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The wife of the man who police say beat a pastor to death in a Texas church said Tuesday that her husband was mentally ill.
Police say Derrick Birdow, 33, killed Danny Kirk Sr. Monday after ramming into Greater Sweethome Missionary Baptist Church in Forest Hill with his car.
Birdow died after police used a stun gun to subdue him.
"I am torn, because not only did I lose my pastor, I lost my husband," said Shanellia Harris Birdow, his widow.
Harris Birdow, an active member of Greater Sweethome Missionary Baptist Church, said her husband did not know Kirk, although he had attended church there in the past.
Police: Texas pastor killed, suspect dies after being subdued by stun gun
She said that her husband, who had a lengthy criminal record, was mentally ill and had sought treatment last week at a Fort Worth hospital.
"He was sick," she said. "He was really sick. Even these last couple days, he was trying to get help, but he didn't get it."
She attended a vigil for Kirk on Tuesday night, unsure of how the congregation would react.
"I wanted them to know I didn't have anything to do with it," she said. "I don't know the reasons. I don't have answers to the questions that they have."
Candlelight vigil
Church members and Kirk's family remembered the pastor at the candlelight vigil.
"Daddy, I am not going to do you wrong," said Danny Kirk Jr., the pastor's only son. "I am not going to bring shame to your name. You named me Danny Kirk Jr. for a reason."
He assured the congregation that he would take care of his mother and the church in his father's absence.
Danny Kirk Sr. had a daughter, Danielle, who died when she was just 3 years old. Church members say the family was still struggling with her death. His son said he takes great comfort in knowing his father and sister will now be together.
Forest Hill police say Birdow rammed his car into the front of the church on Monday afternoon before going inside and beating Kirk, the church founder, to death. A janitor trying to stop the assault was also injured, police said.
Barbara Moore, the church secretary, witnessed the attack and called 911. She told NBC 5 that she locked herself in her office while the men were fighting.
Read more stories on NBCDFW.com
"I saw them tussling in the truck, and he was trying to subdue him and he couldn't," she said. "I ran and called 911."
Police said Birdow was still attacking Kirk and the janitor when officers arrived. Officers used a stun gun to restrain him, arrested him and placed him in a police car.
Officers found him unresponsive about 10 minutes later, police said.
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There is no adequate mental health care system in this country. Those "at-risk" cases that doctors see--for however many minutes the patient is there in their office--have to be openly suicidal, delusional, or highly physically or verbally confrontational and thus potentially homicidal, in order to get anything resembling adequate treatment.
And by the way, at what point do we "put someone away"? When do we determine that a person is technically insane and should be restrained and have their Constitutional rights taken away from them? The right to bear arms, the right to free speech, the right to vote... confinement in a mental institution can deprive an American citizen of all of those. And someone who does not judge themselves to be that ill, or whose family doesn't judge them to be that ill, can get a lawyer and fight such a decision. Courts aren't going to argue too strongly, because the last thing the state wants is an unnecessary confinement eating up taxpayer money.
The simple solution is to give patients medication, line them up with some psychiatrist/psychologist visits (which they might or might not go to) and then send them home. It's a slippery slope deciding when to take a person out of societal circulation.
Where O Where is Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton?? A black man was tasered to death by the Pole-Ice and needs proper representation.
It goes without saying, he was one crazy lunatic.
Hey I was once a crazy lunatic albeit I never drove my car into a building and beat someone. I was the more trapped inside my own home, self mutilating, paranoid kinda crazy. But I honestly believe that her husband my have been seeking help and not getting receiving what he needed. It took me over a year to find some help in our mental health system. I don't know what would have happened had I not received treatment because at that point my paranoia was completely getting out of hand. Even when I tried the mental health centers they informed me that I could not receive help until I paid 400 dollars and as someone who was afraid to go outside or drive I was living off of what little savings I had and could not afford that. I guess the whole point of my story is that the mental health is even more broken and unavailable to those who need it then the rest of our broken health care system.
