String him up, but make him suffer first!

Irvine, one of America's safest cities.

This is a very sad and unfortunate event. The child's life is now forever destroyed. He will need a lot of love and care to bring him back to a normal state. His mother gone and his father in jail because he killed his mother. How horrible! I pray that she knew Jesus before she died. Pray for the child and for the father.

God Bless.

This young man is known to me. Exceptionally bright, ex-Navy with a high moral sense, struggling to make a better life for his son and him. No one can know how isolated he was, how desparate he was, and how much he loved his little boy. None of us can judge. Except..

...the judge who ordered him to double his child support payments (last week. She is the one whose feet should be held to the fire. This man was a graduate student, trying to earn a degree in physics and coming out of a troubled marriage. Anybody out there have any idea how much a graduate student struggling to earn an advanced degree earns? Barely enough for one person to live on. The judge based her ruling on his former employ, which probably could have sustained the $900.00/month in child support payment, and which was double the former amount.

Yes, desperation is often a driving force to a sad end. And...it is up to us to try to understand, be compassionate, not judge, and not worry about what his religious stance is.

In sadness, nancy

To Nancy:

Are you part of his defense team? Is yours an effort to rally public support? This is not serious: "high moral sense", "better life for his son" He has zero moral sense and destroyed his son's life. Not judge? Of course, we judge.

And he was "exceptionally bright" and "isolated"? That describes every grad student I know here. None of us have any money. We are all over-worked, under-payed, isolated and miserable. Most grads I know are deeply in debt., and many have child-support they simply cannot pay.

This man is a monster, plain and simple. 99.99% of people in his situation (and there are bazillions far worse off) would never, ever, so much as consider doing what he did.

Pollard missed the boat again.

If the father had been left alone to get his doctorate, his enhanced income would have supplied the child with good living throughout the child's minority.

However, Pollard took the short term view of grabbing the father's child support sooner rather than later. Why?

The federal government pays a "matching" amount to each state for child support enforcement. If Pollard rushed, then the federal amount would have been paid to California sooner. California needs tons of money for its budget shortfalls.

So this death was caused by the interloping of the federal government into the lives of middle class Americans. Had there been no interloping, Pollard would have likely ruled that his student's salary would have sufficed for the time being and the long term gain in income would have been a desirable objective.

Noteworthy is the fact that this couple stipulated to the $450 monthly amount and Pollard unilaterally vacated their stipulation. This means Pollard impaired the obligations of the contract between father and mother and in so doing, overcharged the father.

Lastly, Pollard, Silbar, Naughton and the family law commissioners in Orange County strictly march to the beat of the federal money drum. None of their cases are based upon an assessment of the actual merits of any case; but rather their cases are fashioned with an eye for federal reimbursement unless a connected attorney represents the moneyed spouse. In that case, the rules are reversed and the ordinary winners become the losers.

This federal influence over state law cases permeates the United States today but is nowhere more obvious than in Orange County, California.

Why is there no mention of Brian's race anywhere? Could a black guy do this without them saying he was black? Could a mexican man do this without them mentioning his heritage? Leaves me with one conclusion...

Does anybody know her family members? I use to live in Verano Apartments and I only knew Rebecca, her husband and child. Any information on the services? I

I'm sure Judge Pollard considered the fact that Brian had a $85k and chose to take a lower paying job, knowing full well he would have to pay child support. When you have children, most "normal" parents put their own dreams on hold- even graduate degrees, I know Bekki was waiting until her son started school....probably so she could pay for childcare- and try to do right by the child, regardless of the "troubled" marriage or the outcomes of the said marriage or divorce. He had high morals, Nancy? On what planet? WHO DOES SUCH AWFUL THINGS? Criminals, that's who. Are criminals moral? Not any that I've ever met. Is murdering your ex-wife in front of your child moral? As for me, I don't think so. Rebecca was an old friend of mine, and I am appalled that people are so quick to blame the judge. It was all Brian's doing! He attacked her, and killed her, with no thought as to what he was doing to his own son! Rebecca was kind, smart, funny, and extremely giving. She did not deserve what Brian did. He can never undo that, where is the morality in that? "No one can know how isolated he was, how desperate he was, and how much he loved his little boy"? ARE YOU SERIOUS? You don't think Rebecca felt lonely or desperate to make ends meet at times? Seriously? In this economy? In Southern California? I know she loved her baby boy...see, she never tried to kill his father! I know it's you right to say and feel what you want, but please....think about what you said a little harder. There IS NO EXCUSE FOR WHAT HE DID! PERIOD! Rest in peace, Bekki, I love you and miss you.

Sandra,

The service occurred around 2-PM on 20 September 2009 in the First Christian Church auditorium in Huntington Beach.

