WA WA - Sky Metalwala, 2, Bellevue, 6 Nov 2011 - #16

[wenwe4]

She used the audio blog at the request of her attorney?

Solomon stated that their Atty's had told both parents to audiotape the exchanges with the children . . . I don't have the link handy but I remember hearing his voice stating that. I have never heard of that before but IIRC the exchanges were being handled by a family friend.

 

[~n/t~]

Solomon stated that their Atty's had told both parents to audiotape the exchanges with the children . . . I don't have the link handy but I remember hearing his voice stating that. I have never heard of that before but IIRC the exchanges were being handled by a family friend.

Thanks. So if I understand correctly, it was both their attornies? I've never heard of such a thing either. That exchange was heartbreaking.

 

[Adrienne37]

Yep, that exchange was absolutely heartbreaking and so fake on Julia's part it was pathetic. Her concern was never for her children period!

 

[LCoastMom]

Solomon stated that their Atty's had told both parents to audiotape the exchanges with the children . . . I don't have the link handy but I remember hearing his voice stating that. I have never heard of that before but IIRC the exchanges were being handled by a family friend.

Re BBM - I remember this being done in a case here in CA some 3 or so years ago - there was so much he said - she said that the exchanges were supposed to be taped to help stop the nonsense. (It didn't help in that case either) Obviously it made no difference to Julia that she was being taped because she was only protecting her child in her twisted reality.

Where is SKY?

 

[~n/t~]

Was it right after that exchange that she was awarded sole custody of the children? Anybody know the date?

 

[~n/t~]

I wonder what she purchased here and if it is connected to the case in anyway. Wish LE could release that info.

 

[jash]

Was it right after that exchange that she was awarded sole custody of the children? Anybody know the date?

These are some key dates I've got noted (compiled from various sources including SM's declaration):

Sept 27, 2010 - Court awards shared custody; JB is "primary parent"; temporary DSMS protective order and temporary restraining order issued (not sure against whom?)
~early Oct 2010 - JB goes to police and says SM is planning to take M out of state*
Oct 28, 2010 - "Exchange from hell" audio recording
Nov 5, 2010 - second audio recording of exchange
Nov-Dec 2010 - JB accuses SM of abusing Sky and M
Dec 14, 2010 - PET order for protection, temporary order for protection issued
Dec 28, 2010 - Order reissuing temporary protective order
Jan 6, 2011 - SM takes polygraph re abuse
Mar 3, 2011 - Order for Protection and Temporary Restraining Order issued (against SM I assume, the court info doesn't specify)

*I find it interesting that she said SM was going to take M out of state (and not Sky as well). Does this mean she doesn't think SM wanted Sky? Or is it that she favoured M, and only feared losing her?

 

[~n/t~]

These are some key dates I've got noted (compiled from various sources including SM's declaration):

Sept 27, 2010 - Court awards shared custody; JB is "primary parent"
~early Oct 2010 - JB goes to police and says SM is planning to take M out of state*
Oct 28, 2010 - "Exchange from hell" audio recording
Nov 5, 2010 - second audio recording of exchange
Nov-Dec 2010 - JB accuses SM of abusing Sky and M
Dec 28, 2010 - Order reissuing temporary protective order
Jan 6, 2011 - SM takes polygraph re abuse
Mar 3, 2011 - Order for Protection and Temporary Restraining Order issued (against SM I assume, the court info doesn't specify)

*I find it interesting that she said SM was going to take M out of state (and not Sky as well). Does this mean she doesn't think SM wanted Sky? Or is it that she favoured M, and only feared losing her?

Thanks for the reply. Is his current attorney the same one he had back then? I realize some claim that family court favours the mom but how can they rule based on no evidence that the alleged abuse even occurred. I'm very puzzled by that. Also, I guess the protective order was granted if Solomon claims he hadn't seen the children since Dec 2010? Again, what do they base these findings on?

As to your question (and this is just an assumption on my part) is Solomon probably did threaten to take M knowing Julia was perhaps closer to M than to Sky. Bitter custody issues can bring out the worse in people.....including threats which they may later regret.

 

[jash]

Thanks for the reply. Is his current attorney the same one he had back then? I realize some claim that family court favours the mom but how can they rule based on no evidence that the alleged abuse even occurred. I'm very puzzled by that. Also, I guess the protective order was granted if Solomon claims he hadn't seen the children since Dec 2010? Again, what do they base these findings on?

