S02E05: THE JENNIFER MAGNANO CASE (DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS PART 1)

**Trigger Warning: This episode contains topics and discussions regarding physical and sexual abuse that may be triggering. Listener discretion is advised**

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the US and to bring more awareness to this massive issue, we will be doing a two-part episode on the topic.

Jennifer Magnano and her children endured the physical, verbal and sexual abuse of the family's patriarch, Scott, for several years until an incident in April 2007 propelled them to leave him behind once and for all. After packing up and fleeing the state, the family thought they were finally free from the suffocating grasp of Scott for good. But a series of legal and financial setbacks brought them back to Connecticut- and back into Scott's dangerous crosshairs. This is the story of one woman's struggle to leave an abusive husband and of the justice system that failed her and her children when they needed it most.

In part one of a two-part domestic violence awareness episode, we discuss Jennifer Magnano's tragic case- a case that ultimately resulted in "Jennifer's Law", a new legal designation that could help future victims of domestic violence but was far too late to help Jennifer and her children.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) OR text START to 88788. Or, visit the following online resources:

Ending Violence Association of Canada:
https://endingviolencecanada.org/provincial-and-territorial-organizations-and-resources/

National Domestic Violence Hotline:
https://www.thehotline.org/

FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
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Twitter: @crimefamilypod1
Facebook: Crime Family Podcast
Email: crimefamilypodcast@gmail.com

EPISODE RESOURCES:

"Jennifer's Law"- Connecticut General Assembly:
https://www.cga.ct.gov/2021/BA/PDF/2021SB-01091-R01-BA.PDF

Jennifer Magnano- "Office of the Victim Advocate" Report:
Table of Contents: https://cslib.contentdm.oclc.org

"Jennifer, 42" documentary trailer:
https://www.jennifer42movie.com/

World Health Organization- Violence Against Women:
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women

Episode of "Inside Edition":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CSvAHANs70

Transcript

Hi, everyone. Welcome to another episode of crime family. This week, we will be covering a case that involves domestic violence, including, but not limited to physical and sexual abuse. So we want to place a trigger warning, right from the beginning because of the subject matter contained in the episode, the case we're going to cover as well as our discussion of it may be triggering to some listeners.

We encourage you to please use discretion when listening to this. Domestic violence doesn't discriminate. It affects people from all ages, races, genders, cultures, countries, and socioeconomic status. According to the World Health Organization, about one in three women worldwide, that's about 33% of women, have been subjected to either physical and or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime.

Worldwide about 27% of women aged 15 to 49- so that's almost one third of women- who have been in a relationship report that they have been subjected to some form of physical and or sexual violence by their intimate partner. Domestic violence is a massively widespread issue that impacts so many people around the globe.

This episode is dedicated to anyone who's experienced domestic violence, either directly or indirectly and all the victims whose lives were tragically cut short due to the actions of their intimate partner. Jennifer Magnano is one of those people.

So this is part one of a two part episode. And in this first part, I'm going to be telling you the extremely devastating case of Jennifer Magneto, a Connecticut woman who experienced intense domestic violence at the hands of her husband. Resulting in unimaginable tragedy back in 2007. In fact, her case even helped to get a new law pertaining to domestic violence passed in Connecticut.

So we're going to be discussing that case in this first part here. And then in part two, we're very excited because we have Amy Bryant here. She. Extensive training on the topic of domestic violence. She's currently a writer and editor, and she has some experience in the criminal justice system as a parole officer.

And she's most recently created some domestic violence, recovery and trauma informed communications courses. One of which is the "Dauntless" series. So it includes Dauntless Recovery as well as Dauntless Communications. And Dauntless Communications teaches how to change the way we address communications and conflict in the workplace.

So she's an expert on the topic of domestic violence, and we're so excited to talk with her and have her perspective. Um, and as it pertains to the information in the Jennifer Magnano case as well. So you can look forward to that in part two, but for now to kick it off. I'm going to tell you guys about the Jennifer Magnano case.

Um, so are you guys familiar with this case at all? 

Um, no. I'm not familiar with it at all.

 Um, I know a little bit about it, but I'm sure there's stuff that I didn't read or I haven't seen in documentary, so I'm really interested to see all, hear all the details. 

Alright. Um, so the, the bulk of this case, Occurs in 2007.

At that time, the Magnanos were a blended family who were living in Terryville, Connecticut in a beautiful home that looked pristine and perfect on the outside. Uh, but what was really going on within the home was far from perfect. The father of the household Scott Magnano could be best described as a tyrant.

He and his wife, Jennifer had two children, David, and Emily.  And there was also Jessica living in the house as well. And she was the eldest child and she was Scott stepdaughter from Jennifer's previous marriage. So there was just the five of them living in the home in the main part of the house. Um, as early as 1992, Scott had threatened Jennifer saying things like he would kill her if she ever left him.

Um, this instilled in her from very early on an intense fear, um, that pretty much lingered, uh, for the entire duration of their relationship. So in the years leading up to 2007 and most specifically in the six years prior, which is when it became more and more intense, uh, the family endured domestic violence at the hands of Scott.

