GUILTY OR - James Speidel for attempted murder of wife & 4 kids, Bethany, 2012

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ries-kill-wife-children-natural-gas-leak.html

http://www.kgw.com/news/Man-arrested-for-cutting-gas-line-in-home-as-family-slept-148865025.html

HILLSBORO -- A 36-year-old dad and Nike executive is accused of cutting his home's natural gas line in an attempt to kill his wife and four children in the community of Bethany, west of Portland.
James Speidel was arrested on five counts of attempted aggravated murder, five counts of attempted assault and attempted arson. Investigators said the motive was unclear.
The man's 38-year-old wife smelled a strong odor of natural gas early Tuesday morning and fled the house with their four children, ranging in age from 3 to 9, according to Sgt. Bob Ray with the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

Thank God the mom smelled the gas. How crazy LE linked it back to the husband who was hiding in a field?

Oh my goodness, this was a huge tragedy that was diverted! There must be some underlying mental illness here. It is still tragic for this family, but I hope they were not caught completely by surprise by the arrest of the husband/father. Nonetheless, even though these children were spared a horrible demise, for the rest of their lives they must live with the knowledge that their father attempted to wipe them all out. How do ones as young as these manage that emotional pain?!?!?

Let me guess....there's another woman involved in this somehow. Either someone he's actively involved with, or someone he's fantasizing about being with, and saw this as a means to that end.

oh_gal said:

Let me guess....there's another woman involved in this somehow. Either someone he's actively involved with, or someone he's fantasizing about being with, and saw this as a means to that end.

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I haven't read yet about this, but I totally agree. That, imo, will be his mental illness! Greed, selfishness, lust.

I don't know how a wife or child ever moves on after learning their father/husband tried to kill them. Thankfully though, he wasn't successful.

http://www.oregonlive.com/north-of-26/index.ssf/2012/04/deputies_responded_to_nike_exe.html

"Washington County sheriff's deputies had responded to the Bethany home of a Nike executive hours before he was accused of trying to kill his wife and four children with a natural gas leak.

Late Monday night, an alarm company contacted deputies because an alarm was going off at 36-year-old James Willis Speidel's home, said Sgt. Bob Ray, a sheriff's office spokesman. Ray said the company also called the cell phone of Speidel's wife, Laura, notifying her that the alarm system was triggered.

Deputies responded just before 11:20 p.m., Ray said, and knocked on the door but no one answered. They reportedly found the home, in the 14500 block of Northwest Joseph Court, secure and left a voicemail and an incident card to say they were there. "

I wonder if this was the husband setting up the scene (to show after the house blew up that an intruder had been there). I'm curious what his undisclosed medical condition was when he was found in the field. Perhaps he was attempted suicide? Also still curious why LE singled him immediately....Lots of details not released I guess.

http://www.katu.com/news/local/Depu...e-in-attemtp-to-blow-up-family-148935495.html

He also was a volunteer for LifeWorks NW, serving on its marketing committee from 2009 to 2010. That organization provides treatment and counseling for people with drug addictions and mental health issues.

According to the University of Oregon, he attended the school in the 1990s and again in the spring of 2011 and winter of 2012, majoring in social sciences. But there is no record he ever earned a degree.

A records search revealed Speidel was arrested for DUII in 2007 and pleaded “no contest.” He was sentenced to a diversion program. In 1998 he was convicted of speeding in Clackamas County.

oh_gal said:

Let me guess....there's another woman involved in this somehow. Either someone he's actively involved with, or someone he's fantasizing about being with, and saw this as a means to that end.

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Either that or there is a nice life insurance policy out there somewhere. Or both motives.

four children

I'll never understand it

October 2012:

http://www.kptv.com/story/19908145/...o-blow-up-home-kill-family-is-going-to-prison

James Speidel was sentenced to 20 years behind bars after pleading guilty to attempted aggravated murder Wednesday.

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