You are all going to “pay” one way or another. Mental Health Care funding is always the first thing that gets cut. People fail to see that when people need mental health care and do not receive the care and assistance they need, they almost always end up in jail. They jails and prisons are full of people that need or needed mental health care and never got it. In 1980 the way mental health care changed drastically and not necessarily for the better. Funding continues to fall by the way side for mental health care and the jails just get fuller and fuller. Then the people get out of jail and the cycle starts all over again. With proper mental health care these people could be viable, productive citizens. People need to decide; do you want to pay for jail time or mental health services??? Mental health services are way cheaper than jail time. But everyone picks jail time and the vicious cycle. Why is that???
Actually, I see more people here advocating prison and death penalty over mental health services. I don't know who is sicker, the "criminals" needing mental health treatment or the people wanting to put them to death like rabid dogs. Violence begets violence.
That assumes that all insanity is curable. Do you believe that? How do you rehabilitate someone who may never have been habilitated in the first place?
False dilemma. Many people believe we pay too much for both.
Not if they are government mandated in order to insure we are all mentally healthy, by whomeever's definition.
gm Bill
The criminal justice system is designed to punish. The Diversion concepts, i.e. mental health is thought to be a viable alternative but is on a "selective" process. The mental health plan suggested by Kim assumes (and we all know what that spells out to) this person is not evil and cunning enough to desire that diversion. However, I have found through studies and actual confrontations, there is no cure for evil, no matter how much a sociopath wants to to believe they "can change".
I know our prisons - used for more than 1 year sentencing are full, however, if the death penalty would be carried out in a timely manner after conviction and sentencing, there would always be room for one more! The Death Penalty is used as both a specific deterrent (meaning that person executed will never commit another crime), whereas general deterrence lets the population see what happens when that type of crime warrants that type of punishment!
Sorry but i am too broke to pay for either.....but here's an idea.... how about i chip in some bullet's.. they would instantly "cure" repeat offenders and be even cheaper then the other two....win-win.
GM bill, jack
gm Tramp,
I've always been more fond of self-medication. That is to say, I prefer the bottle in front of me to the frontal lobotomy.
thanks to the former i feel as though i had the latter today.
I have worked in hospitals and nursing homes and a locked teen facility and had friends go to mental health, and one thing I can say is that they are all so drug oriented that they have forgotten about nutrition, testing for toxins, mineral imbalances (schizophrenics are often too high is copper and too low in zinc- zinc is used up quickly) some of these imbalances come from frequent fasting and weightloss attempts, too much soda, to too low protein and nutrient dense foods. Another thing the media do not like to talk about is how important cholesterol is for the brain cells, they are 60% cholesterol, and everyone shying away from cholesterol (replacing it with polyunsaturates- that cause cancer and don't do the brain any good) has not helped in this situation. Other things, sugar, fructose, splenda, aspartame, MSG, all are detrimental to the overall health. Thyroid dysfunction can make one all sorts of sick. Look up stopthethyroidmadness dot com, a lot of good self help there. Mercola dot com has great archives with a lot of self help also. The things you need a doctor for, blood and hair testing. see what you are toxic in. A year ago my hair was off the charts in antimony- online research helped me find that antimony is the breakdown metal of plastic disposable water bottles and clear plastic that juices and sodas come in. It is called PET plastic.
IA ScooterTramp--"Thanks to the former, I feel like I had the latter today" -- Hahahahaha--I gotta show that to my hubby because my hubby's boss has a sign on his desk that says what denver bill 2 said in #2.5!!! Thanks for that one!!!
The unfortunate fact of the matter is that the mental health care system in this country is no cure for disobedience.
Disobedience aside, there is also the struggle trying to get people to acknowledge they even have an issue to begin with. Studies, research and statistic show that this is particularly true for males as they age. Even after they realize the need, there are problems seeking help. Although women tend to seek help earlier once acknowledged then men. In a patriarchal society which still puts so much pressure on being the one responsible to provide for the needs of the family as head, being strong and not showing any weakness. When both groups got help early progress was better however. How sad this man didn't get what he needed long ago.
There is a heavy stigma across several areas which mental health carries. First, that it is a character flaw. Next that somehow a person has brought this upon themselves. Third, if they would just pull themselves together, buckled down like any decent man or woman, apply some will power it would go away. Last, if they really care about others and how their problems affected those lives, there wouldn't be any problems to begin with.These folks are just being selfish and want attention.