Scott was a short tempered dictator who, according to reports, wouldn't allow Jennifer or the children to do anything in the house without his permission. So for example, Jennifer, wasn't allowed to vacuum. Um, any of the parts of the house until Scott asked her to or told her that it was okay to, everyone had to turn on and off a light switch in the correct way, because I guess there's a wrong way to do that.

They were only allowed to leave the house when given permission.. So Jennifer couldn't even go to, you know, like get groceries or go to the bank or anything like that. Without permission from Scott, um, they were all told how to wash their hands, how to walk into a room, how much soap to use, how to shower. So basically every aspect of their life was micromanaged and they were verbally or physically, um, punished if they did not do these things that he would tell them. So David is the, um, one of the kids, he's the middle child. He recalls in an episode of Inside Edition that was focused on the case. Um, he says that the verbal abuse from Scott was always present in the household for as long as he can remember, but it was after the youngest child, Emily was born was when like the physical abuse began or like when it escalated and when he really became, like when he noticed it starting. Um, so in a specific incident that he mentioned, which is really the first instance that he remembers that involved physical abuse towards his mom, um, Scott had expressed that he was unhappy in the marriage to which Jennifer suggested that they get a divorce. And apparently this, this comment set him off.

And after that, he allegedly took Jennifer into the bedroom and strangled her, almost killing her. right then and there. And the physical abuse only escalated from this point forward and, uh, continued for years and years. And again, he was always saying that if she were to leave him, that he would kill her. So it wasn't a matter of like where it leaving was really even considered an option for them. Along with the verbal and physical abuse, the family endured. Scott was also sexually abusing the oldest daughter, Jessica, uh, from the ages of 18 to 21, according to the episode of Inside Edition, Jessica recalls the first time that he had sexually abused her.

And it happened one night after she had walked into a room in which Scott was snuggling with Emily and Scott asked for Jessica to join them in the bed and their encounters included inappropriate conversations, inappropriate touching, and this all made Jessica extremely uncomfortable. And eventually as time went on, Scott wanted only Jessica to quote unquote, snuggle with him in bed. Um, and in a cruel twist, Scott would actually often have Jennifer herself go and bring Jessica to him so that he could, um, assault her. So it was like disgusting, evil and cruel. Like, I couldn't imagine the agony that Jennifer would experience, you know, having to go and bring her own daughter to her husband so that he could sexually assault her.

And obviously she probably feared for her own life or her daughter's life if she refused to do so. So it wasn't even really like a choice. She was pretty much forced to do that. It's such a twisted and evil thing that only a monster would do. So those are just kind of some of the examples of some of the horrible things that he would do to Jennifer and the children.

So, like I said, the bulk of the case really happens in 2007 and it all begins on April 14th. And this is the day that really set off sort of a chain of events that led to the tragedy in this case. So on that day, Scott was in a particularly bad mood, according to an investigative report by Michelle S. Cruz.

So she's an attorney and also a Connecticut state victim advocate. So she wrote about a 40 page report on this case. And according to that report, Scott was very angry on this particular day because Jennifer had broken his mother's microwave while she was cooking dinner. While they were installing a new microwave, Scott screamed, I could kill you right now and have no remorse. So Scott was supposed to have a medical appointment that day and was enraged that he would miss the appointment because he'd have to spend the day fixing the microwave. So something like super trivial and some that's not really a big deal, but something so small set him off.

Jennifer in that moment was trying to convince Scott to not to worry about the microwave. And instead just like, go get ready for his appointment. Um, and her even suggesting this made him even angrier and he slapped her in the face. Then he went into the children's rooms and slapped Jessica across the face when she apparently like didn't respond to him or she defied him, or what he says was defying him. It seemed to be another random, violent outburst, and one that they were unfortunately used to by this time. But this was the distinct moment that Jennifer decided to leave Scott immediately. She had already had plans to leave later that summer, once the school year was over.

But on this day, she just decided that she had had enough she made a brave plan to escape the house later that evening, that would have been in the morning where Jennifer just made this decision and she had ended up like mouthing to the children that they were going to be leaving. But Scott was, he remained in the house for the rest of the day.

So they couldn't actually like openly talk about it, but they all knew that like at some point during that day they were going to like make a break for it, so to speak. Um, so bef before they did leave that day, Scott had called Jessica into his room to apologize for hitting her. And during this apology, allegedly had his hand up her shirt.

So this is like his final time that he was sexually assaulted here again on the very same day that they were planning to leave, uh, that night around 11:00 PM, Jennifer and the three children made a mad dash and escaped in the family van while Scott was in the shower. And this was the first time that Jennifer or the children had ever attempted any kind of escape from Scott. So the next day Scott called the local police department to report the family missing. And the day after that Jessica's biological father also made a report to the Plymouth police, uh, regarding Jessica being missing because he hadn't heard from her.

Quite a few days, which was pretty unlike her. And also because she wasn't showing up for work and she wasn't really the type to ever miss work. And it had gone on for a couple of days. So he ended up filing a police report or a missing persons report. And it was actually the second missing persons report.

Cause Scott had filed one in the previous day. And on April 17th, which was three days after Jennifer and the children had left,the Plymouth police arrived at the family home to search the house  and to speak with Scott. And it was during this encounter that Scott promised that he would never hurt Jennifer. And he even had mentioned that he wanted to seek counseling if that's what Jennifer wanted.

