Former Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax - murder/suicide?

[Anonymous]

For help leaving a potentially violent domestic situation: call 703-246-4573
Fairfax County Domestic Violence Action Center (DVAC)

They will review different options and explain what the Virginia laws actually are. There is a lot of mis-information posted as fact in this thread.

In *crisis* situations: 911 or
"If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse, please call our Domestic and Sexual Violence 24-Hour Hotline at 703-360-7273"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is reported they were in the middle of a messy divorce. So awful.

Ugh. Another layer of awful.

In Virginia, you must be separated for a year in order to get divorced and you can live in the same house while being separated (if you move you it can be seen by the court as abandoning your claim to the house, happened to my cousin). Reports are that the couple had started this process so I am not surprised they were both still living in the house.

Fairfax made an accusation against his wife earlier this year that she had physically assaulted him. Apparently she had cameras in the house and after reviewing the footage the police determined the assault claim wasn't valid and there was a scheduled upcoming court date re this incident which could be what triggered the current awful events.

There were 2 teen sons in the house. This is absolutely awful.

I hope this is a wake up call to change the law re: leaving the home. It forces women into staying in a potentially very dangerous situation.

That and the 1 year separation. What is the purpose??
Tragic.

Maryland recently shortened their one year separation requirement to six months if there are no children in the marriage. I think the rationale is that the state has an interest in wanting couples to be sure they need to get a divorce before they do? Not supporting this.

Virginia has that law too. Six months with no kids, but that wouldn't have changed anything here.

In Virginia if you file for divorce on grounds like cruelty there's no separation period, but then you're basically litigating almost a DV case (it's not quite that hard, but it's not easy) plus handling the difficulties of divorce.

Hopefully without wading too much into the controversy, I do hope this case highlights how dangerous the period after separation is for women in divorce cases in far too many cases, and perhaps has an impact on Virginia law. It's not just the ability to physically leave - there's so much more, though certainly not less.

She filed one year and one day after the date of separation. They had been separated since June/July 2024 according to her filing, so she filed in July 2025. It appears the issue may have been over the house, and if either of them left/moved out they abandon their rights to claim it. This is what kept her in jeopardy if she felt she couldn't leave. The required separation time was over.

This is not accurate for Virginia. I left the house because of DV, stayed out for the duration of the divorce litigation in court, and still ended up with the house in the end. If kids are involved and divorce is contentious, you can make a very strong argument for living apart from the other parent (in the best interest of the children).
The way my attorney explained it: a judge could question my parenting judgement if I returned home, knowing that both of us being in the same home would not be healthy for the kids.

Thank you for speaking truth. Always protect children from predators.

[Anonymous]

I just read in WaPo that he was ordered to move out by 30 April. And had granted temporary custody to his wife. He had also bought a gun recently.

How terrible. I feel for the kids and their families.

[Anonymous]

This reminds me of when my friend and his mother were murdered back in the early 90s.

She gave him divorce papers and then he bought a gun shortly after. Then, A week later her murdered her and their son.

Sounds like this tragedy is premeditated since Fairfax bought a gun recently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe his wife was a dentist. The best thing you can do is get out as fast as you can after you file if you're afraid for your life. File a restraining order and take the kids. Men are predators who will kill you while pregnant or going through a divorce. Virginia judges are not pro-women.

+1. They are surprising number of murder suicides committed by men while going through a divorce. Maybe it's not surprising.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe his wife was a dentist. The best thing you can do is get out as fast as you can after you file if you're afraid for your life. File a restraining order and take the kids. Men are predators who will kill you while pregnant or going through a divorce. Virginia judges are not pro-women.

+1. They are surprising number of murder suicides committed by men while going through a divorce. Maybe it's not surprising.

https://bjs.ojp.gov/female-murder-victims-and-victim-offender-relationship-2021

34 percent of women who are victims of murder are killed by an intimate partner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe his wife was a dentist. The best thing you can do is get out as fast as you can after you file if you're afraid for your life. File a restraining order and take the kids. Men are predators who will kill you while pregnant or going through a divorce. Virginia judges are not pro-women.

