Domestic violence produces big ripples

The poison of domestic violence not only hurts the intended victim but also spawns a pernicious ripple effect that fans out to harm other people — including, sometimes, even the perpetrator.

The Utah Domestic Violence Council this week released its annual report titled "Utah Domestic Violence Related Deaths" and found that 22 people died in such incidences in 2008.

The report not only includes women and children who were slain, but also lists some men whose encounters with police began with domestic violence situations and ended up with the perpetrators either being killed by police when the men would not cooperate with law enforcement officials, or committing suicide.

The report includes two cases of women killing men.

However, the majority of deaths involved men killing women.

One particularly tragic episode took place in May in South Salt Lake when Peter Perez, 34, killed his live-in girlfriend, Tracie Williamson, 28; Linzie Williamson, 10, her daughter from another relationship; and Jessica Perez, age 1, the daughter of Perez and Williamson.

Peter Perez then turned a gun on himself, leaving a suicide note behind.

Tracie Williamson's family had long feared for her safety in the relationship, especially when her father found a letter in which she described in detail the physical abuse and threats by Perez to kill her, kill her mother and chop their baby "into little pieces" if Williamson ever told anyone what was happening.

The family summoned police after they had not seen Williamson for several days and when officers forced a window open, they discovered a foul odor and then came upon the four dead bodies.

Tracie Williamson and her daughters had been shot multiple times and police believe that Perez died from a single, self-inflicted bullet wound to the head.

Some people might consider it a little unusual to include men who were part of a domestic violence episode and who were shot to death by police or who killed themselves on such a list.

But officials for the Utah Domestic Violence Council want to show that domestic violence has terrible ramifications for everyone connected with it.

"We're including all of the people who have in some way been impacted by domestic violence in their lives," said Judy Kasten Bell, the council's executive director.