We surely are an understanding, compassionate and empathetic society in the 2012 right? We can complain all we want about the lack of funding and support for people in need because of political leanings or groups. But how many of us can really appreciate the struggles mentally ill people and their loved ones live with?.Just look at some of the words we throw around and use to describe folks who struggle with a chemical imbalance in their brains. Especially after an incident and people want them punished. Crazy, psycho, loony, wacko, nutty or nut job, cracked, batty,freak, raving, off one's rocker, daft, idiotic, rabid, out to lunch, fruity, bonkers, bats in the belfry, moonstruck, unhinged, unglued, fruitcake and the list goes on. Then they want such folks to suffer the absolute most awful deaths, without mercy. Because they brought such things upon themselves, right?
It is interesting to note how many times mental illness runs in families, and also how many times it first shows up in teenagers, just as the brain is going through it second most largest bursts of change. The first being just after birth. Both when the brain is being flooded with chemicals for growth.
The mind has the capacity to do great and marvelous things when it is working right, but also terrible things, when it isn't. Then again, people have also done that when they were thinking right.
That is a fact, but also irrelevant (except peripherally) to mental illness. If you want to cure disobedience instead of mental illness, you can (1) spend more money to enforce the rules, or (2) reduce the number of rules.
Of course it's not a cure for disobedience, since 'disobedience' has NOTHING to do with mental illness to begin with! If you REALLY want to know what mental illness is all about, particularly those illnesses that exhibit psychosis and delusions, watch the Academy Award winner "A Beautiful Mind". Then get back to me for comments--you can just click on my Name/ID and go to my Newsvine page (we all have one!) BTW, the movie "A Beautiful Mind" is based on a TRUE story!
A Beautiful Mind shows an exceptional man who is able to overcome what nearly everyone else who is confronted with the illness is unable to do. I have no idea why you would use that movie as an example of what mental illness is like, except to maybe show how realistic and believable the hallucinations can be (though not necessarily how dangerous or violent they can be). The fact that the main character is able to overcome his illness by no means proves that everyone is able to do this. In fact, the movie also shows how dangerous a person can be when they hallucinate and believe what they see or hear. I have seen someone hallucinate before and she thought the Devil was after her. I am just glad that she didn't think that I or anyone that I love was the Devil, in which case she could have been very violent, thinking she was protecting herself.
People need to understand that there is a difference between someone who is a sociopath (and a danger to society because they are unfeeling toward others) and someone who suffers from Schizophrenia or similar mental illnesses, which can be controlled with medication and therapy.
You brought up some good points, Lovely-2035151. The main reason that I mention the movie is because while throughout the movie, most of the audience recognizes the obvious delusions/hallucinations. But there is a more subtle (to the audience) delusion/hallucination that is not recognized by most in the audience until very well into the movie--almost to the end of the movie. It can bring home to the watcher of the movie how insidious and believable those delusions and hallucinations can be--because the audience is swept up in the illness as well. I agree that the movie shows an exceptional man and I further support your statement that "nearly everyone else who is confronted with the illness is unable to do" what the protagonist in the movie does. But with help and medication, it IS possible to become stabilized and be a productive member of society. We have MUCH BETTER medications today than there were available in the time frame that the movie portrays. I worked at a mental health intensive outpatient treatment center for 5 years and employed some techniques that helped clients to recognize when they were experiencing delusions and/or hallucinations.
I agree wholeheartedly that there is a difference between a sociopath and someone who is suffering from schizophrenia! (or one of the other Axis I diagnoses that involve psychosis) Yes, sociopaths are totally unfeeling towards others!
I hope that the person you witnessed having hallucinations was able to get help and become stabilized, and I am really glad that she did not hurt you or your loved ones. Those kinds of situations can be nerve-wracking, even for trained professionals like me - and I am on the low end of 'trained professional' - A BA in Social Science with almost a BA in Psychology, and on-the-job-training. But I worked with Masters level REALLY GOOD mental health professionals and a REALLY good psychiatrist and they taught me A LOT--which I am really grateful for!
Thank you for your comments. Hopefully people reading our comments will gain a better understanding from both of us....:)
It's not true. I've seen so many people develop temporary problems as a result of sexual recklessness that once abandoned went away.