+1. They are surprising number of murder suicides committed by men while going through a divorce. Maybe it's not surprising.

Maybe that should be a hold on a gun permit. If your spouse has filed for divorce there’s an X waiting period on your gun application.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This reminds me of when my friend and his mother were murdered back in the early 90s.

She gave him divorce papers and then he bought a gun shortly after. Then, A week later her murdered her and their son.

Sounds like this tragedy is premeditated since Fairfax bought a gun recently.

According to the divorce filings, he bought the gun in 2022. "Justin Fairfax bought a handgun in 2022, the judge wrote."

[Anonymous]

As a high school teacher what gets me is how if it hadn’t ended this way that night, the son still would’ve been in school the next day after what was clearly a blowout fight between his parents in the midst of a messy divorce he’d been living in for a couple years. Sometimes we just don’t realize exactly what kids are dealing with at home. I’m really thinking of the kids, their whole world is gone.

[Anonymous]

From WTOP.com today:


"Cerina Fairfax had testified in court that her husband drank daily, and that his living space was littered with empty wine bottles and piles of dirty laundry. He bought a handgun in 2022 with money intended for horseback riding lessons for their children, court records showed.

According to court documents, Justin Fairfax’s “mental and emotional health” suffered after two setbacks: his unsuccessful 2013 campaign for the Democratic nomination for attorney general and the 2019 sexual assault scandal that ended his political career. After both, he drank heavily and withdrew from his family, but while it took about a month to recover from the first setback, he never bounced back from the second."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is reported they were in the middle of a messy divorce. So awful.

Ugh. Another layer of awful.

In Virginia, you must be separated for a year in order to get divorced and you can live in the same house while being separated (if you move you it can be seen by the court as abandoning your claim to the house, happened to my cousin). Reports are that the couple had started this process so I am not surprised they were both still living in the house.

Fairfax made an accusation against his wife earlier this year that she had physically assaulted him. Apparently she had cameras in the house and after reviewing the footage the police determined the assault claim wasn't valid and there was a scheduled upcoming court date re this incident which could be what triggered the current awful events.

There were 2 teen sons in the house. This is absolutely awful.

I hope this is a wake up call to change the law re: leaving the home. It forces women into staying in a potentially very dangerous situation.

While I don't disagree, Virginia is very soft on domestic violence. My ex got an expungement after trying to drive us into telephone polls and physically injuring both of us when we tried to leave the situation.

That said, in this situation there wasn't anything reported to the police before this to potentially trigger protections that are too weak to prevent a murder anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe TMZ is covering this… Sounds like court documents say he stopped paying the mortgage, stopped private school payments and did not pay child support in the last few months.

https://t.co/1mS3cPhIDS

And if he was convicted of something like filing a false police report, there goes his bar license and his ability to pay for anything going forward (including a roof over his own head.)

This is why I never called the police when my lawyer husband assaulted me. Which means I couldn’t prove abuse in court. Which is why we share 50/50 custody.

It isn't guaranteed that it would be less than 50/50 with DV

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a high school teacher what gets me is how if it hadn’t ended this way that night, the son still would’ve been in school the next day after what was clearly a blowout fight between his parents in the midst of a messy divorce he’d been living in for a couple years. Sometimes we just don’t realize exactly what kids are dealing with at home. I’m really thinking of the kids, their whole world is gone.

Thank you, PP, for this perspective. And thank you for caring about students, which you clearly do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe his wife was a dentist. The best thing you can do is get out as fast as you can after you file if you're afraid for your life. File a restraining order and take the kids. Men are predators who will kill you while pregnant or going through a divorce. Virginia judges are not pro-women.

+1. They are surprising number of murder suicides committed by men while going through a divorce. Maybe it's not surprising.

Maybe that should be a hold on a gun permit. If your spouse has filed for divorce there’s an X waiting period on your gun application.

But this is also a period where a woman might feel the greatest need to own a weapon for self defense.

[Anonymous]

Could there be processes that get guns temporarily confiscated during family law proceedings if there has been red flag behaviors like alcoholism and fights? Just getting rid of the easy access might help in situations like this.