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American Morning
Danger Signs Missed?
Aired June 11, 2003 - 09:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The family of a murdered woman wants the city of Tacoma, Washington to pay for failing to prevent her death. In April, Crystal Brame was shot by her husband, David, with the couple's two children nearby, and then he took his own life. The twist here, David Brame was the chief of police in Tacoma. Now Crystal's family has filed a claim, saying officials failed to respond to evidence that Brame was -- quote -- a troubled and violent individual.
Joining us from Seattle this morning, Crystal Brame's parents, Lane and Patty Judson, along with their attorney, Paul Luvera.
Thank you for joining us.
Before we even get to the discussion, let me please offer our condolences on the tragic loss of your daughter.
I want to get to her -- the circumstances around her death, to you Mr. and Mrs. Judson. It appears that her murder was the end of a long struggle to try to get out of this very difficult and violent marriage. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?
PATTY JUDSON, CRYSTAL BRAME'S MOTHER: Yes. She did suffer a lot of mental abuse. But probably the last -- I'd say the last nine years, she'd gone through so many abuses, abusive situations, and didn't -- tried not to bring it out in the open, because of his job and his position with the city.
KAGAN: But, Mr. Judson, but she was trying to get out. She had filed for divorce, is that correct?
P. JUDSON: Yes, she did. Yes.
KAGAN: All right, Mr. Luvera, let me go ahead and bring you in. Obviously the circumstances around her death tragic, the loss is awful. But how does it turn out that you believe the city of Tacoma should pay for this?
PAUL LUVERA, JUDSON'S ATTORNEY: Because the city had a long series of clear warning signs, that this was a man who should never have been given a badge and a gun, let alone made the chief of police of the city of Tacoma, with the enormous power and authority that that carries with it.
KAGAN: In the little bit of time we have here, can you spell out some of the steps that Crystal Brame was trying to take in order to get help from the city and get protection from her husband? LUVERA: I think Lane would be in a better position to describe that than I would.
KAGAN: Lane, can you help us with that, please?
LANE JUDSON, CRYSTAL BLAME'S FATHER: Well, my daughter had called 911 as far back at 1996 to report incidents of domestic violence, and it just continued to kind of escalate from there. And as early as when she first filed for divorce, we know that there were people in the police department and others in the city of Tacoma that knew about the divorce proceedings. The proceedings were filed in a different county by my daughter to try and keep it very low key, so that he wouldn't be embarrassed, and -- but we know that they knew about it. He had made death threats to her with his service revolver. He'd also choked her, and so we know that they -- they -- officials in the city knew he was a troubled man, and that a lot of the things that came out, came out after my daughter's death. And that was that he failed a psychological exam in 1981 once, and took the test again and probably marginally passed it. He'd also had an allegation of a date rape back in probably about 1988. We didn't know these things until after my daughter's death. It really came out because of the news media. They started digging and finding out.
KAGAN: There's a long and troubled history there. We want to mention to the viewers we did invite the city of Tacoma and they chose to give us a statement. We'd like to put that statement up on the screen. They say simply, "We have reserved the claim and are reviewing it. The mayor and city council will now be hiring outside counsel."
So you're asking for $75 million. How do you put a price tag on your daughter's life?
LUVERA: Well, I don't -- let me answer that. Because actually, that's more in my area, and the answer to that is that this is an enormous tragedy, and we want to signal that we are going to seek the truth. We're going to find out what the facts are, and we're going to hold the people responsible, accountable, and that number reflects our determination to get to the truth, because now we have cover-up, hiding and lying. And we want to get the truth.
KAGAN: Part of the incredible tragedy here is, obviously, the involvement of your grandchildren, the two children who were standing by during the time of the shooting. With respecting their privacy, I'd like to have how they're doing today.
P. JUDSON: They're doing as well it's a can be expected. We have some moments, a lot of questions. They 5-year-old doesn't ask as many as the 8-year-old does. She reads the newspapers. We don't hide anything from her. And she mainly talks about her mom and how she misses her mother, and why did her dad do such a terrible thing. She is -- it's very hard. When we go to the grave site, she lays down on the grave, and she really sobs, because she misses her mom so much.
KAGAN: It is difficult.
P. JUDSON: It's very difficult.
KAGAN: I can only imagine. Is just so, so sad for those children and for you as parents who lost your daughter.
Thank you for coming on and talking with us, not just about the lawsuit, but as you said, you're learning quite a bit about the situation your daughter was in after her death and helping to raise awareness about the problem with domestic violence and even how it those so close to the situation sometimes don't even realize exactly what is taking place.
