Judge Refuses Order of Protection Request, Newlywed Woman Is Murdered by Stalker

[chasmj]

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/alissa-blanton-stalker-kills-florida-newlywed-hooters-waitress/story?id=9801964

Judge Refuses Order of Protection Request, Newlywed Woman Is Murdered by Stalker
Roger Troy Went to Alissa Blanton's Home, Sent the Ex-Hooters Waitress Demeaning E-Mails
By ANDREA CANNING and SUZAN CLARKE
Feb. 11, 2010

The Florida woman killed by a man who had allegedly stalked her since her Hooters waitressing days had tried to get an order of protection against him, but a judge refused the request.

Alissa Blanton, 23, of Cocoa, Fla., was shot and killed Monday in the parking lot near her new job at an AT&T call center in Orange County, Fla. Police said her killer, 61-year-old Roger Troy, fatally shot himself immediately afterward.

About a week before she died, Blanton asked a judge for an order of protection against Troy, whom she said had been stalking her for two years. Despite the evidence she presented -- her petition contained more than 70 pages of harassing e-mails Troy sent to her -- Brevard County Circuit Court Judge Dean Moxley said he didn't have enough information to rule on the petition.

According to ABC News' Orlando affiliate WFTV, Moxley ordered a hearing for Feb. 16 to gather more information on the request...

[sakabatou]

1. So will the family sue the judge?

[marybourg]

3. No. Judges can't be sued for ruling against you. If they could there'd be a suit

growing out of every suit, since one side always loses.

[sakabatou]

15. So what will happen?

The shooter shot himself (you can't sue dead people), so what will happen?

[marybourg]

17. The victim's survivors could , if they want, sue the estate of her killer.

If the judge acted improperly, he could be removed or censured by whatever process that state uses to remove incompetent, or censure errant, judges (but I don't think this is such a case). In this world there isn't a remedy for every wrong.

[ddeclue]

2. A TRO would not have stopped this guy.. only a 9mm semi auto would have.

The guy was obviously NOT concerned with going to jail given that he murdered her and then killed himself.

[Travis_0004]

4. Sad story

But as the other person said, and order of protection doesn't do a whole lot of good when somebody is planning on killing you.

[cutlassmama]

14. It's just a piece of paper.

[flvegan]

5. Hate to say it, but that Order likely wouldn't have changed anything.

Anyone desperate enough to murder and then commit suicide isn't going to be assuaged by a court order, I don't think.

RIP, Alissa Blanton. And my heartfelt condolences to her husband Brent and her loved ones.

I do have to say, were I Brent (and I'm not finding fault nor placing blame) Roger Troy would have never had a chance. I'm sorry, but the state of affairs these days...you can't rely on the courts in cases like this. It's unfortunate, but true.

[havocmom]

6. Yep. Brother in law (cop, special investigator for a CA county DA) said a RO is just a suspect list

Sadly, a restraining order is a starting place for many assault or murder investigations. They don't really offer protection. Too often, a false sense of security which can cause a person to drop their guard to a dangerous situation.

Here on planet reality, many of us understand the police cannot be there to save our hides. We need to be more actively engaged in our own fates if there are threats.

[flvegan]

7. It's worthless to the lawless.

I could not agree more with your "planet reality" statement. And I don't blame the police. I blame the laws and the system. The police enforce the laws they are given. When you tell some dipshit psycho that he needs to play nice and not stalk somebody, that isn't going to work. Ever.

I'm no gun nut, but this is part of why I have them anyway.

[mfcorey1]

8. This is so sad.

Some sort of power needs to be added to restraining orders. This happens too often where individuals do get the order and stalkers still carry out some form of violence.

[dustbunnie]

9. Terrible story. But another report said he killed her the day after he was served.

So a restraining order would've meant bupkis to this psycho, or would've riled him up to murder a week earlier. They don't make women, or anyone really, safe.

[KonaKane]

10. Why couldn't he have just shot himself first?

Serious question.

[dustbunnie]

11. Because he was consumed with her. The emails he sent are demented.

[Maru Kitteh]

12. I wonder about that every time I a murder/suicide.

Suicide is a horrendous tragedy that has touched my life very, very personally - but I always think "Jeez, if you HAVE to kill yourself, just do it, don't take anyone else with you or hurt others."

[dustbunnie]

13. But the point was to destroy her, not himself.

He sent her zillions of emails saying she was fat, lived in an ugly house, was a whore, how he was going to expose her as a slut to her husband... it seems to have been an endless litany. Her silence also seems to have infuriated him. So when he got served to appear in court for the harassment, he murdered her, out of rage I suppose. That was the primary goal. He only offed himself because his reason for living ended with her death. Not the other way around.

[TexasObserver]

16. While the TRO likely would not have saved her, it should have been issued.

Any time the TRO request is based upon someone allegedly threatening another person, it should be issued if there is any evidence to support the request of the petitioner for such restraining order. The courts often issue the TRO almost automatically, then set a hearing within the next two weeks to see if the TRO should be vacated, or made into an injunction.

It appears the judge refused to issue the TRO, and set a hearing for next Tuesday. It also appears she had the deceased man served with a notice of the hearing, and that's what triggered his action.

This guy was the classic stalker who imagined in his head some relationship that wasn't, and when clearly rejected set out to make her life miserable. I only wish she had filed criminal charges on this guy long ago, and had him picked up for this. Stalking is a serious crime, but not every judge treats it as such.