A short stay in a hospital psychiatric ward had not kept him from grasping at a vanishing marriage. He took to walking the 400 or so steps from his new home to Ms. Saavedra’s apartment — past a boxing gym, a pharmacy, two churches and a mosque — to watch who came and went. He followed her to Manhattan. He called their 16-year-old son, Uri, almost daily, asking about a man who he suspected was Ms. Saavedra’s boyfriend.On Ms. Saavedra’s 34th birthday, March 7, Mr. Uribe waited in the hall outside her second-floor apartment, this time without knocking. When Ms. Saavedra opened the door to take their 11-year-old daughter, Naiyela, to school, he pushed his way past the girl and forced Ms. Saavedra into her bedroom.
His father, shirtless, moved the 12-inch kitchen knife from one hand to the other before plunging it into his own rib cage, forcefully enough to pierce his heart. Mr. Uribe’s dead body crumpled on top of his wife’s.
She did not understand the gravity of what was happening until she saw Naiyela, weeping, emerge onto the sidewalk with a small black-and-white dog. Uri walked outside with blood all over his hands.The cases often take shape out of the Police Department’s view — less than one-third of victims and abusers in domestic homicides have had previous contact with officers — frustrating an agency that is trying to home in on the most violent and vulnerable people.The killing of Ms. Saavedra, who lived in a private, five-story walk-up building, emerged from the same swirl of jealousy, mental instability and silence that makes it difficult for investigators across the city to anticipate domestic violence.Ms. Saavedra told relatives that she was staying with Mr. Uribe for the sake of their children, despite the years of marital problems.
She did not understand the gravity of what was happening until she saw Naiyela, weeping, emerge onto the sidewalk with a small black-and-white dog. Uri walked outside with blood all over his hands.The cases often take shape out of the Police Department’s view — less than one-third of victims and abusers in domestic homicides have had previous contact with officers — frustrating an agency that is trying to home in on the most violent and vulnerable people.The killing of Ms. Saavedra, who lived in a private, five-story walk-up building, emerged from the same swirl of jealousy, mental instability and silence that makes it difficult for investigators across the city to anticipate domestic violence.Ms. Saavedra told relatives that she was staying with Mr. Uribe for the sake of their children, despite the years of marital problems.
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