O.C. Tragedy Follows Wife’s Claims of Abuse

To neighbors in the quiet cul-de-sac, David Dean Von Haden had appeared to be the doting father--feeding softballs to his 4-year-old son, Cody; taking his 2-year-old daughter, Courtney, to the park, and swimming with both kids.

But, in recently filed divorce papers, his estranged wife paints a far darker portrait of Von Haden, 35, who allegedly suffocated the two children Thursday before shooting himself in the chest at the couple’s Yorba Linda-area home.

“I fear for the well-being of my children and I cannot tolerate the psychological abuse,” Laurie Von Haden, 33, said in her Feb. 7 divorce petition, which asks for sole custody of the children.

According to her statement, David Von Haden had called her a “thief” and “liar” in front of the children, taken her checkbooks and credit cards, and once disabled her car by removing a fuse.

On Friday, a window broken by deputies entering Courtney’s room was the most vivid reminder of the slayings at the three-bedroom, white stucco home. Toy trucks and carousels were scattered about her room, and a prayer hung over her bed: “Now, I lay me down to sleep . . . .”

David Von Haden was arrested Thursday on suspicion of murder. He remained in critical condition Friday at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana.

Laurie Von Haden’s attorney said Friday that the couple had been working out custody and visitation arrangements. Initial reports that David Von Haden was distraught after losing custody of his two children in a court hearing were incorrect, said attorney Anthony L. Curiale.

“They were going to work out the arrangements between them, and then things started to break down,” said Curiale, who declined to be more specific and would not provide the name of David Von Haden’s attorney.

Laurie Von Haden, Curiale said, is “as well as can be expected.”

“You can imagine how she’s doing--I can’t describe it,” he said. “She’s in shock, in seclusion . . . There’s been no past incidents of spousal or child abuse in the sense of physical violence. This was a complete shock to everyone.”

Laurie Von Haden, who has been living with her mother, called police after David Von Haden’s brother phoned her and said his brother had left a message on his answering machine, “asking forgiveness for what he was about to do,” said Orange County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Ron Wilkerson.

Just before 6 p.m., deputies found the bodies of Cody and Courtney in the master bedroom, along with David Von Haden, who was drifting in and out of consciousness after an apparent suicide attempt, a revolver nearby.

At first, investigators said they could not tell how the children died. An autopsy Friday, however, revealed that the children died of suffocation, said Wilkerson, who could not be more specific.

On Thursday, Laurie Von Haden had waited outside while deputies searched the house.

“When [the deputy] told her what happened, she just threw herself down on the street,” said a 32-year-old neighbor, who declined to give her name. “She was very upset. She was screaming. She just kept saying, ‘No! No! No!’ ”

Von Haden, a washer-dryer repairman, and his estranged wife, a clerk at a photo laboratory, had been married four years and separated since Jan. 7. .

“They’re just a young couple,” said neighbor Jonathon Dooley, 52, who had talked to Von Haden about the impending divorce. “They don’t know how to deal with their situation.”

David Von Haden was served with the divorce papers Feb. 12, Curiale said.

In the papers, Laurie Von Haden had cited “irreconcilable differences” and cited a pattern of alleged harassment by her husband.

“I am afraid of remaining in the same house as my husband for fear of what he might do next to harm me, my property or try to destroy my relationship with my children,” her statement said.

“By taking my checkbooks, credit cards, disabling my car and making derogatory remarks about me in front of my children, my husband is attempting to intimidate, harass and manipulate me.”

A session before a court mediator was set for March 5.

Experts said a father who kills his children may be retaliating.

“The idea is [some fathers] realize the mother is using the children as a whip against them by taking the children away from them,” said Vertner Vergon, founder of Fathers of America, a fathers’ advocacy group in Los Angeles. “So they think, ‘You’re gonna take them away from me? I’ll take them away from you.’

“They’re acknowledging that the children are the pawn, the chattel and the weapon between them. It’s twisted, it’s crazy . . . .”

Times staff writer Lisa Richardson contributed to this story.

* YORBA LINDA SLAYING

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