I knew Bekki and Brian also. I always thought Brian was cold and condescending- not brilliant. I never thought he was so screwed in the head. I don't think anyone could have seen this coming. I hope he sits in jail forever. Bekki has a big family and her son will be surrounded by people who love and care for him.

I think the people who stopped Brian and held him until the police came should be recognized as heros. They made all the difference.

It's confusing to me that a known suicidal person would be granted visitation rights to a 4-year old kid. If a guy is mentally unstable, how wise is it to have a kid hanging around him?

@Kel:

"I am appalled that people are so quick to blame the judge. It was all Brian's doing! He attacked her, and killed her, with no thought as to what he was doing to his own son!"

Granted you are an old friend of the victim, but your words show a complete lack of critical thinking. You are equally guilty of laying all the blame on the killer. The guy clearly had issues .. he was suicidal. Which, to translate for you, means that he wasn't thinking straight. There are more layers to the matter than you or anyone else characterize it. Don't be simple-minded in your judgment of the events.

"I'm sure Judge Pollard considered the fact that Brian had a $85k and chose to take a lower paying job, knowing full well he would have to pay child support."

Oh and what is the evidence for this assertion? Brian had a 85K job *before* he went to graduate school. In graduate school you do not have a choice of a good paying job. You are just one of those people who write things online without making an iota of sense. I guess you were probably not thinking straight either given your grief over your friend. I'll grant you that much ... but please, no more writing until you can regain a modicum of intelligence.

@Witness:

"This man is a monster, plain and simple."

I sure hope you are not a grad student ... your simplistic and naive black-white, yes-no, good-bad judgment of the events show how ill-equipped you are for graduate work. I judge you a "plain and simple" thinker. Perhaps you should quit reading comic books where the bad guys are absolutely bad and the good guys can do no wrong, and come back down to earth where people and situations are a confusing, gooey mix of gray. We are all human and not always logical in our actions. Sometimes circumstances and emotions can drive us to say and do silly things in a moment of blindness. Perhaps not to the extent of killing someone but nonetheless things we are not proud of. Would you then characterize everyone as immoral monsters? Let's hope you get a fairer shake the next time your oh-so-perfect moral self makes a mistake.

Ben-
YOU QUESTION MY CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS? ON WHAT AUTHORITY?
I said:
"I am appalled that people are so quick to blame the judge. It was all Brian's doing! He attacked her, and killed her, with no thought as to what he was doing to his own son!"
Where is the error in my logic there?
That still holds true. The judge did not put a gun in Brian's hand and pull the trigger. He did that all by himself, while his son was somewhere in the general area. There's no disputing that, unless you're a complete raging idiot.
You said:
"Granted you are an old friend of the victim, but your words show a complete lack of critical thinking."
My response:
Seriuosly? Enlighten me oh wise one. How's that?
You said:
"You are equally guilty of laying all the blame on the killer."
My response:
YA THINK? Of course I blame the killer! Are you serious? The judge didn't do it. The murder fairy certainly didn't do it....let's see...who shall we blame? Wait! I know! THE KILLER!
You said:
"That The guy clearly had issues .. he was suicidal."
My response:
AGAIN YA THINK!
You said:
"Which, to translate for you, means that he wasn't thinking straight. There are more layers to the matter than you or anyone else characterize it."
My response:
I'm quite certain that I understand English. It is after all my native tounge. But thanks for your translation, however simplistic it was. That being said, I don't really care what his issues are. He is a criminal. He is a danger to society.He deserves to be locked up for 50 years to life. He did the crime and I'm sure he'll get what's coming to him. Again I say enlighten me oh wise one as to how my logic is faulty.
You said:
" Don't be simple-minded in your judgment of the events."
My response:
HELLO...he killed someone! That's pretty clear cut!
You said:
"In graduate school you do not have a choice of a good paying job."
My response:
Really? I am a graduate student and I have a good paying job, in my profession. I know many people that also work full time, raise families and go to school.If you want to work in order to take care of your responsibilities while attending school it can be done. Amazingly enough, it can even be done without resorting to murder. So he has issues. Millions of people do. Poor him he had to pay more child support, work, and go to school....oh yeah and he didn't get his way. That STILL does not excuse what he did. I'll be eagerly awaiting you oh so intelligent response. Translation: Sarcasm!

Ben-
For the record: If someone has an 85k job before grad school and has to take a lower paying job to go to school....they DID in fact choose to do so.

Kelli-your logic and arguments are pathetic, maybe you need to go back to school for critical thinking. If you know the victim then you know how she wasted what money she had on herself before demanding more from someone who had none to give. Also, the accused married and had a kid with the victim AFTER he had left his job to go back to school. Dumbass!