Thank you all, we appreciate your time today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 11, 2003 - 09:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The family of a murdered woman wants the city of Tacoma, Washington to pay for failing to prevent her death. In April, Crystal Brame was shot by her husband, David, with the couple's two children nearby, and then he took his own life. The twist here, David Brame was the chief of police in Tacoma. Now Crystal's family has filed a claim, saying officials failed to respond to evidence that Brame was -- quote -- a troubled and violent individual.
Joining us from Seattle this morning, Crystal Brame's parents, Lane and Patty Judson, along with their attorney, Paul Luvera.
Thank you for joining us.
Before we even get to the discussion, let me please offer our condolences on the tragic loss of your daughter.
I want to get to her -- the circumstances around her death, to you Mr. and Mrs. Judson. It appears that her murder was the end of a long struggle to try to get out of this very difficult and violent marriage. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?
PATTY JUDSON, CRYSTAL BRAME'S MOTHER: Yes. She did suffer a lot of mental abuse. But probably the last -- I'd say the last nine years, she'd gone through so many abuses, abusive situations, and didn't -- tried not to bring it out in the open, because of his job and his position with the city.
KAGAN: But, Mr. Judson, but she was trying to get out. She had filed for divorce, is that correct?
P. JUDSON: Yes, she did. Yes.
KAGAN: All right, Mr. Luvera, let me go ahead and bring you in. Obviously the circumstances around her death tragic, the loss is awful. But how does it turn out that you believe the city of Tacoma should pay for this?
PAUL LUVERA, JUDSON'S ATTORNEY: Because the city had a long series of clear warning signs, that this was a man who should never have been given a badge and a gun, let alone made the chief of police of the city of Tacoma, with the enormous power and authority that that carries with it.
KAGAN: In the little bit of time we have here, can you spell out some of the steps that Crystal Brame was trying to take in order to get help from the city and get protection from her husband? LUVERA: I think Lane would be in a better position to describe that than I would.
KAGAN: Lane, can you help us with that, please?
LANE JUDSON, CRYSTAL BLAME'S FATHER: Well, my daughter had called 911 as far back at 1996 to report incidents of domestic violence, and it just continued to kind of escalate from there. And as early as when she first filed for divorce, we know that there were people in the police department and others in the city of Tacoma that knew about the divorce proceedings. The proceedings were filed in a different county by my daughter to try and keep it very low key, so that he wouldn't be embarrassed, and -- but we know that they knew about it. He had made death threats to her with his service revolver. He'd also choked her, and so we know that they -- they -- officials in the city knew he was a troubled man, and that a lot of the things that came out, came out after my daughter's death. And that was that he failed a psychological exam in 1981 once, and took the test again and probably marginally passed it. He'd also had an allegation of a date rape back in probably about 1988. We didn't know these things until after my daughter's death. It really came out because of the news media. They started digging and finding out.
KAGAN: There's a long and troubled history there. We want to mention to the viewers we did invite the city of Tacoma and they chose to give us a statement. We'd like to put that statement up on the screen. They say simply, "We have reserved the claim and are reviewing it. The mayor and city council will now be hiring outside counsel."
So you're asking for $75 million. How do you put a price tag on your daughter's life?
LUVERA: Well, I don't -- let me answer that. Because actually, that's more in my area, and the answer to that is that this is an enormous tragedy, and we want to signal that we are going to seek the truth. We're going to find out what the facts are, and we're going to hold the people responsible, accountable, and that number reflects our determination to get to the truth, because now we have cover-up, hiding and lying. And we want to get the truth.
KAGAN: Part of the incredible tragedy here is, obviously, the involvement of your grandchildren, the two children who were standing by during the time of the shooting. With respecting their privacy, I'd like to have how they're doing today.
P. JUDSON: They're doing as well it's a can be expected. We have some moments, a lot of questions. They 5-year-old doesn't ask as many as the 8-year-old does. She reads the newspapers. We don't hide anything from her. And she mainly talks about her mom and how she misses her mother, and why did her dad do such a terrible thing. She is -- it's very hard. When we go to the grave site, she lays down on the grave, and she really sobs, because she misses her mom so much.
KAGAN: It is difficult.
P. JUDSON: It's very difficult.
KAGAN: I can only imagine. Is just so, so sad for those children and for you as parents who lost your daughter.
Thank you for coming on and talking with us, not just about the lawsuit, but as you said, you're learning quite a bit about the situation your daughter was in after her death and helping to raise awareness about the problem with domestic violence and even how it those so close to the situation sometimes don't even realize exactly what is taking place.
Thank you all, we appreciate your time today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
