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Murder of Melissa Batten

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Murder of Melissa Batten
LocationRedmond, Washington, US
DateJuly 29, 2008 (Pacific Time Zone)
Attack type
Murder
Deaths2 (including the perpetrator)
PerpetratorJoseph Batten

Melissa Brooks Batten (March 2, 1972 – July 29, 2008),[1] a software development engineer, was murdered by her husband Joseph Eugene Batten (January 23, 1972 – July 29, 2008),[2][3] a video game programmer, in Redmond, Washington, United States. Joseph immediately committed suicide after the murder.

Melissa had taken out an order of protection against her husband on July 21, eight days before he murdered her.

Background

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Early lives and education

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Melissa Brooks Batten,[3] the victim, was a graduate of Harvard Law.[4] Joseph Batten was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia on January 23, 1972.[3] Joseph earned a degree in mathematics from Marshall University.[4]

Careers

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Melissa was a public defender working on domestic cases for the Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Public Defender's Office from 2000 to 2002.[4][5] Melissa moved to Washington state in 2002, and soon after started working at Microsoft Game Studios, where Joseph was employed as a programmer for video games.[4] Melissa was credited on Halo 3 and Gears of War as a Software Development Engineer in Test, and was also working in a support role with developer Rare on the Xbox 360.[5][6] Joseph later worked at Wizards of the Coast as a Senior Project Manager.[3][4] Joseph was also the project head for Gleemax; on July 28, 2008, Wizards announced that Gleemax would be shut down so that they could concentrate on D&D Insider.[7]

The Battens lived together in Kent, Washington.[8]

Murder-suicide

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On June 5, 2008, after learning of an affair Melissa had, Joseph confronted her and at one point he pointed a gun at her, and then at his own head.[8][9] Melissa moved into a friend's apartment in Redmond, Washington, soon after, but Joseph learned where she was staying.[8] A mutual friend was able to convince him to sell his .22-caliber handgun back to the dealer, but Joseph later purchased a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver and a 9-millimeter Taurus semiautomatic.[10] Joseph broke into her place of work at the Microsoft campus on July 16 while she was not in town, and when security guards caught him he was told he was not allowed to return to the campus.[8] Melissa told police that he tried to call her over 30 times on July 19 and 20.[8] Melissa got a protection order against Joseph on July 21, which said he was not allowed to come within 100 yards of her, and was served to him on July 25.[8] She had begun the process of filing for divorce.[11]

Soon after 9 AM on July 29, 2008, Melissa left the apartment to go to work.[12][13] Joseph approached her while she was in the parking lot and fired several shots into her torso with a 9-mm handgun, and then shot himself in the head.[12] Investigators at the scene discovered fuzzy handcuffs, hardcore pornography, an 8-inch cutting knife, plus $6,000 in the trunk of Joseph's Mercedes sedan.[4]

Aftermath

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Microsoft provided grief counseling to Melissa's surviving relatives, and helped family and colleagues organize memorials.[13] Washington state legislator Roger Goodman cited the Batten case in the passage of a 2014 state gun control law that involved domestic violence.[14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JGG3-83P Archived 2015-12-22 at the Wayback Machine : accessed 19 December 2015), Melissa C Brooks, 29 Jul 2008; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
  2. ^ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JTJF-RMC Archived 2015-12-22 at the Wayback Machine : accessed 19 December 2015), Joseph E Batten, 29 Jul 2008; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
  3. ^ a b c d "Joseph E. Batten". The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. August 16, 2008. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Alarming evidence adds to murder-suicide mystery". Redmond Reporter. August 7, 2008. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Good, Owen (August 3, 2008). "Xbox Developer Dead in Murder-Suicide". Kotaku. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  6. ^ Chalk, Andy (August 5, 2008). "Xbox Developer Killed In Murder-Suicide". The Escapist. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  7. ^ Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. p. 301. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Murdered woman had protection order against suicidal husband". Redmond Reporter. August 1, 2008. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  9. ^ Whitely, Peyton (August 1, 2008). "Slain woman had protection order". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  10. ^ Luo, Michael (March 17, 2013). "In Some States, Gun Rights Trump Orders of Protection". New York Times. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  11. ^ "Redmond murder-suicide couple identified". KOMO News. July 31, 2008. Archived from the original on August 5, 2008. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  12. ^ a b "Murder-suicide: Woman, man shot dead in Redmond parking lot near Microsoft". Redmond Reporter. July 29, 2008. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  13. ^ a b Morris, Betsy (November 24, 2008). "You have victims working for you. You have batterers working for you too.", Fortune 158 (10); entire article reposted at "Domestic violence". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
  14. ^ "Washington State Legislature House of Representatives passes bill to save the lives of domestic violence victims". Redmond Reporter. February 12, 2014. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
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