Homeschooled Pastor's Son Slaughters Family

[Joan of Snarc]

I'm surprised this family's guns didn't protect them. Oh wait. No, I'm not.

[Ex 2x2]

I'm surprised the news article shows a picture of the 15 year old. Don't they normally withhold pictures when it is a minor?

Someone above I think said the dad was an ex-con turned fundie? I can't find that in the articles. Did I miss it? Thanks.

What a tragedy.

[Buzzard]

"child abuse resulting in death" appears to be a lesser included or a separate act than murder.

Subsection C of Section 30-6-1 NMSA 1978 provides that it is a criminal offense for any person, without justifiable cause, to intentionally or negligently permit or cause:

(1) a child to be placed in a situation dangerous to the life or health of the child;

(2) a child to be tortured, cruelly confined or cruelly punished; or

(3) a child to be exposed to the inclement weather. Negligence

I guess we'll need more details on why they chose a lesser.

[wild little fox]

I'm sorry to say that I'm surprised that it doesn't happen more often. When children are super controlled those feelings of anger etc., have to come out somehow.

[lilwriter85]

I'm surprised the news article shows a picture of the 15 year old. Don't they normally withhold pictures when it is a minor?

Someone above I think said the dad was an ex-con turned fundie? I can't find that in the articles. Did I miss it? Thanks.

What a tragedy.

I don't think the dad was an ex-con. The articles I've read and the newscasts have pointed out that he was highly involved in jail ministry programs. On the earlier news broadcast, a former inmate who meet Griego talked about how Griego helped him.

[lilwriter85]

I'm sorry to say that I'm surprised that it doesn't happen more often. When children are super controlled those feelings of anger etc., have to come out somehow.

I'm also thinking this boy might have been super controlled by his parents. More information will come out about the Griego family over time. People are still in shock and so far the people talking to the media have said good things about Greg. But often things that go on behind closed doors aren't known to a lot of people. It is interesting because the neighbors of the family said the Griegos didn't talk to them much. Right now I'm looking an article from one of the news stations and again there is speculation about Greg being an ex-con in the comments section and someone posted about knowing the family.

http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/crime/shoo ... n-chapalin

[Sobeknofret]

One news source (KOAT 7) said Greg Greigo had been in jail in CA, but had served his term and never returned to prison as an inmate. Given that they interviewed a neighbor and family friend who knew about it, I'd say it wasn't exactly a secret.

I read a few outlines of sermons preached at Calvary Chapel last night, and while I'd say they're definitely conservative, I'm still not convinced they're fundie. They have women in ministry, they don't endorse quiverfull, they allow pants on women, they have kid's minstries, women can work although they do emphasize that women have a Titus 2 mandate in the home. They do endorse spanking apparently though. :(

[Anxious Girl]

Since this story is getting national attention, I suspect the fundie bloggers we discuss here will keep quiet about this.

If they do, they'll probably blame his actions on the Devil/Lucifer/Satan, his parents not "training" him properly, or his belief in the wrong God. After all, how could a well-to-do-son with religious parents who's being homeschooled who's parents keep guns in the house for protection do something wrong? It's always those heathens that committ attrocities like these. Maybe a heathen from the outside influenced them. God, fundies have such a warped way of thinking. Including She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

[lilwriter85]

If they do, they'll probably blame his actions on the Devil/Lucifer/Satan, his parents not "training" him properly, or his belief in the wrong God. After all, how could a well-to-do-son with religious parents who's being homeschooled who's parents keep guns in the house for protection do something wrong? It's always those heathens that committ attrocities like these. Maybe a heathen from the outside influenced them. God, fundies have such a warped way of thinking. Including She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

