You know, Reen, before you mentioned the other children, I hadn't considered what they might have seen. Two were at home and one at school. That tells me the younger ones must be infants or toddlers.
He stabbed and slashed the disabled sister "at least 20 times". She was treated and released, though, which leads me to believe that her wounds were not extremely serious (relatively speaking). There are conflicting reports on how serious her wounds are, though.
http://www.icrawl.org/44034264932-damian-castro-4-months-las-vegas-nv
(A reasonably good sequence)
Surely any children present must have heard the sister's cries (if she speaks). Having CP, it's a possibility that she might not.
But if Montague was racing around the house like a madman wouldn't children be watching? If their aunt was moaning wouldn't they notice? Possibly they had run to hide or were locked in a room or out back. We can hope.
I'm still stuck on the wife, Errica (not sure of the actual spelling). I'm afraid she's not stable either. I've read detailed reports of comments she's made which totally contradict each other. Of course, I realize she was in shock but I'm hopeful that she will be closely looked at. The man was reported by neighbors to look "crazy", supposedly had a diagnosis, was smoking pot, pacing, and not eating. Why on God's green earth would you leave your children and disabled sister in the care of someone like this. There are emergency free or low cost mental health services in Las Vegas (I checked).
http://www.refugees.bratfree.com/read.php?2,127719,127719,quote=1
Errica's comments about Harold:
"I’ve known Harold since he was in kindergarten. We grew up in Texas and we've been together for 18 years.”
32-year-old
Errica Montague describes her husband Harold as a loving father and wonderful caregiver to her disabled sister Monica.
“He's been a wonderful provider for my sister and a wonderful provider for my kids. Their dad was everything to them and everything to me. I lost my best friend.”
and referring to the attack:
"
That’s just something I never thought my husband would go through."
and then these comments:
Errica believes Harold was having some sort of “mental episode” and must have just snapped. She says there is a history of mental illness in his family and that Harold had been diagnosed as a sociopath as a child.
"When he was in junior high his mother put him in a boy's camp in Texas. At about 11, 12, and 13, he attended there and they diagnosed him."
This past week Errica says she noticed a change in Harold’s behavior.
“He wasn't sleeping, he didn't eat. He was just worried pacing the floor, thinking, thinking, thinking…” The day before the murder Errica asked Harold if he felt he needed any kind of help; Harold said no. "He got a little rest, woke up. I saw him that evening and he said he didn't really remember anything. Just… was a different mind.”
Errica now describes her husband as a “
ticking time bomb” that finally went off.
Errica has said that she's known Harold since they were teens. I wonder if she's also been treated for mental illness and that's how she met him. This family needed some serious intervention, IMO, and it is beyond me how they stayed under the radar of DHS and LE.
