Hi all,
This shooting was reported in today's (Thursday's) NY Times online.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/a/AP-Socialite-Shooting.html
What I found particularly interesting was Dittman's (chair of the
counseling department) statement, "... and I knew that he was
unstable."
For those who know more about the rights and responsibilities of
therapists, did he just talk himself into a lawsuit or, worse, criminal
charges?
Curiously,
Sue
***************************
June 1, 2000
Socialites Dead in Pa. Shooting
A.P. INDEXES: TOP STORIES | NEWS | SPORTS | BUSINESS |
TECHNOLOGY | ENTERTAINMENT
Filed at 9:26 a.m. EDT
By The Associated Press
HAVERFORD, Pa. (AP) -- A divorced couple from two of
Philadelphia's most prominent families had some sort of
confrontation that
ended with the man shooting his ex-wife to death, then killing
himself,
police said.
Mark Hampton Biddle, 49, an Ardmore lawyer who lived in St.
Davids,
was found dead Wednesday outside the rear entrance of his
ex-wife's
suburban home with a .38-caliber revolver by his side, police
said. He
had shot himself in the head, police said.
Melinda Clothier Biddle, 41, had multiple gunshot wounds and
was
pronounced dead on arrival at Bryn Mawr Hospital, police said.
``It was just a very, very difficult marriage,'' said Mike
Dittman, chairman
of the counseling department at Philadelphia College of Bible
in
Langhorne, where Ms. Biddle was an adjunct professor.
Dittman wouldn't give specifics of the couple's problems, but
said Ms.
Biddle spoke about them.
``I never know what to expect in divorce settings where
certain men or
women are unstable, and I knew that he was unstable,'' Dittman
said.
Others said Biddle's actions were uncharacteristic.
``He was so positive and so upbeat and very mild-mannered,''
said
Hobart G. Cawood, former superintendent of Independence Hall
National Park, who worked closely with Biddle about a decade
ago to
get more government funding to refurbish the park. ``It's just
not in the
character of the Mark Biddle I knew. Something must have
happened to
him in the divorce.''
The Biddles finalized their divorce in February, and Mark
Biddle recently
remarried. There was no history of domestic violence, Lower
Merion
Township police Capt. Michael McGrath said.
Neighbors said Biddle confronted his ex-wife by the rear
entrance of her
home Wednesday morning, and had ``some sort of conversation''
followed by gunshots, McGrath said.
Their 16-year-old daughter and a housekeeper were home at the
time
and were not harmed. Their two sons, ages 14 and 11, were at
school.
The children were taken to stay with relatives, police said.
``Mark Biddle's motivation for this attack on his former wife
is still under
investigation,'' McGrath said. He said investigators
interviewed Biddle's
current wife, but would not discuss what was said.
Ms. Biddle was the daughter of Philadelphia attorney Isaac H.
``Quarty''
Clothier IV, whose great-great-great-grandfather co-founded
the
department store Strawbridge & Clothier in 1868. In 1996, the
company
-- then Philadephia's last family-owned department store chain
-- was
sold for $480 million to the May Department Stores Co.
Biddle, a descendant of 19th-century financier and statesman
Nicholas
Biddle, was president of the law firm of Biddle & Colletti
P.C. He was
chairman of the Philadelphia Bar Association's Computer Law
Committee and a member of American Bar Association committees
regarding information technology and other high-tech subjects.
***************************
--
Sue Frantz, Asst Prof of Psych [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Faculty Office Bldg, 2400 Scenic Drive Office: (505)439-3731
New Mexico State Univ. - Alamogordo Fax: (505)439-3802
Alamogordo, NM 88310 USA http://web.nmsu.edu/~sfrantz