And quite a few of those were sexual abuse victims. You can expect nearly any sexual abuse victims to develop temporary problems as they generally tend to not understand the relationship between obedience in the form of chastity and our thought processes and emotions being affected by that unless they have parents who take them to a church where they develop friends who have high sexual standards.
One of my friends lives directly resembles Wynona Ryder's character in Girl Interrupted. She was indulgent and she developed a temporary mood disorder. And guess what someone taught her an inappropriate sexual standard. Of course having one night stands was normal to her. She was raised secularly, she was raised in America where our cultural entertainment encourages promiscuity (and it also if you look closely at movies like Girl Interrupted contains some warnings as well). Unfortunately people in their teens generally tend to not see the warnings in our movies and songs. A lot of the stuff that encourages responsible sexual conduct is boring.
So many of the women in the porn industry are guess what, sexual abuse victims.
goldfish are you saying that my ocd, agrophobia, and panic disorder are related to sex. Because I got news for you I have not had sex in about 15 years. So I don't really see your point.
15 years. Curious. 6 is opposition to divine will. 6 Spires on the Mormon Temple is Salt Lake City. 6 Pillars of faith in Islam.
1 and 5 = 6
I'm guessing your sexual deprivation is probably in opposition to divine will. Sex is not bad. But I would suggest confining to committed relationships or marriage.
It's whoring and one-night stands I think relate to disorders.
It's not the root cause of all disorders. I never said that.
You can be responsible sexually and have sex outside of marriage. As long as you are not whoring.
Major difference between whoring and having sex with someone you are not married to that you are in a long term relationship with. I think it is failure to recognize that which has led to the problems I have seen in secularly raised friends lives versus those raised in households of faith who have not dealt with that.
Obviously it is not the cause of your problems. There is also a major difference between OCD, agrophobia and the misery and despair I have seen people in from whoring.
Don't get me wrong I am not advocating Mormon sexual standards. I've made out with them and they have you on your knees asking for God's forgiveness for necking and petting.
It's ridiculous when you consider Joseph Smith was running around manipulating 14 year old girls into marriage by misusing his ecclesiastical authority by promising to exalt their entire families into heaven in exchange for marriage, not obedience to divine laws.
I'm also not advocating the life that porn stars live either, versus having relationships with people you are in a relationship with for some time. It's the previous lifestyle I have seen people deal with mood disorders in relation to that behavior that once abandoned in favor of marriage their disorders up and vanished into thin air.
Goldfish--the kind of mood disorder that your friend had was not the kind of disorders that cause the kind of psychosis that the suspect had. Of course, people can develop mood disorders from the stress caused by situations they are in--some self caused, some situation caused. And some severe situations, such as PTSD can indeed cause psychosis in some people that a person would need professional help for. Some of our returning veterans have seen horrific things and have varying degrees of PTSD. When people (like your 'Girl Interrupted' friend) learn better coping skills for the personal issues they are able to identify, their lives get better and the anxiety and anger based symptoms they have resolve. The various 12 step programs that have evolved are examples of this. But that is very different from the type of mental health issues we see in the news article.
She wasn't psychotic. Neither was the character that Wynona Ryder played in Girl Interrupted. Major difference between a mood disorder and psychosis.
Hallucinating and not feeling good are two different animals altogether.
I had a male friend as well who went through that phase, and wouldn't you know that when he opted for a stable relationship and then marriage he needed no medication. Owns and operates his own business, stable relationship with his wife.
So, the idea that there is not a direct relationship between our moods and our sexual conduct is absurd. If it were not the case then all the women you see that ended their own lives on the Pink Cross website would not be dead, any more than my friends who opted for stable long term relationships versus short term whoring would as if by some miracle be healed from their disorders.
You know there are other things to consider other than moods. Outside of stable long term relationships there are diseases that are life threatening or not. Which can be curable or not.
Moods aren't the only factor associated with whoring.
Back to my hypothesis. If you see the correlation between Wynona Ryder's character in Girl Interrupted and the manager of the program telling her that she was "indulgent" and production of an American pornographic movie called "Girls Interrupted". If Wynona's character abandoned her indulgence and the rest of her fellow companions in the movie were there in the program because of indulgence that maybe unlike her character were behaviors which were not abandoned then maybe my hypothesis about this kid buying this firearm was more than just a hypothesis.
