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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He was served paperwork yesterday re alleged assault claim he made against his wife according to WRIC in Richmond.

His wife was shot in the basement and then he went upstairs to the second floor and shot himself. They have 2 teens (this report says one boy and one girl). The son called 911.

https://www.wric.com/news/virginia-news/northern-virginia/justin-fairfax-murder-suicide/

He made the conscious decision to first murder his wife in the basement while his children were in the house, then go to the second floor and, like a coward, take himself out (thus ducking all responsibility for his actions).

And yet: in the wake of his funeral, many are posting glowing tributes to his political works and erasing the identity of the mother and wife he chose to murder?

Seriously?

Completely tone-deaf social media posts are everywhere now.

He was responsible for red flag laws in Virginia. What a hero.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot understand why people insist on revising history when a tragedy like this takes place.

I've not seen any evidence whatsoever that Justin was an abuser and that Cerina was a domestic violence victim. The only physical violence documented in the divorce records is of Cerina hitting him. There are dozens of examples of him being a shitty human and an alcoholic. But that's not being an abuser and that isn't domestic violence.

Cerina's bestie went on record saying that Cerina was not afraid of him, and that she'd agreed to leave immediately if she ever did feel frightened. She wasn't a victim. All indications are that she was strong and stable as she fought for what she wanted in the divorce.

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15744657/justin-fairfax-estranged-wife-shooting.html

Why is it that we have to create these false stories about her being a DV victim in order to make sense of a tragedy like this? The simplest answer is usually the right answer. Access to a handgun when someone is depressed and drinking and undergoing a hotly contested divorce or another of life's most stressful moments leads to disaster.

Weird take. If she wasn’t scared of him she obviously should have been. And the broader point is that no amount of advantage in a divorce is worth your household devolving into a War of the Roses scenario with surveillance cameras and cabinet locks and one spouse locked in a room drunk with a gun. I am NOT blaming her because I also let things go way too far including physically in my divorce. In Cerina’s honor let’s figure out how to enable women to get out ASAP.

If Cerina left taking the kids, Fairfax would have pressed charges for parental abduction. He's was still a lawyer and knew the system. She would have been found guilty and spent a year in jail. It's not like she could afford a decent lawyer.

Not true. If there is no custody order in place, then it is not parental abduction.

The judge granted primary custody to his wife, Cerina Fairfax, with visitation rights for Justin contingent upon passing Breathalyzer tests before and after seeing the children.

Which means that she could leave with kids and live with them separate and apart while divorce is pending. She had primary physical custody.

Fairfax had visitation rights. She had to keep in contact and make the children available. She couldn't deny him access.

Relocating to a rented apartment a 2 miles away does not equal denying access to the children. Many couples share children all the time. But I believe living separately (truly separately, not at the same house) would take an edge off and de-escalate any anger between the couples.

How do you all seem to not understand that the trigger for the murder was him being forced to move out? Like no, moving out was not going to de-escalate that homicidal situation.

How do you not understand that if she moved out from the marital residence, then there would be no court order requiring him to move out. She wanted the house that is why she stayed there. Sometimes you have to give an idiot more money to continue to live happy life after the divorce. She was staying and fighting for 1) house and 2) spousal support that she would be required to pay him. Otherwise, she would have signed property settlement agreement long long time ago.

Also, she was paying all the bills, including the mortgage. Maybe she didn’t have enough money to continue paying the mortgage and having another residence while she sifted through the divorce talks.

Not everyone is made of money. The house could’ve gone into foreclosure had she moved out and stopped paying.

Not everyone can get a bail out from mommy and daddy nor do they have endless funds.

Exactly. At one time he was making well over half a million dollars. She was probably making about the same. Because of that, she was working with half of what she was used to. That had to be incredibly difficult on top of everything else she was enduring.

She was a part-time dentist in private practice. The average full-time dentist in DC is about 225k. As a part-time dentist, she probably made considerably less.

He was the breadwinner generating over 400k in a year at one point.

I think that one point was an anomaly and he wasn’t doing anywhere near as well as that generally. He represented one victim of a bad police shooting in Virginia Beach who got a huge settlement but in doubt that was the norm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot understand why people insist on revising history when a tragedy like this takes place.

I've not seen any evidence whatsoever that Justin was an abuser and that Cerina was a domestic violence victim. The only physical violence documented in the divorce records is of Cerina hitting him. There are dozens of examples of him being a shitty human and an alcoholic. But that's not being an abuser and that isn't domestic violence.

Cerina's bestie went on record saying that Cerina was not afraid of him, and that she'd agreed to leave immediately if she ever did feel frightened. She wasn't a victim. All indications are that she was strong and stable as she fought for what she wanted in the divorce.

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15744657/justin-fairfax-estranged-wife-shooting.html

Why is it that we have to create these false stories about her being a DV victim in order to make sense of a tragedy like this? The simplest answer is usually the right answer. Access to a handgun when someone is depressed and drinking and undergoing a hotly contested divorce or another of life's most stressful moments leads to disaster.

