Mothers of murdered women speak to warn others
Kathy Kunco Makowski, mother of Karissa Kunco, pictured, speaks about her daughter during a domestic violence rally Saturday.
Carol Furmanek wears a button of her daughter, Rhonda Furmanek, while talking about domestic violence. Rhonda Furmanek was murdered in 1994.
According to Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern PA, a woman is beaten every 15 seconds, and 2,000 to 4,000 women are killed by their partners every year in the United States.
Rhonda Furmanek and Karissa Kunco were two of those women.
Their mothers, Carol Furmanek and Kathy Kunco Makowski, spoke Saturday about the last moments of their daughters’ lives without moderating their brutal deaths.
Carol Furmanek outlined the death of Rhonda Furmanek, who was stabbed to death Dec. 1, 1994, the day she was set to testify against her estranged husband, William Edward Patterson. While Patterson was in Greene County jail on charges of raping and assaulting Rhonda, police determined he arranged for his friend, John Fitzerald Lavigne, and his girlfriend, Tammy Dutton Jones, to kill Rhonda.
Makowski told how Karissa Kunco’s throat was slashed by her ex-boyfriend, Jordan Clemens. Karissa was found Jan. 12, 2012, in a wooded area of Mt. Pleasant Township, the day after she was reported missing.
Carol Furmanek and Makowski share these tragedies to help others.
“If you find yourself in an abusive relationship, please don’t stay. Get out while you still can,” Furmanek said during a rally at LeMoyne Community Center, East Washington. “If you think domestic violence could never happen to someone you care about, think again.”
The rally marked the end of “No More” week, which aims to raise public awareness to end domestic violence and sexual assault.
The event was organized by Suzanne Kelley, sister-in-law of Vincent “Mystro” Kelley, who was shot and killed while attempting to stop a bank robbery in 2013. Speakers included Alexandra Brooks of Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern PA; Assistant District Attorney Kristin Clingerman; state Rep. Brandon Neuman, D-North Strabane; Washington Mayor Scott Putnam; Mary Jo Podgurski, director of Washington Health System Teen Outreach; and State Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Carroll, who discussed a bill she introduced, “Tierne’s Law,” which she said would help protect victims of domestic violence.
Named for Tierne Ewing, who was abducted and shot to death Aug. 30 by her estranged husband, the bill would allow magisterial district judges to use a risk-assessment tool to determine whether a defendant poses a danger to a victim when setting bail.
“I meet people through tragedy. They become family,” Kelley said. “We’ve got to fix this system.”