So he seemed to be, you know, like the grieving husband who was concerned about his missing family, um, and says that he wanted to go to like marriage counseling. Um, so he's trying to like appeal to the police officer and try to. Something other than what he actually was.

Did Jessica live in the house? Cause I know she was, uh, quite a bit older than the other two kids.

Like, was she, did she live in the house? Did she just visit?

 Maybe in the last couple of years she didn't, but she was there obviously the day that they all left. Um, so I think she was living there at the time, but I don't know for a hundred percent certain, but for all of these like major events that are happening, she's there for all.

But yeah, she was a little bit older. Like she was, I think 21, she was 21 at the time that they had left and the other kids were, I think David was 15 and Emily was nine or so. 

Is there any like information known, like, did she ever talk to her father about what was going on or did she keep it kind of under wraps?

 Jessica?

Yeah. 

Um, I think her father knew to some extent and I'll get into it a little bit later, later on, but, um, I don't know exactly like what kind of stuff she had told him, but he was aware of some things. 

Um, I was just curious, cause like if he knew and then like, she didn't really live there. I always wondered like, why, I guess she was kind of there to kind of protect the other kids, I guess you could say, because the other two weren't sexually assaulted where they?

as far as I know, no. Um, it's ever like been reported on that they were, but I don't know for sure. 

I kind of feel like since he wasn't really biologically his daughter, I mean, doesn't make, doesn't make it right anyways, whether you're a family member or not, but I just feel like he kind of chose her because she wasn't really family.

And I feel like he. Yeah. Yeah. But why they do it. So that's true anyways. 

Um, yeah, so like I'm not exactly a hundred percent, like in the report, doesn't go into a ton of detail about like the specifics of like, I think Jessica had left home at one point, cause she was like older and then she like came back to the house or something.

I don't know exactly like the timeline of when she was lived there when she didn't, but she's there for, like, I know that she's there on the day that they moved out or they ran away. Um, and she was there for like, Major like events that happened in the case. So, so on the same day that the police went and spoke with Scott at the family home, the police also spoke with Tracy Gallo, who is a friend of the family.

Uh, she says that she knew that Jennifer had mentioned a plan for the family to leave Scott in June because of the abuse that they were enduring. Um, so Tracy was aware of this , and she actually shed some more light on even more horrific details about Scott's psyche and the abuse that the family was enduring, even going so far as like at one point he had allegedly had threatened to slit his own mother's throat because his mother knew about the abuse that was happening.

So, um, it was just crazy. Obviously this guy had issues threatening to slit his own mother's throat. So obviously something not right with him. Um, and then on the next day after this, this is, so this was on April 18th, the police received a call from Jennifer. Uh, she would not disclose her location because she was terrified that Scott was somehow going to find her, but she called the police to identify herself in response to the missing persons report.

And the police promise that they would not share her location. So after this conversation with the police, she was allegedly advised to go to a local shelter, but she was not advised to get a restraining order at that time. In a meeting with the police, Jennifer disclosed the extreme fear that she had for her and her children's lives because she had fled. So she, you know, she thought that Scott was going to be determined to find them. And then he was going to track them down. Scott had always said that he would kill her and Jessica, if they ever left him. And he also said that he wouldn't even kill Jennifer sisters. Um, if she left as well. Um, however, she was also convinced that she would be killed if she did stay with him.

So it's really like a catch 22 situation for the whole family. Um, like they're truly damned if they do damned if they don't, you know, she felt like she was kind of, uh, her fate was sealed either way. Scott would eventually kill her if she stayed in the, in the marriage. And then if she left, it would probably, you know, set him off and he would kill her that way as well.

So she really, you know, stuck between a rock and a hard place. Shockingly, the officer to which Jennifer was disclosing this information to didn't file a report with the department of children and families. And this is something that's actually required by law in the state of Connecticut. But for whatever reason, he didn't actually file that a report at that time.

And so the family stayed in a motel for a week, um, like in the area or in the state of Connecticut and eventually left the state completely and went to California. And here in California, they stayed at a, at a battered women's shelter. And in the meantime, the family did get a restraining order, uh, from Scott.

Um, but at the same time, That the family was filing restraining orders. Scott was actually filing for custody of David and Emily. Um, and this was actually something that Jennifer wasn't even aware of because Scott had insisted that the papers that were being served to her about the custody dispute were served to her at the family home.

And obviously she wasn't at the family home anymore. So she was getting all of these papers, served to her. She wasn't even there. So she didn't even know that Scott. I can be fighting for custody. So she couldn't even like take the proper steps to fight back because she had no idea it was even happening.

So it's just another thing that, you know, bad luck or went horribly for her. And around the same time here as well, the police received a phone call from Tracy Gallo and she was that family friend that had spoken to the police before saying that Scott was harassing her over the phone, calling her multiple times a day, threatening.

Um, probably, I mean, I don't know for sure, but I'm assuming probably like he might've thought that she knew where the, where the family was. So he was probably harassing her, trying to get her to tell him where they were. Um, and then she did go to the police to stop him from harassing her. There was no criminal charges that were filed and the police didn't really pursue anything from that.

Um, Jennifer. And Jessica were considering pressing charges against Scott for the abuse that they had endured, uh, throughout all of those years. Something crazy in the case was they were told that they could not have their claims investigated from California. And they were told that they would need to return to Connecticut for the investigation to occur.