As to your question (and this is just an assumption on my part) is Solomon probably did threaten to take M knowing Julia was perhaps closer to M than to Sky. Bitter custody issues can bring out the worse in people.....including threats which they may later regret.

I've edited my original post to add a couple more dates re protective orders issued. It's very confusing without knowing who the orders were issued against but I assume the first against SM was on Dec 14. I'm curious to know who was issued the orders on Sept 27 (same day shared custody was awarded).

Clay Terry has represented SM since at least January 2011. I think he may have gotten involved on the abuse aspect. IIRC SM had/has a different divorce attorney.

 

[~n/t~]

hmmmm I just realized something and may or may not have anything to do with it but......

SM threatens Julia to take M away.

Julia threatens SM to take Sky away and she succeeded.

 

[Cubby]

I've edited my original post to add a couple more dates re protective orders issued. It's very confusing without knowing who the orders were issued against but I assume the first against SM was on Dec 14. I'm curious to know who was issued the orders on Sept 27 (same day shared custody was awarded).

Clay Terry has represented SM since at least January 2011. I think he may have gotten involved on the abuse aspect. IIRC SM had/has a different divorce attorney.

I interpreted the different attorney's as possibly firing the first and retaining new counsel. I really can't think of a logical reason why he would have two, unless he needed a criminal attorney for the abuse allegations. Maybe Gitana can chime in if she is still reading this thread.

 

[jash]

I interpreted the different attorney's as possibly firing the first and retaining new counsel. I really can't think of a logical reason why he would have two, unless he needed a criminal attorney for the abuse allegations. Maybe Gitana can chime in if she is still reading this thread.

I think he does have two lawyers, based on what Clay Terry said during one of the earlier radio shows (link).

one week before the mediation we received an email/phone call from her attorney to S's divorce atty, Michael Thompkins, that if SM would allow her to take the child to Russia or to Scottsdale, Arizona that she would forgo child support. Of course, we turned that down and then in the mediation she then asked if she could take the children to Canada from time to time.

Clay Terry's office seems to have a lot of experience in criminal matters. I don't see anything pertaining to divorce and custody matters. link


SM's divorce attorney is also quoted in this article

But two days later — and two days before she reported her son missing — Biryukova decided to pull out of the agreement, Metalwala's divorce attorney, D. Michael Tomkins, said Wednesday. In a letter sent by her attorney, Biryukova insisted that everyone at the mediation session had been against her and the settlement was unfair, Tomkins said.

The children didn't attend the marathon session, and it's possible they were left home alone for the entire time — raising the possibility that Sky could have become dehydrated, Tomkins said.

 

[jjenny]

I interpreted the different attorney's as possibly firing the first and retaining new counsel. I really can't think of a logical reason why he would have two, unless he needed a criminal attorney for the abuse allegations. Maybe Gitana can chime in if she is still reading this thread.

No, SM has two lawyers.

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

I agree with your suspicion that JB may have been referring to her lawyer in that post about the flickr photos.

We all know she's not the sharpest tool in the shed and whatever way she had of explaining to herself the rationale behind making some photos private was probably not the most sensical. I suspect that her anxiety flooded so much of her brain-space that she didn't have room for careful, thoughtful planning. Hence, the laughable alibi of running out of gas, downloading hundreds of flickr photos, and going on sugar daddy dating sites post-Sky's disappearance.

She does not behave rationally or show careful thought in her actions -- it feels like she does things on a whim without thinking it through. The same may have happened here. The lawyer may not have 'ordered' the photos. JB may just have decided it was a move that might somehow benefit her case against SM, even if it made no sense at all.

BBM I tend to agree with this line of thinking. JB may have been reconfiguring the photo accounts because she thought it was something that she could show the lawyers so as to bolster her facade. I can't imagine a lawyer "ordering" them, either.

 

[gitana1]

It really makes me angry that she hasn't done anything to try to find her beautiful son! But, I suppose if she wanted to get rid of him, there would be no reason for her to look for him. :furious:

IIRC, she had 127 friends the last time I looked at her page; prior to this new friend being added. Now there is only 126...so, somewhere along the line she has lost 2 friends from her FB page.

She actually had about 168 at one point. It has gone down quite a bit since then.