Maybe I hit the nail right on the head.
Lets look at this from another perspective. The oil spill in the Gulf last year that was nicknamed "The Beast" It was caused by failure to follow procedure as dictated by regulations which were on paper.
I know that whoring causes errors in judgement. Do think the guys that caused the spilled nicknamed "The Beast" had something in common with the kid who bought this firearm?
It's a hypothesis. Probably hard to swallow if you don't believe in demons or believe that whoring deprives people of spiritual protection that results in other spirits clouding a persons judgement.
Goldfish--there is no 'kid who bought this firearm' in the news article we are all commenting about. The man who killed the pastor of the church beat him to death with a guitar. What are you referring to when you talk of a kid with a firearm?
Yeah it was on another thread. Forgot between switching pages. But sort of related in that I trace many acts of violence to the same root cause as I do acts of extreme incompetence like the beast oil spill.
"The unfortunate fact of the matter is that the mental health care system in this country is no cure for disobedience."
Has to be one of the stupidest statements I've seen in awhile. Mr./Ms. Goldfish, do you contend that being mentally ill is to be equated with being willfully, and intentionally disobedient? Your a moron. They are SICK. This isn't about some misbehaving children, this is about mentally ill people...you talk about disobedience as if they had a choice.... This is the issue that mental health funding faces..totally illogical thinking. You don't seem to understand the issue, as represented by your totally thoughtless statement. But, then, thats the problem, we have children dressing up like adults and voting....In other words, your statement, being as asinine as it is, shows a huge gap in knowledge. My suggestion is, if you can't add something intelligent to the conversation, is to sit down, shut up, and listen, perhaps, you'll learn something, instead of the close minded, non-thinking your doing. It is people like you, that give Americans a bad name. Now, go back to your room, sit down and shut the hell up..the grown ups are talking..
Goldfish is one of those who continue to perpetuate the stigmatization against those with mental health issues
I smell lawsuit!!! The perp's widow is lining herself up for a few bucks from either the hospital she claims did not give her dearly departed any help or the police who used unreasonable force to subdue him. But, what the hell, it's a good morning coffee story.
It seems to me that she just hopes she isn't judged... like you are doing.
nothing like a good ole death beat'n...to start the day...and maxwell house in your cup...
Quite right, bob. Cops musta beat him 'til the black come off.
But what hellbroth of drugs was the deceased on? "Really sick"? Really flying, I'd guess!
You clearly have not read the article Nungman. Any chance you can to make a racist joke eh? P.S. Hellbroth sounds delicious. Please post the recipe.
Plain Bob-Yep, Merika in the Mourning.
Hellbroth recipe: 6 'hits' rock cocaine, 2 marijuana cigarettes, Night Train or similar fortified wine to taste.
Did I miss something in the article, like "tox screen negative"?
The above phrase was coined by a black novelist ( and ex-con): Chester Himes.
jonqpublic: You have just done exactly what you accuse Goldfish of doing. You have chastised someone for not knowing/understanding a problem. See how easy is is to judge and misunderstand a persons words and/or actions?
And you have followed suit, albeit in a passive-aggressive manner. I shudder to think that the immense problems associated with mental illness could be reduced to "disobedience."
If it were not so easy to judge, Newsvine would be empty. But not all judgement includes misunderstanding.
Current mental health care is a hodge-podge of legal and financial landmines for the ill patient, the doctors and even the judicial system which even with endless funding will continue to impede delivering needed care. Doctors see patients whom healthcare providers believe ion to be admitted but the patient refuses. Short of going through a volatile involuntary commitment process the healthcare profession's hands are tied as the family, the individual or an ambulance chasing barrister can create financial and punitive mayhem for healthcare providers. Until a construct is in place to reliably protect the patient, the healthcare providers and even the judicial system the problem of mental healthcare delivery where and when needed will be nearly impossible to realize even if the mental health services are flush with funding.
Hospitals began closing in the 1950s when 'deinstitutionalization' began and continued throughout the 1960s and 1970s with an emphasis on a new "community model" of mental health care. At the same time, there has been an exponential rise in prison beds and today, what few state mental hospitals are left, the majority of beds are saved for prisoners too unwell to be in the prison population.
