrs. Theresa Edgemon Strawn
Theresa Kay Edgemon Strawn, 54, of Plant City, Florida, born on June 26, 1964 in Lakeland, Florida, entered into eternal rest along with her daughter, Courtney Breanne Strawn, and granddaughter, Londyn Faith Strawn, on December 19, 2018.
Ms. Courtney Breanne Strawn - View Obituary & Service Information
Obituary for Ms. Courtney Breanne Strawn
Courtney Breanne Strawn, 32, of Plant City, Florida, born on December 1, 1986 in Brandon, Florida, entered into eternal rest along with her daughter, Londyn Faith Strawn, and mother, Theresa Kay Edgemon Strawn on December 19, 2018.
Londyn Faith Strawn - View Obituary & Service Information
Obituary for Londyn Faith Strawn
Londyn Faith Strawn, 6, of Plant City, Florida, born on May 10, 2012 in Brandon, Florida, entered into eternal rest along with her mother, Courtney Breanne Strawn, and grandmother, Theresa Kay Edgemon Strawn on December 19, 2018.
Heartbreaking final footage of 6-year-old- gunned down by her grandfather in triple murder suicide | Daily Mail Online
UPDATED: 03:33 EST, 22 December 2018
[...]
Terry and Theresa Strawn, who had been married for more than three decades, also have a 27-year-old son named Andrew who is being comforted by family members.
Family and friends trying to make sense of the slayings have told DailyMail.com they do not recognize the cold-blooded killer depicted in news bulletins.
'I don't have anything to tell you right now,' Terry Strawn's brother Perry, 57, said outside his Plant City home, his eyes brimming with tears.
'Please pray for us.'
A source close to Strawn's side of the family dismissed rumors that his marriage was on the rocks and that Theresa was about to file for divorce.
'There's nothing to suggest that's true - they just celebrated their 32nd anniversary,' the source said.
'Terry was the friendliest, the most outgoing, the brightest star of the family. He was the type of guy who took responsibility for everyone but would never want to burden other people with his problems.
'Everyone has been trying desperately to come up with anything that could explain this but each time they come up empty.
'Whatever it was that Terry was hiding, he took his secrets to the grave.'
[...]
UPDATED: 03:33 EST, 22 December 2018
[...]
Terry and Theresa Strawn, who had been married for more than three decades, also have a 27-year-old son named Andrew who is being comforted by family members.
Family and friends trying to make sense of the slayings have told DailyMail.com they do not recognize the cold-blooded killer depicted in news bulletins.
'I don't have anything to tell you right now,' Terry Strawn's brother Perry, 57, said outside his Plant City home, his eyes brimming with tears.
'Please pray for us.'
A source close to Strawn's side of the family dismissed rumors that his marriage was on the rocks and that Theresa was about to file for divorce.
'There's nothing to suggest that's true - they just celebrated their 32nd anniversary,' the source said.
'Terry was the friendliest, the most outgoing, the brightest star of the family. He was the type of guy who took responsibility for everyone but would never want to burden other people with his problems.
'Everyone has been trying desperately to come up with anything that could explain this but each time they come up empty.
'Whatever it was that Terry was hiding, he took his secrets to the grave.'
[...]
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- Messages
- 665
- Reaction score
- 3,535
Mourning deputy’s victims overtakes Christmas tradition: ‘We lost three generations’
Deputy Terry Strawn and his wife Theresa come from large families with roots in Plant City. At a candlelight vigil Sunday, her relatives remembered the loved ones Strawn took from them.
December 24, 2018
PLANT CITY — With seven siblings, the Hall family’s traditional gathering on the Saturday before Christmas draws a crowd.
They exchange homemade gifts like jam and crafts, while kids, grandkids and great-grandkids enjoy the holiday festivities.
They got together again Saturday, some 35 relatives — but this time, it was to mourn.
“You can’t imagine how we feel,” said Ernie Surles, 54, who married into the Hall family. “We lost three generations of our family.”
A member of the family, Theresa Edgemon Strawn, 54, was slain three days earlier when her husband, Hillsborough Sheriff’s Deputy Terry Strawn, went on a shooting spree, the Sheriff’s Office said.
[...]
Terry and Theresa Strawn retired and moved to Colorado about a year ago to spend time with their son and daughter-in-law Drew and Stacey Strawn, who live there, said Ernie Surles, husband of Theresa’s brother Alex Edgemon.
“They’d lived their entire lives in Plant City,” Surles said. “They decided to try something new. They packed up Courtney and Londyn with them and moved out to Durango.”
The four were back in Plant City by June, Surles said. Terry Strawn rejoined the Sheriff’s Office during the summer, Sheriff Chad Chronister said Wednesday.
[...]
Deputy Terry Strawn and his wife Theresa come from large families with roots in Plant City. At a candlelight vigil Sunday, her relatives remembered the loved ones Strawn took from them.
December 24, 2018
PLANT CITY — With seven siblings, the Hall family’s traditional gathering on the Saturday before Christmas draws a crowd.
They exchange homemade gifts like jam and crafts, while kids, grandkids and great-grandkids enjoy the holiday festivities.
They got together again Saturday, some 35 relatives — but this time, it was to mourn.
“You can’t imagine how we feel,” said Ernie Surles, 54, who married into the Hall family. “We lost three generations of our family.”
A member of the family, Theresa Edgemon Strawn, 54, was slain three days earlier when her husband, Hillsborough Sheriff’s Deputy Terry Strawn, went on a shooting spree, the Sheriff’s Office said.
[...]
