Couple’s Neighbors Try to Make Sense of Holiday Shooting

Police and neighbors struggled Friday to understand why a family Thanksgiving dinner in Huntington Beach erupted into violence that left an Indian-born psychologist dead and his U.S.-born wife, also a psychologist, wounded.

The death of Samuel T. Abraham, 39, is being treated as a suicide by Huntington Beach police. Melodee Abraham, 35, said her husband shot her. She was taken to Fountain Valley Regional Hospital, where she was reported in serious but stable condition Friday.

Neighbors said the couple battled frequently, and one woman who lived next to them in Stanton said Abraham beat his wife.

“As near as we can figure, it was a cultural thing with the East Indian culture versus U.S. culture,” said Sgt. William Van Cleve of the Huntington Beach Police Department. “His expectations for a wife, being from India, and her expectation for a marriage, being American, were apparently not the same.”

Police who interviewed Melodee Abraham early Friday found her “lucid and capable of answering questions,” Van Cleve said.

In a hall outside her hospital room, Manuel Abraham, the victim’s brother, said sadly, “I trust in God. These things can happen.” He said his brother came to the United States in the early 1970s to study.

Police said the long-simmering dispute between Abraham and his wife boiled over shortly before the couple and their two elementary school-age children were about to share Thanksgiving dinner with friends. After several guests took the Abraham children to the beach, Abraham took a pistol from a basket of clothing and fired at his wife, who fled screaming for help to a bathroom off the master bedroom.

Rick Reeder, who was visiting the house next door, said he heard muffled sounds, “something like firecrackers,” and then heard a woman screaming, “No, don’t do it--think of the kids!” Reeder called police.

Moments later, Melodee Abraham, soaked with blood, staggered out of the house and fell into the arms of a police officer. Police found Samuel Abraham dead on the bed with a head wound.

The couple’s children are temporarily staying with friends, Van Cleve said.

Wendy Heiner, who lives across the street from the Abrahams, described the couple as “very ordinary, very family-oriented.”

Alex Dalton, a next-door neighbor, said Abraham “seemed OK to me, civil and everything,” but added, “I know they didn’t get along.”

“They argued a lot,” said another next-door neighbor, who asked not to be identified.

Demy Mourani, who lives across the street, described Abraham as “kind of a shy person.” When he moved into the neighborhood several months ago, Mourani said, he introduced himself and “wondered if this was a quiet neighborhood.”

“He was a brilliant man in his own unique way,” said Jennifer Brewer, a former neighbor of the Abrahams when they lived in a Stanton condominium. She described what she called “tragic, often brutal” wife beatings.

At times, Abraham would “just flip out” and go crazy, Brewer said. During those episodes, Abraham would beat his wife and children, especially Isaac, his older son, their Stanton neighbors said.

A strict disciplinarian, Abraham was often seen grabbing the boy and twisting his ear or nose severely in public. He would push the boys to excel in school and required Isaac to read textbooks for the next grade in addition to his daily homework assignments.

Yet, Brewer said, he was a loving parent who would act fatherly toward neighborhood children.

“I never felt odd about leaving my children alone with him,” Brewer said, “because he was protective. Once he helped me when I had a loud argument with my boyfriend. The next day I found a note he wrote to me that was written to help me. It was beautifully written and in fact, was such a brilliant letter that it was the nicest letter I ever received.”