Heeding the Cry of of a Battered Wife

* It seems a perverse act of society that there is $3.5 million available for refurbishing a pier that is an admitted relic of the past, while we cannot afford adequate police protection.

In the tragic case of JoAnn Linkenauger, this meant her death. As reported in The Times, JoAnn Linkenauger’s husband was recently convicted of her murder. She repeatedly filed reports with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department saying that she had been beaten by her husband. She even tried to get restraining orders to keep him away from her but nobody helped. Why not? Why didn’t anyone listen to her and believe what she was saying?

Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew J. Hardy said in your Oct. 2 article, “We can’t do everything. We have fewer and diminishing resources to deal with very complex human problems. This kind of tragedy is something that happens despite what we can do.”

Why is it that we do more for things like piers than for people like JoAnn Linkenauger, who was crying out for help? Is wife battering acceptable whereas other forms of violence are not? Well, at least somebody paid attention when she was dead.

Frank Littman

Jeanne Cope

Oak Park