Added to that is the 1975 Supreme Court decision in O'Connor v. Donaldson that created the "imminent danger to self or others" nonsense that turns sick people out on the street every day. While I understand that people who are mentally ill have civil rights just like the rest of us, I also know through experience that while a person is in the throes of a psychotic episode, they are not the appropriate person to be in charge of their own mental health care decisions. I had to fight a hospital just this past summer to keep a loved one as an inpatient... and after all the fuss I made, they let him out after only 17 days with a $700 prescription in hand. He was still psychotic, of course, but faked it well enough that they believed keeping him there would do "more harm" than sending him home with me... and I was the only person who could be there to take care of him. This hospitalization occurred after an approximate 3-week period where he attempted to get an appointment for an office visit with a psychiatrist -- any psychiatrist -- and nobody was taking new patients. I think that there are, quite simply, not a lot of people who want to treat patients with psychotic illness and the ones who do don't advertise.
I am still angry at the experience. Not necessarily at the hospital, because there was really nothing they could do. I'm just angry about all of it. I'm flabbergasted that a 30-day supply of a pill --- any pill --- could cost $700. I am angry at groups like the ACLU and NAMI (who undoubtedly do so much good in other areas) fight tooth-and-nail to uphold the "imminent danger" laws, even though anyone who has spent any time around a person with a paranoid psychotic illness knows that paranoids aren't exactly forthcoming with their delusions... and when they are psychotic and having delusions, the delusions are horrifying and, yes, dangerous. I'm angry that more money is spent on jails than education... and that we use jails to house the mentally ill. And I'm angry that sick people are not able to get treatment and that sometimes, those sick people hurt or kill themselves or others.
We need a serious overhaul of so many things in this country. I recently read a report by a commission of mental health doctors and law enforcement officers that stated that our current mental health system has disintegrated to the point that it is as bad as it was in the 1840s. This is a tragedy all around, but it is preventable. Health care is a human right. In 2012, in the richest country on the earth, we should take better care of our people than this.
And absolutely none of the problems with the mental healthcare system are covered by the new mandatory healthcare law.
Here's what happens when someone is ill here locally and they get agitated when they go to the doctor and ask to see someone. They tell them to leave, make an appointment, or that they didn't qualify for assitance and they give them a referral to a psychiatrist which may take over 3 months just to get an initial appointment. Psychiatry does not offer psychological services. They have to wait long periods of time even to get that. If you do qualify for assitance and you wait then Medicaid only covers three prescriptions, and alot of these people have to chose between regular medication and maybe psychiatric meds. They also have a huge tendency to want to take people off of, or reduce their medications "because they're stable".
In the meantime, families who may realize they need help don't know how to ask if they know their family member is a danger to others. You don't call the police department. Got a verification on this the other day asking about a potential different law. You call the Sherriffs department, they have the mental health officers, but first they have to have a mental health warrant. If you don't know how to get one they will help you by telling you where to go and what to do.
Even the people who are within the current system of mental healthcare have an exceptionally hard time getting help. And to boot, the Hippa law makes it almost impossible to advocate for a family member whom may be in the hospital because the patient has to consent to letting you talk to them, or for them to talk to you. The vast majority of the time when they do get into the hospital there is no mental health history available so they give them treatments based on what they have which may in the long run make them even sicker and more unstable once they leave the hospital. Thus begins the cycle of in the hospital, out of the hospital, in the hospital, out of the hospital, etc...
Then there's the issue of where do they go when they leave the hospital because all of the nursing care/ group home facilites are over crowded.
And yes, all people are entitled to a system of due process even in mental health care. This is so that families aren't putting people in the hospital simply because they don't like what they have to say alot of times.
All of what I just said is the small stuff they deal with on a daily basis.
I remember Ronald Reagan closing many mental institutions in the 1980s. Republicans want to live in their ivory towers and let the rest of us deal with the consequences of their bad welfare decisions. I could not even tell you where there is a mental health facility in my area.