More info will come out on the Griegos. I didn't watch the local news this morning. My guess is that the Griegos were maybe fundie lite despite Calavry Chapel being more mainstream. The fundie lite and mainstream Christian homeschoolers here in New Mexico are pretty social and some of them do things that hardcore fundies like Zsu, the Maxells, Duggars don't do like sports, hobby clubs, youth groups etc. Zsu praised homeschooling after the Chardon school shooting and I remember her saying something that people who don't homeschool are bad people. I bet ZsuZsu only likes fundie Christian homeschoolers like herself. She is very controlling with her kids. They only seem to interact with church kids on Sundays. There was a fundie lite homeschooling family that lived near my family when I was growing up. Zsu and people like Steve Maxwell would have disliked this family for several reasons. This family only had three boys and they wanted more kids but decided to stop after the wife had several miscarriages and health problems. One of the wife's siblings had six kids. Said family was cool with their boys doing youth sports, music lessons taught by a non relative, having non-church friends, etc. If all the fundie bloggers we discuss here got together, there would be cliques formed right away. The fundie lite types like Daniel and Lyndsie, the Grayson family, Lori's family and Miss Raquel family would be in a clique because the more hardcore fundies would view them as too worldly. Based on the FB pages and the connections to Calavry Chapel, I can see some fundies blaming the Griegos for being too worldly.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s290 ... ew=desktop

a statement from state senator Eric Griego about his nephew, Nehemiah Griego.

The statement reads:

"Our family is heartbroken over this senseless tragedy. We have not been able to comprehend what led to this incredibly sad situation. However, we are deeply concerned about the portrayal in some media of Nehemiah as some kind of a monster.

It is clear to those of us who know and love him that something went terribly wrong. Whether it was a mental breakdown or some deeper undiagnosed psychological issue, we can’t be sure yet. What we do know is that none of us, even in our wildest nightmare, could have imagined that he could do something like this.

There is so much more to the Nehemiah we know than what the media is portraying. We know him as a bright, curious, and incredibly talented young man. He was a brother, nephew, grandson, and cousin.

From the time he was a young boy, his father Greg supported his love for music. Thanks to his interest, practice and natural ability, Nehemiah has become a very accomplished musician. He plays guitar, drums and bass. For years he has played at youth and other church services at Calvary and elsewhere.

The idea that he was a loner also has been manufactured by the media and those who simply did not know him. He had many friends at Calvary where he spent most of his free time playing basketball or music . Like his father, who was a champion wrestler and coach, Nehemiah also competed in wrestling tournaments throughout the state and country.

His parents were always involved at Calvary, and Nehemiah shared their commitment to community service. He accompanied his father on missions to Mexico, where they helped local faith communities. He helped with Calvary’s youth ministry and played his guitar or drums whenever someone needed him, including his aunt’s wedding. At home, he helped care for his younger siblings and the many animals the family kept.

Like his great grandfather, grandfather, father, and several aunts, uncles and cousins who are either veterans or on active duty, he wanted to serve his country. Because of this long family tradition of military service, he wanted to enlist when he was old enough. He dreamed of attending NMMI and talked of studying engineering or history. The pictures of him being circulated in his dad’s old fatigues were part of his interest in someday being a soldier.

To be clear, our family has differing views on gun rights and gun control. What we do agree on is that those who wish to score political points should not use a confused, misguided, 15-year old boy to make their case.

We ask those in the media and those who would use the media to make their political case, to not use Nehemiah as a pawn for ratings or to score political points. He is a troubled young man who made a terrible decision that will haunt him and his family forever.

Five lives have been senselessly and needlessly ended. Ruining one more without trying to get to the bottom of what really happened and more importantly --why - -would be equally tragic."

[Kitchen Princess]

Well, one would think that that kid's life is already ruined...that being fodder for media speculation is not what's doing it.

That said, I do appreciate that someone spoke up for the kid. Doesn't change what he did, though. It's horrible all around.

[Ex 2x2]

I'm reading now that his girlfriend might be charged as well. She's only 12. It's not clear though what they would charge her with. From the reports, it sounds like he might've been planning to kill her family as well. Interesting that after he killed them, he went to church.

[Mompom]

To me it shows how a good person can become a bad person if the weapons and opportunities are available and impulse control and emotions aren't working right. So many people think that bad guys are born and raised, and I think that is too simplistic. This is why I am a fan of more gun control. It might prevent the good guy from becoming a bad guy in an instant.

[debrand]

I don't like Dr Drew but I watched a segment about the young man on his show. The uncle was on the show and he said that almost everything reported in the media was false. He also blamed the twelve year old girl for egging the boy on. He made it sound like the boy just snapped and the family was great but that doesn't really happen in real life. Something was going on in that family-either the boy had and undiagnosed mental disorder or there was abuse or someone was trying to prevent him and the girl from being together. People don't just snap.