Quotes From The Case

Julia's Text Message: March 10, 2010

"Please, please I'm begging with my whole heart, help me find a peaceful way to die. I cannot live ANOTHER day and cause you, M and Sky anymore suffering. I am dead inside anyway & have been dead for a long time. You will not miss me at all and M and Sky have the best daddy in the world so I know they will be ok. Please understand I cannot live like this another day I cannot. I hurt everywhere I'm so tired so tired. I'm so tired of crying all the time I hurt so bad inside and its like U don't even care! Please don't ask Judah or our church for money or I promise u I will kill myself. If u want me to to treatment find another way to pay for it. I don't want anyne in my church to know I'm crazy."

Declaration of Solomon Metalwala: January 20, 2011

"Julia is sick. She is suffering from a severe form of obsessive-compulsive disorder (primarily cleaning and fear of dust)....This obsessive cleaning took hours of her time every day. She would not even sleep at night she was so fixated on cleaning....I am not exaggerating when I state under oath that Julia cared more about cleaning a countertop than she did about feeding our daughter. The child was ignored and it became a matter of great concern....Julia would clean the empty refrigerator twice or more every day but she would not store any food in the refrigerator....Our child could have nothing to eat in the house."

Statement from Nadia Biryukova: March, 2010

“Neither your husband nor I would like for you to live with us at your current conditions … All of us (your children including) are suffering from your abuse."

Dr. Stephen S.'s assessment of Julia: July 2, 2010

“Although Ms. Biryukova is dealing with a severe form of OCD, I do not believe that this interferes with her ability to be a compassionate, effective parent to her children.”

Julia's self-perception: September 23, 2010

“I do not suffer from severe OCD and I never have.”

Julia's facebook page: September 22, 2010

Occupation: Full-Time Mommy!

“Justice was served today. I am the PRIMARY PARENT for my babies! Hallelujah! My babies are happy and I am HAPPY!"

Clay Terry: January 9, 2012

"When M was picked up by the police, she looked gaunt and weighed only 29 pounds."

I had to bump this. Such a profound snapshot of the case.

I took a shot at adding about a year to Sky's appearance.

I took the watermelon photo and grew his hair out, turned his eyes toward the camera, darkened his eyebrows a tad, gave him a slightly more developed chin and cheeks, and a slight bit more on the tip of his nose.

His mouth probably needs a little more work to make it look more realistic. But this is what I have so far.

Thank you for this age progression. You did a good job.

My understanding is one has nothing to do with the other because there is no statute of limitations for murder. She can be charged for neglect if proven she left Sky whether it was in the car or not and she if it is later proven that she was involved with his murder, she can be tried for murder.

Of course, they will need overwhelming evidence to prove she was responsible for his murder.

Take the Skelton case as an example. He was charged for their disappearance but they don't have enough to charge him with murder. The boys are still missing.

There's more going on in this case than we are privy to, imo.

They don't know how Sky disappeared yet. If they charge her for neglect of Sky and it turns out that it was the neglect that killed him, that's double jeopardy. I am guessing they could charge Skelton with false imprisonment and not risk later, double jeopardy, because the false imprisonment would not be related to how they died. It's related to keeping them from their mother.

She did admit to that (or so we've heard) but there's questions about how long Sky has actually been missing (and, we've all learned how reliable, truthful, and accurate JB's words are). Sky may have been missing since June, July, August, September....who knows at this point? JB is saying she left him unattended during the mediation and she's saying she left him unattended in the car that day. But, we can't prove it because we don't when Sky actually disappeared. And, frankly, she says a lot of stuff that isn't true. So, if she's convicted for neglecting him during the mediation but it later comes out that she "disappeared" him months prior, then what? It can't be both. I'm in no way a legal expert, but I just can't see how you can charge someone with two crimes that might be mutually exclusive.

That said, I think they should proceed with neglect charges for M in regards to leaving her unattended during the mediation and for not feeding her to a very severe level. There's evidence for that and no potential for double jeopardy. Believe me, I think JB belongs behind bars at this point.

Hopefully, Gitana or someone else with legal expertise can shed light on this. If they charge JB with neglect for Sky but he was actually "disappeared" months prior and they find this out after she's already been convicted for neglect, can they charge her with murder? Does the conviction for neglect get dismissed? What happens? Also, would a prosecutor be likely to move forward when the only proof is the mother's word (which she may later rescind)? Thanks in advance!