Crazy people! They're everywhere! There are several in my neighborhood. I can tell, because they look crazy. We need a crazy people registry, so you can find out if there is one near you. If there isn't, then you must be the crazy. They should tattoo "Danger! Danger! I am a crazy person! Run away!" on all crazy people on their forehead. That's cheaper than mental health care, for sure. I'm sure that health insurers would agree, as would most state and local governments. We could even have Crazy People Roundups, using the crazy people registry, and put them on stake-bed trucks and take them to a football stadium, where all of us non-crazy people could hoot at them and make fun of them for three or four hours on a Sunday. Maybe even throw water balloons at them, too. That would be better than watching football. I think I should patent my ideas, because even if they are crazy, they fit right in with this society's view of crazy people.
from one crazy person to another thats a crazy idea....i like it............
Most of you are assuming that the widow is telling the truth. We all know what assuming does! Lets wait until the autopsy and the toxicology test are complete. Remember, he has a long criminal record. The widow is laying the groundwork for a law suit against the police department.
I think you're on to something, Butch. I'll bet Shanellia Harris Birdow was f**king Danny Kirk Sr. When Derrick Birdow found out he flew into a jealous rage and beat Kirk Sr. to death.
Butch, a good point about seeing what the toxicology report says. It is also easy enough for the investigators to check hospital records, and any paperwork Mrs. Birdow has. But also remember that word 'assume'. It appears to me that you are assuming an 'either/or' situation. Did you know that there is a subset of mentally ill people who attempt to 'self medicate' with street drugs and/or alcohol? Just see Denver Bill 2 comment # 2.5 to see what I mean. So you see, it can be a 'both' situation. And both you and travis-3646355 are ASSUMING things about the widow. BTW, if you want a better understanding of what mental illness is like, watch the movie "A Beautiful Mind" - it's based on a true story.
Dual diagnoses. Someone goes in for substance abuse issues and then they discover they are mental ill and they were self medicating. More and more substance abusers are diagnosed with a mental illness and once they received treatment and meds, they no longer needed to self medicate because of the treatment they received.
Birdow had a LENGTHY criminal record. This was just his next crime, with deadly consequences. One could argue that all criminals are mentally ill to some extent. Birdow should have been in prison, then the pastor would have lived.
Whoa! I think YOU,Mymomdidnotraiseafool, are just crazy enough to do that too. Make sure YOU register yourself!
I'd like to know who is passing out the pills in our society that makes people think that the resolution to problems is killing someone? If you kill yourself, that would be sad, but when you kill an innocent man, that is unacceptable... This should make judges think twice before handing out hand-slapping sentences to repeat criminals...
His Obamaphone ran out of minutes and sparked off his rampage.
It is getting so that being a pastor of a church should come with hazard pay.
at least as a sky pilot he wont need anyone to "show him the way"..... it is after all what he supposedly does.
GM scremin
There is certainly more to this story than is currently public knowledge. Sure our entire social, medical, political, judicial, economic and every other system in this country is in total disarray, but there is simply no excuse for killing someone for no "apparent" reason. I doubt that the "whole" truth will ever be known, but that truth cannot be shielded from the eyes of God, and those who know it or knew it will be held accountable. When will the blame game end, and justice begin? When God sends His Son Jesus Christ back to this evil and sinful world, and everyone is given their "day in court" as promised, and each one of us will receive our just reward on Judgment Day. On that day, every individual who lives or has lived will know the Truth.
Even seen Take Shelter ? It's by far one of the most responsible explanations of what you are referring to in reference to Judgment Day.
sounds more like a B.S. cop out to me. more then likely the "treatment" he sought was for drug addiction. otherwise what was the "lengthy" record for ?.......parking tickets perhaps?........
Baptist eh? brings to mind....
There are three religious truths:
That's awesome
Hahahahaha--I had to laugh at that one!! And I am a Christian--but it IS funny!!
He's really dead now.
Maybe he found out his wife and the pastor had something goin on - would not surprise me in the least.
Then she can cover that up by saying her husband was simply crazy.
Bet she and the pastor were having some private "Bible study" time. Hubby went into a fit of rage and offed the preacher man.
Can't watch video at work, but this statement quoted in the article got me thinking: "I am torn, because not only did I lose my pastor, I lost my husband,"
She put her loss of her pastor before her husband. Makes you think.
His Obamaphone ran out of minutes and sparked off his rampage.
Collapse it again, losers. Get a life clowns!