[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.brodenmickelsen.com\/blog\/texas-man-accused-killing-six-family-members-houston\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.brodenmickelsen.com\/blog\/texas-man-accused-killing-six-family-members-houston\/","headline":"Texas Man is Accused of Killing Six Family Members in Houston","name":"Texas Man is Accused of Killing Six Family Members in Houston","description":"Texas hit the headlines last week for one of the worst crimes seen in the Lone Star State for some time. A 33-year-old man stands accused of killing six members of his former wife\u2019s family, including four children in a home in suburban Houston. Reuters reported on an appearance in court by 33-year-old Ronald Lee...","datePublished":"2014-09-11","dateModified":"2022-09-06","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.brodenmickelsen.com\/blog\/author\/broden-mickelsen\/#Person","name":"Mick Mickelsen","url":"https:\/\/www.brodenmickelsen.com\/blog\/author\/broden-mickelsen\/","identifier":16,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/30690d9f76c45bf5d61434169e78762d673b1ac9b949489cf69f1c78d567fc27?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/30690d9f76c45bf5d61434169e78762d673b1ac9b949489cf69f1c78d567fc27?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Broden, Mickelsen LLP","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.brodenmickelsen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Broden-and-Mickelsen-Logo.png","url":"https:\/\/www.brodenmickelsen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Broden-and-Mickelsen-Logo.png","width":378,"height":77}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.brodenmickelsen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/lawyer-team-about-us.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.brodenmickelsen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/lawyer-team-about-us.jpg","width":806,"height":668},"url":"https:\/\/www.brodenmickelsen.com\/blog\/texas-man-accused-killing-six-family-members-houston\/","about":["Criminal Defense","Violent Crime"],"wordCount":411,"keywords":["conviction"],"articleBody":"Texas hit the headlines last week for one of the worst crimes seen in the Lone Star State for some time.A 33-year-old man stands accused of killing six members of his former wife\u2019s family, including four children in a home in suburban Houston.Reuters reported on an appearance in court by 33-year-old Ronald Lee Haskell on Friday after being charged on the previous day with capital murder in the shooting deaths of his former wife\u2019s sister, her husband and four of their kids, aged 4 to 14.Haskell is being held without bond. Police said he allegedly got into the home on Wednesday by posing as a delivery man. They claim he looked for his former wife and \u201cmethodically executed\u201d family members.The tragedy raises a number of questions which are pertinent to a defendant who could end up on death row if he is convicted.Doug Durham, Haskell\u2019s public defender, said Haskell had spent long periods in hospitals in Utah and California due to his history of mental illness and that he was not taking prescribed medication at the time of the killings in Houston. He is likely to face a hearing on his mental capacity.\u201cA grand jury will decide whether he will be tried for capital murder, which carries the possibility of the death penalty,\u201d reported Reuters.The killings again raise questions as to how a man with a mental history like Haskell\u2019s obtained a gun.\u201cTo no one\u2019s great surprise, Haskell had been arrested for domestic violence in 2008, and his ex-wife filed a protective order against him in 2013,\u201d reported The Slate.\u201cAll of which leads to the question: Considering the laws put in place, both on federal and state levels, to prevent domestic abusers from getting guns, how did Haskell get one?\u201dA report in Mother Jones stated a protective order imposed on Haskell should have prohibited him from owning guns. However last year Haskell\u2019s protective order was converted to a \u201cmutual restraining order\u201c as part of divorce and custody proceedings.\u201cThis crucial step likely meant that Haskell was legally allowed to have guns again, under both state and federal law,\u201d reported Mother Jones.When a tragedy such as this occurs, it raised many questions as to how loopholes can be closed in the law. Sadly, the criminal justice system often puts more energy into dealing with punishing the offender than into ensuring crimes like this can be prevented in the future."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.brodenmickelsen.com\/blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Texas Man is Accused of Killing Six Family Members in Houston","item":"https:\/\/www.brodenmickelsen.com\/blog\/texas-man-accused-killing-six-family-members-houston\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]