And I obviously, like I'm not a lawyer, I don't know the legalities of it. But to me, I feel like if somebody is coming forward saying that they were, you know, physically assaulted or sexually assaulted. Just because they're in a different state, that doesn't mean that they can't file the report or like the investigation can occur to me.

That just seems super weird. But again, I'm not a lawyer, I don't know, like the ins and outs of the legal system. So I think from the outside looking in, it sounds ridiculous, but maybe that is a common thing. I don't know, but I had never heard of it happening. Um, I didn't think that was like a state-by-state issue.

I thought it was just kind of like it could report from anywhere. Um, but I guess not. So on June 4th, 2007, Jennifer was dealt a devastating blow when Scott was awarded full custody of the kids. Um, and she surmised that it was probably fraudulently under false pretenses that he got this custody, but also too, she wasn't even aware of like that he was filing for a while, because like I said, that all of the serving and the papers were going to the family home.

So she didn't even know for a while. So she couldn't like actually fight against it. To me, it just seems crazy that what kind of court would give him full custody. Um, but I guess if they're just looking at it objectively, they're seeing like, oh, he's filing for custody and she's not filing back. Some maybe they just, you know, obviously they don't know the dynamics of the situation.

Um, but the custody order gave Jennifer four weeks to return the children to Scott, uh, which would give them until July 6th to do so. Because she was afraid of being arrested if she did not comply, Jennifer had no choice, but to return to Connecticut with the children and fight for custody. So here, she was thinking that like, you know, she moved across the country.

She's gonna like get away from him for good. Now she's forced to basically go back to the same state and during their time away in California. So it was only like, cause they left in April and they returned in June. So it was only like two months that they were gone, um, from Connecticut. But during their time away, Scott had also fraudulently been writing checks in Jennifer's name and placing unauthorized charges on her credit card.

Um, so he actually ended up racking up about $83,000 in forged checks and nearly $6,000 in credit card debt. So it's like almost $90,000 over this like two month period, which is insane. On July 12th, Scott was ordered to leave the marital home and stay at least a hundred yards away from Jennifer. Um, and the family was permitted to move back into the house under this order as well.

So the police basically say, Scott's got to leave the house and Jennifer and the kids can move back into the home. Um, but less than a month later on August 5th, Jennifer contacted the Plymouth police to report that Scott had not yet vacated the family home despite being ordered to by the court. And the police did basically nothing at this time.

Uh, they said that the order was considered a civil matter. Um, so they couldn't do anything. And they, um, told her that she needed to contact her attorney. So again, here she is going to the police saying all this stuff, and they're not helping her in any way. And not only they're not helping her, but they're actively like making it harder for her to actually, you know, file reports or like do to like be safe against this guy.

Who's been horrible to her at some period, um, around this time, Jennifer was eventually granted custody of the children. So I don't know the report didn't go into detail. Like, I don't know where they were staying because I know they came back to Connecticut in, I believe probably late June, maybe early July.

Um, but they don't return to the actual house until August. So I don't know where they were staying in the month of July. Like if they were staying at a friend's house or if they were staying at a shelter, like, I don't know, but they weren't actually at the home. Um, because Jennifer was convinced that Scott had never actually vacated the home, which is why she called.

On August 5th to report that he hadn't left the house, even though he was ordered to. And then another thing that goes horribly wrong for Jennifer. So on August 17th, the assistant state attorney refuses to sign a domestic violence warrant application that was submitted, um, on behalf of Jennifer and the reason that he refused to sign it was because of the fact that she had waited two months to make the formal complaint.

And in a quote from the assistant state attorney he says," is this an attempt to use the court as leverage in their divorce case?" So the state victim advocates report that a lot of this information is coming from claims that the sentiment by the state attorney is pretty much identical to Scott's own version of the facts because Scott had also claimed to police that Jennifer's accusations of abuse, sexual assault, credit card fraud, and all that stuff was just an attempt to gain leverage in the couples court proceedings.

Um, cause they were also, she had filed for divorce in this time as well. So they were going through that and the custody battle. So the state attorney clearly showed which side he's on. Like, so like in what world do we live in? Where like the state attorney is going to side with this man, who's like a known abuser, um, over a battered woman because she waited two months to file the complaint like two months, isn't that long of a time.

Um, considering they endured it for years and we all know like reasons why the women don't come forward right away. And like, obviously if she's feeling threatened, like he said, he was gonna kill her if she ever she ever left. So she's not going to be like, you know, jumping at the chance to like file a report because that's like a pretty, like, you know, big step for her to make.

Um, so the state attorney just didn't care and clearly. I dunno if he didn't believe Jennifer or like whatever, but he wouldn't sign the domestic violence warrant application. So she wasn't able to get that either. So on August 22nd, 2007; so this was the first time since fleeing on April 14th, that Jennifer had returned to the marital.

In later interviews, um, with Jessica and her biological father. So they claimed that Jennifer felt pressured by authorities to return to the house because she had been told by like various people, that the kids should have returned to their regular school to provide them with continuity. So they were pretty much saying like, you need to return them to the house, into their regular school, to like, get them back to normal and stuff.