Weird take. If she wasn’t scared of him she obviously should have been. And the broader point is that no amount of advantage in a divorce is worth your household devolving into a War of the Roses scenario with surveillance cameras and cabinet locks and one spouse locked in a room drunk with a gun. I am NOT blaming her because I also let things go way too far including physically in my divorce. In Cerina’s honor let’s figure out how to enable women to get out ASAP.

If Cerina left taking the kids, Fairfax would have pressed charges for parental abduction. He's was still a lawyer and knew the system. She would have been found guilty and spent a year in jail. It's not like she could afford a decent lawyer.

Not true. If there is no custody order in place, then it is not parental abduction.

The judge granted primary custody to his wife, Cerina Fairfax, with visitation rights for Justin contingent upon passing Breathalyzer tests before and after seeing the children.

Which means that she could leave with kids and live with them separate and apart while divorce is pending. She had primary physical custody.

Fairfax had visitation rights. She had to keep in contact and make the children available. She couldn't deny him access.

Relocating to a rented apartment a 2 miles away does not equal denying access to the children. Many couples share children all the time. But I believe living separately (truly separately, not at the same house) would take an edge off and de-escalate any anger between the couples.

How do you all seem to not understand that the trigger for the murder was him being forced to move out? Like no, moving out was not going to de-escalate that homicidal situation.

How do you not understand that if she moved out from the marital residence, then there would be no court order requiring him to move out. She wanted the house that is why she stayed there. Sometimes you have to give an idiot more money to continue to live happy life after the divorce. She was staying and fighting for 1) house and 2) spousal support that she would be required to pay him. Otherwise, she would have signed property settlement agreement long long time ago.

Also, she was paying all the bills, including the mortgage. Maybe she didn’t have enough money to continue paying the mortgage and having another residence while she sifted through the divorce talks.

Not everyone is made of money. The house could’ve gone into foreclosure had she moved out and stopped paying.

Not everyone can get a bail out from mommy and daddy nor do they have endless funds.

Exactly. At one time he was making well over half a million dollars. She was probably making about the same. Because of that, she was working with half of what she was used to. That had to be incredibly difficult on top of everything else she was enduring.

She was a part-time dentist in private practice. The average full-time dentist in DC is about 225k. As a part-time dentist, she probably made considerably less.

He was the breadwinner generating over 400k in a year at one point.

I think that one point was an anomaly and he wasn’t doing anywhere near as well as that generally. He represented one victim of a bad police shooting in Virginia Beach who got a huge settlement but in doubt that was the norm.

I mean, he was also a big law attorney for a decade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot understand why people insist on revising history when a tragedy like this takes place.

I've not seen any evidence whatsoever that Justin was an abuser and that Cerina was a domestic violence victim. The only physical violence documented in the divorce records is of Cerina hitting him. There are dozens of examples of him being a shitty human and an alcoholic. But that's not being an abuser and that isn't domestic violence.

Cerina's bestie went on record saying that Cerina was not afraid of him, and that she'd agreed to leave immediately if she ever did feel frightened. She wasn't a victim. All indications are that she was strong and stable as she fought for what she wanted in the divorce.

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15744657/justin-fairfax-estranged-wife-shooting.html

Why is it that we have to create these false stories about her being a DV victim in order to make sense of a tragedy like this? The simplest answer is usually the right answer. Access to a handgun when someone is depressed and drinking and undergoing a hotly contested divorce or another of life's most stressful moments leads to disaster.

Weird take. If she wasn’t scared of him she obviously should have been. And the broader point is that no amount of advantage in a divorce is worth your household devolving into a War of the Roses scenario with surveillance cameras and cabinet locks and one spouse locked in a room drunk with a gun. I am NOT blaming her because I also let things go way too far including physically in my divorce. In Cerina’s honor let’s figure out how to enable women to get out ASAP.

If Cerina left taking the kids, Fairfax would have pressed charges for parental abduction. He's was still a lawyer and knew the system. She would have been found guilty and spent a year in jail. It's not like she could afford a decent lawyer.

Not true. If there is no custody order in place, then it is not parental abduction.

The judge granted primary custody to his wife, Cerina Fairfax, with visitation rights for Justin contingent upon passing Breathalyzer tests before and after seeing the children.

Which means that she could leave with kids and live with them separate and apart while divorce is pending. She had primary physical custody.

Fairfax had visitation rights. She had to keep in contact and make the children available. She couldn't deny him access.

Relocating to a rented apartment a 2 miles away does not equal denying access to the children. Many couples share children all the time. But I believe living separately (truly separately, not at the same house) would take an edge off and de-escalate any anger between the couples.

How do you all seem to not understand that the trigger for the murder was him being forced to move out? Like no, moving out was not going to de-escalate that homicidal situation.

How do you not understand that if she moved out from the marital residence, then there would be no court order requiring him to move out. She wanted the house that is why she stayed there. Sometimes you have to give an idiot more money to continue to live happy life after the divorce. She was staying and fighting for 1) house and 2) spousal support that she would be required to pay him. Otherwise, she would have signed property settlement agreement long long time ago.

