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By Kent Larsen
LDS Members, Leaders Helping in Wake of Tragic Murder-Suicide
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA -- LDS Church members and local leaders are
helping a family of at least four children in the wake of the tragic
murder-suicide of their mother and her live-in boyfriend. Joseph Bailey, 44,
a police officer in Anaheim, called 911 Monday morning to report that he had
killed his wife and wanted to kill himself. By the time police arrived at
the couple's home, he was also dead.
Bishop Tim Miller of the LDS Church's congregation in Fountain Valley told
the Orange County Register in an article published today that his ward is
trying to help the children survive the tragedy. "We're just trying to take
this a day at a time, and help the kids get on with their lives."
Neighbors in the residential neighborhood had assumed that Bailey and his
girlfriend, Michelle King, were married. They also knew that the couple had
been going through domestic problems. As recently as the night before the
tragedy the couple had sought help from LDS leaders. "As late as last night,
Joe Bailey called ... and said they were having some marital
difficulties," local LDS leader Bruce Miller told the Los Angeles Times. He
declined to specify the nature of their difficulties.
According to the couple's landlady, Michelle King rented the home in 1997,
and Bailey's name started appearing on the rent checks recently. According
to neighbors, King has also been seriously ill with breast cancer for
several months. She was a police officer also, and was currently working as
a code enforcement officer in Anaheim. Both Bailey and King were divorced
and the four children currently living in the Fountain Valley home were from
the previous marriages.
After local police received Bailey's 911 call, they evacuated neighboring
homes, and locked-down an elementary school that abutted the home's backyard
for nearly two hours.
Both neighbors and coworkers expressed shock and surprise at the tragedy.
Bailey's fellow police officers described him as "kind and generous," and
"an excellent officer and an excellent man." Even his ex-wife of 17 years,
Patricia Bailey, with whom she had two children, admitted that he was never
abusive and was a loving father. But she said "he was a man that did not
want to be told what to do or how to do it."
Source:
Man kills girlfriend, himself
Orange co CA Register 6Feb01 D2
By Olifia Hawkinson, Fermin Leal and Aldrin Brown: Orange County Register
Officer Kills Wife, Himself
Los Angeles Times 6Feb01 D2
By Daniel Yi, Phil Willon and Mai Tran: Times Staff Writers
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