So Jennifer felt like she had real, really no choice, but to go back to the house, Probably almost felt a little bit guilty if she didn't say it. Like she was doing it for her selfish reasons or like she was depriving the kids of like some sort of like normalcy. Um, so that's kind of the way that they were making her feel.

So anyway, she did go back to the house, but before she returned, Jennifer had called the police and asked for help in returning to the house because she was terrified that Scott was still inside. Possibly, you know, just lying in wait, waiting for her to enter. And so the police did come and they did a search of the house.

Uh, but they did not search the basement apartment- and that's where Scott's mother, Mary Lou, resided. His mother lived in the basement apartment of the house. So they didn't check the basement apartment and they didn't check Scott's locked office either. So in fact, Mary Lou refused to allow the police to enter her apartment and claimed that she hadn't seen Scott in days.

Jennifer was convinced though that Scott was in that basement apartment and would like come out at night time to kill her and possibly the children. But instead of getting a search warrant, check the basement apartment.or doing literally anything, the police basically did nothing. Once again, they, all they did was recommend to Jennifer that she go to the courts to request, to have Mary Lou removed from the premises.

Um, but this process would take time and time was something that Jennifer just simply did not have. So I don't know, I guess on the 22nd, when she returned to the house, she was there overnight, I guess. Cause on the 23rd of August, she was at the home earlier in the day. 

Did they not get a search warrant to search the apartment?I feel like that's something you would do, especially if the mother was like refusing to like let you in. I thought that's what I don't understand. I was like, here we go again. Like shoddy police work, like every other case we've done so far this year. 

Yeah. I just think, I don't know, for whatever reason they just did not clear or it seemed like they did not care.

Seems like every situation is like against Jennifer, like everything she does, like the court and the police are like opposing her. Like it's kind of crazy. 

Like, you know, she A, she doesn't know that there he's filing for custody. She loses custody because of that. Then they pretty much forced her to go back to Connecticut because they can't do an investigation into the, her allegations unless she's in Connecticut.

So she goes there and then like Scott isn't removed from the house and she can't go back there because he's there, the police aren't doing anything. Like every, literally every single thing it's really annoying. 

Also, I thought you couldn't just like send. Someone's going to Sue you, you can't just send papers to their house. Like, you know, I guess this shows like my lack of knowledge for like the law. But like when you see in movies, when they chase somebody down and they're like, ask them their name and they have to admit to it, and then they give them the papers. So they can't say, oh, I never got them. It's like, well, that's why they do that is to make sure that they give it to the right person.

And like that obviously didn't happen. Not a thing that happens every time I just assumed it was. 

And maybe like, maybe it is supposed to happen. They just didn't like, you know, maybe they were going against another yeah. 

Another, like, we don't really care. Let's just do this. 

Yeah. Because clearly, like, I mean, they didn't know where she was. I'm sure it's not like they necessarily knew what her address was. I feel like they had to have known she wasn't there anymore. Or like, if there's serving over these papers and she's never like responding to any of them, like, it just seems weird. And then they would grant him custody, being like, oh, well she didn't, she didn't file.

So she must not care to me. It's just weird. I don't know.

 That's why they do that. Like serve it to the person. I know they served it. So there's no excuse for them to be like, well, I never got them. It's like, well you did, because I gave them to you directly. 

Like, but I thought that she did get them and she just didn't care.

Like she wasn't. Like, you know what I mean? Maybe they talk like, oh, he's fighting for custody. Yeah. 

I also feel like the, obviously police didn't care about Jennifer and the kids just because like, I feel like she ran away for a reason and she's filing a report. Somebody whose trying to kidnap the kids wouldn't just...

But again, because there was no, there was no report with the department of family, children and families. There's no record of it. So they don't even know she ran away. It probably at this point, like who knows if she actually ran away, like, I don't think it was ever, she was considered a missing person at first when she called in to like respond to the missing person.

So they're like, okay, she's not missing. And like, she didn't disclose to the police, all this information, but like, there was never on record anywhere that she had actually. 

Yeah. It doesn't seem from the get, go, like somebody didn't report that to, to the police.

 It's almost like . Yeah. Like her following the law is what like made her like, you know, made the situation worse. Right. If she would've just stayed missing, then you know, she would have had an excuse not to, I didn't receive the papers, you know what I mean? Like, but she's like, I'm not missing. I dunno, it just seems like everything she did, even though she was trying to do the right thing, like compounded into this really bad situation.

It would have been better, if she would just not have listened to the law basically. 

At the time when she like called in to respond to the missing persons report, like the officer that she talked to, like it goes into the report, goes into like more detail about, she actually like went and had a physical meeting with, um, the Tracy Gallo, the friend, the family friend.

So like somehow, like she knew the police officer through like some connection with like her kids' school. So like she trusted that officer enough. And then like he set up a meeting between Tracy and Jennifer. This is what it says in the report. And then, then she meets with the police officer who discloses all this.

And he, she discloses all this stuff to the police officer and the police officer just says, okay, I suggest you go to a shelter, but didn't say like, oh, you should file for a restraining order. So that's why she didn't refile her restraining order. So there was no restraining order in the state of Connecticut at that time.

And there was no, no, um, report with the department of children and families. So literally on paper, there's literally no record of this even happening.

 Right. Because they literally told her not to. Yeah. It's like you've listened to them. And that's what, and like..

