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At the Washington Times: Why aren’t stalked women ever told to get a gun for self-defense?

John Lott - Crime Prevention Research Center | Published on 2/22/2023
On this past Tuesday night, Ewen Dewitt brutally murdered 40-year-old Julie Minogue with an axe in her Milford, Connecticut home. Two of her children were at home when the murder occurred. Dewitt, an ex-boyfriend, had been stalking her.

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“I’m scared he’s going to kill me,” she told police. In 2019, she had a protective order issued. Just a week before the murder, a judge had granted her a full no-contact restraining order.

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The case clearly illustrates the limits of protective orders when the stalker is intent on murdering the victim. If the murderer is already facing the possibility of life imprisonment without parole for first-degree murder, how will an additional five more years in prison and a $5,000 fine deter such murders?