Texas 'Family Killer' Collapses In Courtroom

Ronald Haskell's own mother took out a restraining order days before he allegedly shot dead his sister-in-law's family.


The defendant's legs give way as the charges are read to him


Stephen and Katie Stay and their children

A man accused of shooting dead four children and their parents execution-style while looking for his former wife has collapsed twice at a court in Houston.

Ronald Lee Haskell, 33, was appearing for a procedural hearing on charges of capital murder, which can carry the death penalty.

He is accused of killing his ex-wife's sister, Katie Stay, 33, her husband, Stephen Stay, 39, and the children, ranging in age from four to 14, at their suburban home on Wednesday evening.

The shackled defendant's legs gave way as a prosecutor read the charges against him before a state district judge on Friday.

Police lifted him to his feet, but his knees buckled again about a minute later.

The defendant's court-appointed lawyer, Doug Durham, told AP news agency it appears the accused fainted.

Officials say Haskell tied up the Stay family and made them lie face-down on the floor before each was shot in the back of the head, after they refused to tell him where he could find his ex-wife.

The 15-year-old daughter, Cassidy Stay, was the only one to survive after playing dead when a bullet grazed her head.

Despite having a fractured skull, she was able to call police and alert them that the gunman was planning to shoot other relatives.

It has also emerged that Haskell's ex-wife and even his own mother took out restraining orders against him.

His estranged spouse, Melannie Haskell, went to court after he dragged her by the hair and struck her in front of their children at their home in Logan, Utah, in June 2008.

And less than a week before the massacre, Haskell's mother obtained a protective order after he physically prevented her from leaving the house to call for help as they argued on July 2.

The gunman led police on a nearly half-hour car chase before surrendering after a stand-off lasting almost three hours.

Authorities say Haskell went to the Stay home and held the children at gunpoint until their parents returned, when he began shooting.

According to court documents, he kicked open the door when Cassidy told him her parents were not home.

Haskell was said to be shaking during Friday's court appearance before he collapsed.

"I think reality is setting in," Assistant Harris County District Attorney Tammy Thomas told the Houston Chronicle.

http://news.sky.com/story/1299409/texas-family-killer-collapses-in-courtroom

Oh my God. A whole beautiful and innocent family just blown away.
Those poor people. There are no words. None at all.

Death is going to be too quick and too nice for him.

These things make me really want to believe in a heaven, somewhere beautiful for this family to be in together.

Very upsetting to read.

I agree, and holding those children until the parents came home, they must have been so frightened.

eddie wrote:Oh my God. A whole beautiful and innocent family just blown away.
Those poor people. There are no words. None at all.

Death is going to be too quick and too nice for him.

These things make me really want to believe in a heaven, somewhere beautiful for this family to be in together.

Very upsetting to read.

Its the only way to move ahead xx

I'm going to,sound awful but I'd have given up my sister for,my family's lives.

eddie wrote:I'm going to,sound awful but I'd have given up my sister for,my family's lives.

I think they probably knew he was going to kill them anyway, and they might not have known where she was.

He knows he is going to fry for his evil crime that's why his legs gave way . Why bother with a trial he i guilty just lock him away until his date of execution .

I am normally against the death penalty but in this case he deserves to die for what he did , pure evil .

eddie wrote:I'm going to,sound awful but I'd have given up my sister for,my family's lives.

me too edds x

He is the closest to evil I've seen. Maybe Richard Allen Davis...