The media is trying to blame violent video games but the uncle said he could not say that his nephew played any of those games.

[Bloo]

She was twelve and he was fifteen. If a twelve year old is able to egg a fifteen year old into multiple murders, either the twelve year old is Satan (unlikely) or it didn't take much egging (much more likely).

[Joan of Snarc]

To me it shows how a good person can become a bad person if the weapons and opportunities are available and impulse control and emotions aren't working right. So many people think that bad guys are born and raised, and I think that is too simplistic. This is why I am a fan of more gun control. It might prevent the good guy from becoming a bad guy in an instant.

I agree. The people who meticulously plan murder and mayhem may never be stopped, especially if they've given no indication that something's amiss. But all those people killed in crimes of passion, thousands every year, might be saved if every Tom, Dick, Harry and Sally with a bad temper and booze or drugs in their system didn't have easy access to a gun. Maybe they would still grab a knife, but I'd rather face that than a Saturday Night Special.

[debrand]

She was twelve and he was fifteen. If a twelve year old is able to egg a fifteen year old into multiple murders, either the twelve year old is Satan (unlikely) or it didn't take much egging (much more likely).

I agree.

[salsa]

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s2905655.shtml?cat=500/http://www.KOB.com/article/stories/s2905655.shtml?cat=500&fullsite&view=web&clienttype=generic&mobilecgbypass&force_mobile_off=1&mview=desktop

I know I'm supposed to snark here in QFOS, but I can't bring myself to when Quote #1 just breaks my heart (what must this family be going through?). I don't know this family.

Quote #2 - unfortunately, peoplel ARE going to use this case to score points. It's sad, but peoples' tragedies can become big news when something this big happens. The case is big enough with which to score points. No one is much interested in drive-by shootings because most folks chalk it up to drugs and gangsters - in other words, it's something that only happens in certain areas of town. When it's a nice, clean-looking, upstanding family, and when there are 5 victims, it's news. I hate it for them, but it's news and people look to see if there is an explanation.

There is never an easy explanation. (no matter how much fundies want to create easy explanations)

[lilwriter85]

The Griegos lived close to high crime area. Not all parts of the South Valley section are bad, but murders and gang activity do happen there.

[salsa]

The Griegos lived close to high crime area. Not all parts of the South Valley section are bad, but murders and gang activity do happen there.

Oh, well, then that explains it. (that was intended to be a glib joke on my previous post, by the way).

It is still a big case. 5 people. Not drug related. Pastor's son, occurring within his own family.

[Bloo]

I can't feel bad that people use cases like this to score points for the anti gun position, myself. 'Cause, you know, maybe, just maybe, we want to show that it CAN happen to anyone, and we want to take steps to prevent it ever happening again. I can see sympathy for the family and the kid's past, but that's secondary to prevention and common fucking sense.

[lilwriter85]

Oh, well, then that explains it. (that was intended to be a glib joke on my previous post, by the way).

It is still a big case. 5 people. Not drug related. Pastor's son, occurring within his own family.

I agree, it is still a big case and people are still in shock since it was a pastor's family. I think early on the media did try to paint Nehemiah as a gun nut by highlighting some of the neighbor's statements about how we wore camo a lot. Eric's released statement mentions that Nehemiah was highly interested in the military might show something different that what the neighbors saw.

[salsa]

I can't feel bad that people use cases like this to score points for the anti gun position, myself. 'Cause, you know, maybe, just maybe, we want to show that it CAN happen to anyone, and we want to take steps to prevent it ever happening again. I can see sympathy for the family and the kid's past, but that's secondary to prevention and common fucking sense.

I sympathize with the family. It being public is, I agree, necessary. Guess I didn't make that clear.

[Sobeknofret]

The Griegos lived close to high crime area. Not all parts of the South Valley section are bad, but murders and gang activity do happen there.

The South Valley is a mixed bag. Lots of crime and gang activity, but lots of blue collar folks and lots of recent immigrants. I live pretty close to the Valley and we get some of the spillover in terms of crime and gangs.

[wtfrenchtoast]

According to the article, the guns were kept in an unlocked closet. Surprise.