Also, she was paying all the bills, including the mortgage. Maybe she didn’t have enough money to continue paying the mortgage and having another residence while she sifted through the divorce talks.

Not everyone is made of money. The house could’ve gone into foreclosure had she moved out and stopped paying.

Not everyone can get a bail out from mommy and daddy nor do they have endless funds.

Exactly. At one time he was making well over half a million dollars. She was probably making about the same. Because of that, she was working with half of what she was used to. That had to be incredibly difficult on top of everything else she was enduring.

She was a part-time dentist in private practice. The average full-time dentist in DC is about 225k. As a part-time dentist, she probably made considerably less.

He was the breadwinner generating over 400k in a year at one point.

I think that one point was an anomaly and he wasn’t doing anywhere near as well as that generally. He represented one victim of a bad police shooting in Virginia Beach who got a huge settlement but in doubt that was the norm.

I mean, he was also a big law attorney for a decade?

Not the most recent decade.

[Anonymous]

She married a loser. Too bad the laws in Virginia are pro-man. She was following the law and that got her killed. Unfortunately you need to be very wealthy to leave abuse.

[Anonymous]

"Also, she was paying all the bills, including the mortgage. Maybe she didn’t have enough money to continue paying the mortgage and having another residence while she sifted through the divorce talks.

Not everyone is made of money. The house could’ve gone into foreclosure had she moved out and stopped paying.

Not everyone can get a bail out from mommy and daddy nor do they have endless funds."

Some basic facts:
In VA, judges get a ton (too much IMO) of discretion, but the default is 50/50 asset split and child custody. The higher earner has to pay the lower earner alimony to keep them at the same lifestyle they had during the marriage. At 20 years (like the Fairfax marriage), judges will often grant lifetime alimony for the lower earner. It is super common in UMC families for the court to order the higher earner (Cerina) to cover the low/no earner's living expenses (a separate apartment for themself or for the spouse) until there is a final order. Also, just because you move out doesn't mean you get to stop paying then mortgage. Doesn't everyone know someone in VA who kept paying the mortgage during their divorce while also paying for a new place to stay?! This happens all the time if there's a SAHP.

VA's divorce laws are designed for a world in which a white woman SAHM is left by her high income husband at the age of 45. She has been a "good woman" and devoted her life to caring for her children and the family home, and we don't want to see her be left destitute because her husband wants to run off with his young secretary. Her lack of recent work history/inability to get a job is considered to be no fault of her own, and that's why VA hands out alimony to a non-working spouse without asking many questions. The divorce court system here doesn't know what to do when that non-working spouse is a Black man with a law degree from Columbia who can't find a job or get clients because he got caught in a career-ending scandal. And it certainly doesn't know what to do when the high-earner who wants to get out of the marriage is a Black woman dentist who built her own successful dental practice and doesn't want to share everything with a loser husband.

Cerina was by no means down and out financially. She OWNED the dental practice and had lucrative real estate holdings. Correction: Cerina and Justin CO-owned all of that, just like they co-owned his failing law practice. ALL of that was uncontested marital property since they married so young. She insisted on paying to keep the kids in expensive private schools even after knowing they were divorcing. If she truly couldn't afford to pay for an apartment in the meantime while the divorce worked its way through the court system, she could have stopped spending her money on those expensive schools ($56K/year for both kids). Also, she was paying a ton of money to fight the VA default rules on divorce and had an expensive attorney. Meanwhile, Justin was representing himself in court even though he had no experience with that area of the law. Yes, he's a loser and a POS for destroying his family. But that doesn't mean she was broke or that she was not fighting to keep from having to give him more money in the divorce (and rightly so). In every state, if you don't fight the default, you can get in and out of divorce court quickly and without spending much money.

[Anonymous]

Didn't they just start the divorce proceedings? You act like this was going on for years. A lot of people say its best to keep things the same when going through divorce. The man murdered her. She did nothing wrong. Nothing.

[Anonymous]

Also if she had left him on the streets earlier he could have just decided to do this all the same. Crazy people will be crazy. He knew he wanted to kill himself so there was nothing stopping him from doing it earlier. He was just a dangerous man.

[Anonymous]

"Didn't they just start the divorce proceedings? You act like this was going on for years. A lot of people say its best to keep things the same when going through divorce. The man murdered her. She did nothing wrong. Nothing."

They separated officially to start the VA clock tolling in June 2024. A year later, she filed the papers for the divorce as soon as she could. 10 months later he killed her. She didn't move out at any point, nor did she rent a place for him to go.

[Anonymous]

In VA, anyone married 20 years is legally not able to "leave someone on the street." They both owned that house and their businesses that they built while married. At 20 years of marriage you're almost certainly going to pay alimony for life to a spouse who is unable to support himself, like this drunk man with a ruined reputation. I sure wouldn't hire him to be my attorney and I don't think anyone else would either. He's be entitled to half of their assets.

[Anonymous]

How long were they married? And she would need to give him 1/2 her dental practice when they divorced.

[Anonymous]

They married on June 17, 2006. So, they were just shy of 20 years.

https://www.theroot.com/behind-the-violent-end-of-justin-fairfax-s-marriage-2000100550