Courthouse Shooter's Widow: My Husband Was Not a Monster

Lenore Matusiewicz says she's heartbroken.

“It’s like somebody ripped my heart out, trampled it and now is cutting it into shreds,” she said while in tears.

Lenore is the widow of Thomas Matusiewicz, the man who killed his former daughter-in law and her friend at a Delaware courthouse last month before taking his own life.

Lenore claims her husband was upset over the child support dispute between their son David Matusiewicz and his ex-wife Christine Belford, the victim of the shooting. According to Lenore, Thomas had no intention of killing Belford and her friend. She said his brain tumor made him snap.

"People want to make my husband out to be a monster," she said. "And he wasn't. He was a kind, generous, loving man that I was married to for almost 47 years."

Lenore also lashed out at Attorney General Beau Biden whom she claims will not give her any information about her husband's tumor.

"He won't allow the medical examiner's office to give me that information," she said. "I want my own examination, an independent examination of my husband's head."

Lenore’s son was at the courthouse the day of the shooting for a child support hearing with Belford. The two were involved in a bitter custody battle over their three children. David pleaded guilty in 2009 to federal fraud and kidnapping charges after fleeing to Nicaragua in a motor home with Lenore and the three girls. He and Belford were divorced and sharing custody at the time.

Prosecutors say he kidnapped the girls after telling Belford they were going to Disney World for two weeks. He also forged his ex-wife's signature to obtain nearly $250,000 from a Delaware bank, then sent the money to his parents' bank account and had his father transfer the money to a Bank of New Zealand account. Lenore was also sentenced to 18 months in prison on state charges of child endangerment. She has denied any involvement in Belford’s death.

David is currently in federal custody and charged with violating probation for his kidnapping conviction. Lenore claims that federal authorities called her and other family members to testify against her son last week but then told her that she "wasn't needed."

"Someone called the house and said I didn't need to go in," she said. "I don't know who that was.

Lenore says she’s now focused on "getting justice for her son."

"He hasn't been treated fairly," she said. "He's being condemned for what his father did. I haven't seen him since the morning of February 11. No contact. And he's grieving. He wanted to see Christine. He wanted to talk to her about the children just to see how they were. I think he wanted to see her too."

David is due back in court next Tuesday.
 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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