 I guess I shouldn't say maybe I shouldn't say he, he recommended her not file a restraining order. It said that he just didn't advise her to get one. So it's not, like he said, you shouldn't get one. He just said, he didn't say, oh, you should. You know what I mean? Like, he didn't say anything about a restraining order. So there's like, you know, small difference in the wording there. But I got, yeah, I don't think he was saying like, don't get one. He just didn't say to get one. 

Um, in those situations, like a restraining order is like, like the thing you do, like maybe like, I, I wouldn't, like I could be wrong. Like I'm not any like legal person., but I feel like, do you have to ask somebody to get a restraining order? Can the police just automatically do it?

 I think you have to like request one, like the police can't just grant a restraining order between two people. if the person doesn't request it. 

Yeah, there has to be like proof of, like, I think you can request one and be denied. Like there has to be proof of why you need one. You can't just like, Hmm. Ask for one and get it automatically. 

So, but I feel like we use the time and time. And again, like there are other cases I'm sure. Well, you know, the woman does go to get a restraining order and is denied for like bogus reasons. And then like the person ends up killing her because didn't have a restraining order. Um, or even if you do get a restraining order, I feel like in this, these kind of cases, like, obviously these people like Scott doesn't care about the law. Like, why did, why do you think a restraining order is going to be like, oh, well I have this training on, I can't come near you. Like this guy clearly doesn't care about what's legal and what isn't. 

Yeah. If someone's going to kill you, like breaking a restraining order, it's like the last thing on their mind. Right. They're going to kill you. They want to go to jail for murder anyway, like who cares if they broke this restraining order basically? 

Yeah. And this guy was like committing all these like forgery, like writing bad checks. I credit card fraud. Like obviously he was like abusing her and sexually assaulting his stepdaughter.

So like, this is a guy he's not going to be like, really that same guy is going to be like, Well, I'm not going to go near her because she has a restraining order. Like I can't break that law, but all the other stuff is okay.

 I feel like it was trading order though. Maybe just be like a reason for the, like the courts to be like, okay, like he broke the restraining order. So now there's like, cause for like, she needs protection that, you know, he should go to jail. That kind of thing. It's like, if that's not in place and they really don't have proof that anything happened, you know what I mean?

 Yeah. That's true. So I guess it is something like. That would provide some sort of.., 

could turn out to be the opposite. Like they get a restraining order. He doesn't, he's even more angry now because she got the restraining order and now he's has more fits of rage and even more angry, could be two way street there. 

Yeah. Like I think it's just, I think, I think it's such a complex thing. I think people think like, oh, just get a restraining order and then I'll be, I'll be good.

Like, oh, we can't go near you. And then it's like, well, that's not really. Works like ever, I feel like, I don't know. Do people abide by restraining orders? Like, especially someone who's like that violent and that obviously like doing illegal things. 

Yeah. I feel like, I feel like you're not going to work to protect someone if they're out to kill you. But again, I think it's just like a step in the process for like legal action to be taken more seriously. 

Yeah, I was gonna say if every abuser got a restraining order, then it probably would have been the less people killed, but that's not always how it goes. ..So. 

I feel. Like they have someone that's a sad thing. If someone's determined to kill someone, like, I don't think it matters. What, not that it doesn't matter, but like something goes so, so simple as a restraining order. I mean, you can, I don't think it's, it's not like it's a lost cause. You know, I just think it's like, so, so much more complex than just saying like, oh, just get a restraining order.

And that's it case closed. Like, no. Um, yeah, so it's pretty fucked up. And as you can see, like pretty much all throughout this whole thing, like roadblock, roadblock, roadblock, like every thing she tries to do with the police, like doesn't really happen the way she would probably intend it to. But, um, it's like on August 23rd, She's at the home, like early in the day.

So I don't know. I guess she stayed overnight at the house cause the 22nd was when she went back to the house. But anyway, she was there earlier in the day and sh when she was going to leave the house, so she left the blinds up and the lights on. So this way she would like, know if someone had been in the home while she was gone.

Like if she returned and obviously the lights were off or the blinds were down, then she would kind of know. So it'd be like, Uh, hint to her. Um, so sure enough, when she returned to the home, just after 6:30 that evening, the blinds were down and the lights were off. So she called the police to inform them of this.

And then the police came once again to do a check of the house before she went in. So again, they checked all parts of the house except for the basement apartment and Scott's office. For the second time, Mary Lou, Scott's mother, refused to allow officers to enter her apartment to check. So the police had no legal re like they couldn't do anything.

She refused to let them in. She also said that she hadn't spoken to Scott in days. So she had no idea where he was and she hasn't really had any communication with him. So the police left and then Jennifer had the assistance of a neighbor to change the locks of the house or to help her change the locks of the house.

But later that night, it was just after 11 o'clock. Scott came from seemingly out of nowhere and attacked Jennifer.  Uh, he pulled her out of the house by her hair and after physical altercation and took her to the front steps of the house where he shot her multiple times in the back and head at close range.

David and Emily, so the two youngest kids both witnessed the attack and right after it, David ran to his mother to check for a pulse  but unfortunately she was dead. Scott then fled the house, um, and shortly afterwards killed himself with a gunshot to the head. So after all that you know, finally ran away and they thought that they were going to, you know, live this happy life.