I think they could. But what if he disappeared on the day of the neglect they charge her for? Then they could risk double jeopardy. I don't think they want to take that risk.

I wish we could get an age progression of this shot. The sink photo seems so different from other photos of Sky. This one is more like the other photos, so likely more representative.

I'm still wondering what this was all about.....

I thought she was taunting Solomon. Wanted him to be able to see certain photos but not others. Or she wanted to be able to control what photos are public and what are not, so she can maintain her "image".

Solomon stated that their Atty's had told both parents to audiotape the exchanges with the children . . . I don't have the link handy but I remember hearing his voice stating that. I have never heard of that before but IIRC the exchanges were being handled by a family friend.

I tell my clients to audio tape at times. But that is far different from putting the recording on a public blog, which is what she did. No attorney would recommend that. She was game playing there and trying to hurt Solomon, IMO.

I interpreted the different attorney's as possibly firing the first and retaining new counsel. I really can't think of a logical reason why he would have two, unless he needed a criminal attorney for the abuse allegations. Maybe Gitana can chime in if she is still reading this thread.

Perhaps he had a separate attorney for the CPS case. That would make sense. Some family law attorneys do not get into CPS allegations which may result in a dependency court case, which in many states, is different from family court - different rules, different procedures, etc. Many family law attorneys do not do dependency court cases.

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

I wonder what she purchased here and if it is connected to the case in anyway. Wish LE could release that info.

Hair coloring?
(Sorry...I couldn't resist!)

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

hmmmm I just realized something and may or may not have anything to do with it but......

SM threatens Julia to take M away.

Julia threatens SM to take Sky away and she succeeded.

More fuel for her vengeance? Hmmmmm?

 

[gitana1]

I think Rougelatete posted this link upthread: http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2012/01/sky_metalwalas_dad_is_victim_o.php

The comments attached to it are very interesting. It is as I thought. Lots of people claiming bias against men on the part of the commissioner handling Solomon's divorce. Someone posted that this commissioner is continuing to punish men in her courtroom. Very upsetting. One person wrote that the commissioner ignored a counselor's report about what the mother was doing to a little girl, even though the commissioner ordered the therapy. The report was not what she anticipated so she ignored it and forbade the father from getting a copy. Wow.

Also, I recall Solomon's attorney stating he was supposed to go through hoops to see his kids and couldn't because he was ordered to undergo programs he could not afford. The article bolsters that statement. It says that Solomon was granted supervised visits but that even those visits were contingent on him being enrolled in some sort of batterer's program. I'm going to see if I can find the program and determine the cost.

 

[gitana1]

I found both programs the commissioner told Solomon he could pick from but little about the total costs. The Wellspring program has a $105.00 intake fees but says nothing about on-going costs.

Doug Bartholomew's Domestic Violence Program also says nothing about costs. They both last several weeks and I don't know how long Solomon was ordered to go for. (Bartholomew's program includes 26 weeks of group therapy and 6 months individual therapy).

I also found tons of criticism about Bartholomew, his program and Wellspring on the internet.

In a blog, I found that Solomon was ordered to undergo 18 months of programs before he could see his kids. http://wadvpress.org/

 

[Rougelatete]

I found both programs the commissioner told Solomon he could pick from but little about the total costs. The Wellspring program has a $105.00 intake fees but says nothing about on-going costs.

Doug Bartholomew's Domestic Violence Program also says nothing about costs. They both last several weeks and I don't know how long Solomon was ordered to go for.

I also found tons of criticism about Bartholomew, his program and Wellspring on the internet.

Certified Domestic Batterer Intervention programs I've worked in (within MA) often have a sliding scale but it DOES add up. That said, I believe that whatever the cost was, it was unaffordable for SM. I believe he would have attended whatever class they told to him to if it meant he could see his kids again. Even if he knew in his hearts of hearts that he was not a domestic batterer (if anything, JB was abusive, IMO).

I think SM was so financially strapped between sending JB money, funding her living situation, paying for lawyers, and trying to keep his drowning business afloat, that he literally couldn't afford a dime. I truly believe he would have done anything to see those kids -- he was terrified for their safety. And, for good reason, sadly. He got screwed by the court system. It's infuriating.