A new angle in a tragic incident in West Jordan, Salt Lake City, Utah, has surfaced. Relatives of the wife who kept silent despite her husband’s abuse have stated that she feared being deported by ICE, which was why she kept silent. Sadly, her husband’s abuse only kept getting worse until he supposedly started a fire in their house, leading to the death of the family.
The incident and fire took place on the morning of July 18 in 8273 South 6430 West, and the West Jordan Fire Department, along with the West Jordan Police, found the bodies of the husband, the wife, and their son. Their daughter tried to escape, but unfortunately, she later died from her injuries in the University of Utah Hospital. Based on the Utah Police investigations, the husband seemingly caused the fire in an attempt to commit suicide while also murdering his wife and kids in the process.
Now, relatives of the family, as well as their neighbors, are holding a vigil in West Jordan, and the wife’s brother, Julio Matosgil, has spoken up about the incident. According to Julio Matosgil, his sister’s husband has long abused her, but she refrained from reporting him to the police out of fear that she might get deported.
“She was afraid to be deported because of her kids — because she came for a better future for them… I want you guys to remember them as beautiful people” according to Julio Matosgil, the wife’s brother, transcript courtesy of KUTV
It’s not clear what drove the father to allegedly commit such a tragic act and even drag his whole family with him, but it appears he left many signs of distress during the days and hours leading up to the arson and murder-suicide. The father notably called his boss on the day of the arson itself, telling him he’ll be late for work. Additionally, he sold his belongings in the days prior to the incident.
People Online Seem to Be Torn on the Angle
While many are still mourning the family’s shocking deaths, some people online have voiced their doubts on the angle, especially the one where the Utah wife was afraid of reporting her husband’s abuse. That’s because KUTV also mentioned, as per the police reports, that the police had previously responded to reports of domestic violence in the household in the past, unclear from whom the reports originated. Hence, victim-blaming comments like these below have disturbed the mourning atmosphere:
“This wasn’t true because police were called over their domestic dispute before. Situation has everything to do with staying being abused when they should have left,” says Joshua Griffith
Thankfully, such comments received a wrist-slap for a lack of empathy, as saying something like that after a whole family was murdered after being abused is not exactly sensible. Others have thus worried about how many people are enduring a similar kind of abuse, especially since victims now have to fear another factor in their relationships’ lopsided dynamics.
“Some of these comments are disgusting. Humans never cease to disappoint. Racism at its finest. Shame on you,” argues Jennifer Guevara
“How many women are trapped in similar situations??” wonders SnowOwl Sor-Lokken