They went to California and then because of all the legal stuff, they were pretty much forced to go back to Connecticut where he was. And because she didn't have the support of any, of like bond forcement or anything, she ended up going back to the house where he was basically waiting for her. Um, so it's just really, really sad.

Uh, shortly after the murder, police finally inspected Mary Lou's apartment basement apartment. So of course they go in after the fact, um, this was when they go into the house, but what they found in some of the things that they found in the basement apartment were questionable. So in the kitchen they found a baby monitor receiver.

Um, just in like a basket on the kitchen counter, and then upstairs in an upstairs cabinet of the main house, they found the transmitter portion of the monitor. So, you know,police, uh, surmise that Scott had been using this monitor to spy on Jennifer so he would know when she was in the home. Um, and then people were like putting, you know, all eyes are on Mary Lou, because they were like, obviously she would have known should have seen this baby monitor.

And like, they were just kind of assume that Mary, Mary Lou might've known, um, some of the things that Scott was doing or like the tactics that he was doing, but clearly he was using that to spy on the main house. So he would know when Jennifer was there. That's why, when she went to the house that night, he knew that she was there and that's how he was able to like come from out of nowhere seemingly. Also, after talking with the police, Mary Lou had admitted that she was aware that Scott had hidden his car inside the garage of a neighbour's home. Uh, who was on vacation so that Jennifer would not see the car in the driveway. So again, she knew that he was hiding that as well. And reports do allege that Mary Lou, when she said that she hadn't spoken to Scott in a few days, uh that's what she said that clearly wasn't true.

Apparently she had arranged to try to have him stay at a friend's house, um, instead of with her. And that was like in the days immediately like preceding the murder. So she was talking to him throughout this time. And also it's alleged that she did have knowledge that Scott had asked her brother. So I guess it would be his uncle for a gun.

So these are all things that she knows that are taking place. And the report also does allege that Mary Lou had slapped Emily after Emily made a negative remark about Scott right after the murders had happened. So clearly she's showing, that's showing what side she's on. Like, oh shit. You know, Emily saying something about her father that just murdered her mother in front of her and Mary Lou takes it out on her.

So Marylou's part in all of this is pretty sketchy as well. And as of today, there's been no criminal charges that were ever brought against Mary Lou for any of this, even though all of that information is pretty..

 Does it ever come out that maybe like Scott was telling his mother that like, you know, Jennifer was the one that was abusive and she was brainwashing the kids to be against him? And she like kidnapped them and moved. And so his mother was, you know, very against her because she believed what he was saying. Like anything like that ever come out?

 Nothing like that. But there was things in the report that mentioned that in the past, like anytime. If Mary Lou had tried to, um, intercept and like a physical altercation between Scott and Jennifer, that he would like turn his rage on her and threaten her.

So like, I guess she didn't just want, or any threatened to like, if she called the police or like, You know, and he also said, remember that family friend said that he threatened, he threatened to slit his mother's throat. If she had ever said anything, because she knew about the abuse. So clearly this is probably, she was also partially a victim of him as well.

Like probably terrified that her son's going to kill her if she does so much as I go to the police or say anything to anyone. But there's also a difference between, like not saying something to someone and then also like being like an active non-active participant, but like, knowing that he's. Like hiding his car in like the neighbor's garage so that Jennifer wouldn't see it and basically allowing him to stay with her in the basement apartment and knowing that he's spying ..

And getting a gun, like, I feel like no, that he's getting it. You know, like the end of the road for her, they pay, I gotta do something now.

 Exactly. And like, in all those steps, she did nothing. And then also to the it's alleged that she was also there at the scene when he murdered Jennifer. So apparently like when he came out of nowhere, she was following him and she was saying like, don't do this now or saying stuff like that.

So she was like there during it all and then slapped Emily when Emily was saying negative things about Scott, it was like, Yeah, her, her involvement is, I don't know something going on there, but there was never any criminal charges that were ever brought against her. Also not allowing, not allowing the police to check the basement apartment to look, clearly scott was in that apartment. Like, why else would she not allow them to search?

 Like "idiot"might seem like a strong word, 

but I feel like she was a victim as well. I feel, but like, yeah. Friend her like who? 

Yeah. Who knows if he live, he was in that apartment with her who knows what he was doing to her.

Like, and like, if he's threatening to slit her throat, if she says anything, like, obviously this woman is fucking terrified of him. So she's a victim too, but like some culpability. 

Yeah. And also like, that's her son. So she's trying to like give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe, you know what I mean? Like just trying to support him. He probably told her things that weren't true. So yeah, I feel for her there as well.

 And like maybe I shouldn't be too hard. I mean, I'm sure she probably feels pretty terrible about what it all led to. Like, I'm sure she probably has regrets or like things that she wishes she'd done differently, but then also like, you know, slapping Emily right after she says like that negative thing about Scott. Like, it's just, that's a weird reaction, weird thing to do when you know, your son just murdered her mother. It's like, how dare you say something negative about this guy that just murdered your mother? Like, it's a very bizarre reaction to have. The mother is just, like I said, it's something going on there.