Terry and Theresa Strawn retired and moved to Colorado about a year ago to spend time with their son and daughter-in-law Drew and Stacey Strawn, who live there, said Ernie Surles, husband of Theresa’s brother Alex Edgemon.
“They’d lived their entire lives in Plant City,” Surles said. “They decided to try something new. They packed up Courtney and Londyn with them and moved out to Durango.”
The four were back in Plant City by June, Surles said. Terry Strawn rejoined the Sheriff’s Office during the summer, Sheriff Chad Chronister said Wednesday.
[...]
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MsFacetious
What a Kerfuffle...
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Oh wow, this is just brutal. I can't even imagine being the family. Suicide would have been hard enough for them to comprehend, but this? Horrendous.
Heartbreaking final footage of 6-year-old- gunned down by her grandfather in triple murder suicide
Terry and Theresa Strawn, who had been married for more than three decades, also have a 27-year-old son named Andrew who is being comforted by family members.
Family and friends trying to make sense of the slayings have told DailyMail.com they do not recognize the cold-blooded killer depicted in news bulletins.
'I don't have anything to tell you right now,' Terry Strawn's brother Perry, 57, said outside his Plant City home, his eyes brimming with tears.
'Please pray for us.'
Heartbreaking final footage of 6-year-old- gunned down by her grandfather in triple murder suicide
Terry and Theresa Strawn, who had been married for more than three decades, also have a 27-year-old son named Andrew who is being comforted by family members.
Family and friends trying to make sense of the slayings have told DailyMail.com they do not recognize the cold-blooded killer depicted in news bulletins.
'I don't have anything to tell you right now,' Terry Strawn's brother Perry, 57, said outside his Plant City home, his eyes brimming with tears.
'Please pray for us.'
Answers remain elusive in case of deputy who killed family
October 29, 2019
PLANT CITY — Kathy Garrison took notice when her friend’s voice came over the radio.
Garrison had known Terry Strawn for all her 19 years with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. They’d worked the streets together early in their careers. Now, on this chilly morning six days before Christmas, Garrison and her coworkers heard Strawn make a stunning confession.
“I need 10-46,” he said in a flat voice, using the code for emergency traffic. “I have killed my family.”
[...]
Strawn wiped out three generations of his family that morning, driving eight miles from his Dover home, where he killed his wife and granddaughter, to his daughter’s place in Plant City. He fired a single shot to the back of their heads with his service pistol.
His colleagues would spend months trying to understand why one of their own betrayed his loved ones and an exemplary law enforcement career.
But the final, 493-page investigative report from the Sheriff’s Office, obtained by the Tampa Bay Times under Florida’s public records law, provides few hints about Strawn’s motive in the slayings. Sheriff Chad Chronister called the case perplexing and frustrating.
“We’re certainly motivated by trying to find out why,” Chronister said in an interview, “because you can’t prevent something if you don’t know what the cause was.”
[...]
Perry Strawn said he didn’t see any sign his brother was capable of hurting himself or others, especially his own family.
So why kill them, a detective asked.
“I think he thought that he was doing them a favor by taking 'em with him to get ‘em outta this sh---y world,” he said.
[...]
Strawn asked his coworkers to go to his house and his daughter’s townhouse to find the bodies.
"I love them all so very much," he said. "I’m just at the end of my rope. I’ve lost pretty much everything."
“Hey, brother, you’ve still got a lot to live for, man,” Deputy Lance Shiver said over the radio. “We can figure something out. Remember, we’re all in this together, okay?”
Shiver urged Strawn to reconsider ending his life, telling him he just needed a plan.
“No plan when you killed your wife, your granddaughter and your daughter,” Strawn replied. “I don’t wanna leave ‘em behind. ... It’s a cruel world, a very cruel world.”
[...]
October 29, 2019
PLANT CITY — Kathy Garrison took notice when her friend’s voice came over the radio.
Garrison had known Terry Strawn for all her 19 years with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. They’d worked the streets together early in their careers. Now, on this chilly morning six days before Christmas, Garrison and her coworkers heard Strawn make a stunning confession.
“I need 10-46,” he said in a flat voice, using the code for emergency traffic. “I have killed my family.”
[...]
Strawn wiped out three generations of his family that morning, driving eight miles from his Dover home, where he killed his wife and granddaughter, to his daughter’s place in Plant City. He fired a single shot to the back of their heads with his service pistol.
His colleagues would spend months trying to understand why one of their own betrayed his loved ones and an exemplary law enforcement career.
But the final, 493-page investigative report from the Sheriff’s Office, obtained by the Tampa Bay Times under Florida’s public records law, provides few hints about Strawn’s motive in the slayings. Sheriff Chad Chronister called the case perplexing and frustrating.
“We’re certainly motivated by trying to find out why,” Chronister said in an interview, “because you can’t prevent something if you don’t know what the cause was.”
[...]
Perry Strawn said he didn’t see any sign his brother was capable of hurting himself or others, especially his own family.
So why kill them, a detective asked.
“I think he thought that he was doing them a favor by taking 'em with him to get ‘em outta this sh---y world,” he said.
[...]
Strawn asked his coworkers to go to his house and his daughter’s townhouse to find the bodies.
"I love them all so very much," he said. "I’m just at the end of my rope. I’ve lost pretty much everything."
“Hey, brother, you’ve still got a lot to live for, man,” Deputy Lance Shiver said over the radio. “We can figure something out. Remember, we’re all in this together, okay?”
Shiver urged Strawn to reconsider ending his life, telling him he just needed a plan.
“No plan when you killed your wife, your granddaughter and your daughter,” Strawn replied. “I don’t wanna leave ‘em behind. ... It’s a cruel world, a very cruel world.”
[...]
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