So in the years, since Jennifer's murder, her three children have continued advocating for her. Uh, in 2020, "Jennifer's Law" was first introduced to the Connecticut general assembly. So the law would expand the definition of domestic violence to include coercive control, a type of domestic violence that includes threats, humiliation, or other tactics in an attempt to frighten harm or punish the victim.

So this can include, but is not limited to, isolating the victim from family and friends, stalking, intimidation, controlling of one's everyday activities and depriving the victim of basic necessities. So Jennifer and her children endured, like all of these types of abuse for years and this expansion in the bill would allow courts to officially recognize these acts that fall within that definition to be considered domestic violence and therefore a criminal offense.

So the law was named Jennifer's  Law partially in honor of Jennifer Magnano's case. And  in the court proceedings to like, get the bill passed, actress Evan, Rachel Wood testified in favor of the bill. And in 2021, the law was officially passed. I guess that's, I want to say a silver lining, but I guess that's a good thing that came out of that.

But it's a pretty tragic case and it's pretty unfortunate that it had to, you know, it was her death that led for that. Like, if there had been laws in place before this, then maybe something would have been different. But I guess as we can see, like the police seem like they didn't really care the whole every step of the way.

So I feel like there probably were some laws that were in place, but they just didn't follow. 

Well, I can't believe this wasn't a law until 2021. Like that seems crazy. I know. Yeah. I mean, it's, I think it's good that the kids are like advocating for her. Cause we know like domestic violence doesn't just affect... I mean, the kids were victims as well, but it does affect if it's like a mother and father kind of thing, it definitely affects the kids as well. 

Yeah. Like it could be very easy for, you know, one of the kids to like do that to their partner when they get older, because they experienced it as a child, but they're like, you know, advocating for like these laws and stuff.

So, you're making good out of that situation versus just perpetuating that same cycle.. So, yeah, that is interesting. Yeah. Yeah. So it's going to be, I think our talks are going to be interesting because it's good to hear. Like, I don't know, she's obviously she's an expert on domestic violence. She has a lot of training in like the topics.

So there's certain things that we just don't know, um, that she might be able to talk about. And I had, like, I ha I have, I've had a few little few interactions with her already and like just some of the things that she's mentioned. So I'm really interested to pick her brain and like, have her talk about those in the podcast as well.

Very excited to have our conversation. And she's familiar with this case a little bit as well. So maybe she can like touch, talk about Jennifer's law, uh, in particular. Um, and also she's, I believe she's living in Colorado, so she might have like a different perspective of like laws that are in Colorado that about domestic violence.

So it's going to be an interesting conversation. So I'm excited for that but I do just want to put out there like some resources for anyone, if anyone is experiencing domestic violence in their life. So there's a good resource, uh, EndingViolenceCanada.Org, uh, is a really good resource. I'm going to put that in the show notes.

So that has a list of all of the resources across Canada. It breaks it down by province, um, which is really, really good. And then if you are in the states, there's a really great resource, TheHotline.Org and this also has a lot of resources in terms of how to identify abuse, your planning for safety. Um, and there's also some, a phone line you can call.

So it's 1-800-799-SAFE. So 1-800-799-7233 or 1 800-787-3224. Or you can text START to 88788. And that's if you're in the states and, uh, we'll put the link to that website as well. So those are some free resources as well. And this episode is airing in October, which October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the U S and November is National Domestic Violence Month in Canada.

So we're kind of like airing this episode right in between those. Um, so there's some resources for that as well. So we'll, we'll, I'll link that to that in the show notes. Yeah. 

Did you guys have any like final thoughts about the case?

 I just feel really sad for Jennifer for not having the support of the police and just not taking her seriously.

And if they did this tragedy probably would never happen. And if the mother in law would cooperate then, so I just feel, I just like, I feel like a lot of people in her and Jennifer. Don't get the support from the people that they should get support from.

 Yeah. And that, unfortunately, like this is just one case, it probably millions of them are in the U S or in Canada around the world. So this is definitely not a unique case. Each case probably has their own like unique factors, but unfortunately it's a huge, a huge issue. And so I am going to put it in the show notes as well there's a, in the episode of Inside Edition because they interview, the three kids, um, and they go a little bit more into Jennifer's law and stuff. So that's a really interesting watch. And then also there is a documentary coming out about the case. It's called "Jennifer 42", and it's going to be an animated documentary, like narrated talking about this case but it's animated. So it's really looks really interesting. So I'm going to put a link to the trailer for that.

Um, there's no release date as of yet, but it is upcoming. So look forward to that as well.

So, thank you so much for tuning in to part one of our two-parter episode. We hope you enjoyed listening about this case. Um, even though it was very heavy and traumatic and very sad, we hope that you, um, did learn a little bit and we're excited because you're probably gonna learn a lot more about the topic of domestic violence in our next episode, because we do have Amy Bryant coming on the show to talk to us and she's an expert on the topic. So we're very excited to hear her perspective. So as always, you can follow us on Instagram@crimefamilypodcast, you can follow us on Twitter @crimefamilypod1, and on Facebook atCrime Family Podcast. We do have a Gmail account so you can email us at crimefamilypodcast@gmail.com. You can send us case suggestions, tips, ideas and feedback about, about the show. And, um, so we're very excited to hear from you. So thank you so much for listening and we'll be back next week with part two and our conversation with Amy Bryant. Take care. .