Cops: Dad killed 2 kids, sent pic to their mom

Cops: Dad killed 2 kids, sent pic to their mom
Texas woman had been trying to get her sons back, friend says

msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 4/15/2011 3:26:31 PM ET 2011-04-15T19:26:31

FORT WORTH, Texas — A Texas man sent his ex-girlfriend a cell phone photo showing their infant and toddler sons with a "goodbye" message and then a graphic photo that appeared to show the baby dead — a day before authorities found the youngsters' bodies, two of the mother's friends said Thursday.

Read more:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42603538/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

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Good lord, this is awful! That poor mother. Justice is swift in Texas, this man deserves the death penalty.

By JESSICA HOPPER (@jesshop23)

April 15, 2011



Snipped:

A Texas man allegedly killed his two young sons and then sent gruesome photos of the dead children to their mother, including a picture of a toddler hanged.

Gabriel Armandariz is facing capital murder charges and is being held on $1.5 million bond.

He was charged after police in Graham, Texas, police found the bodies of Armandariz's 2-year-old son, Gatlin, and 6-month- old Luke on Thursday morning.

Armandariz, 28, started sending menacing text messages to his ex-girlfriend, Lauren Smith, at the beginning of the week, friends said.

The couple were due to have a custody hearing next Monday. On Wednesday, the angry text messages took a graphic and tragic turn.

For more info:


http://abcnews.go.com/US/texas-man-gabriel-armandariz-accused-killing-sons-sending/story?id=13385026

nanaof4 wrote:
By JESSICA HOPPER (@jesshop23)

April 15, 2011



Snipped:

A Texas man allegedly killed his two young sons and then sent gruesome photos of the dead children to their mother, including a picture of a toddler hanged.

Gabriel Armandariz is facing capital murder charges and is being held on $1.5 million bond.

He was charged after police in Graham, Texas, police found the bodies of Armandariz's 2-year-old son, Gatlin, and 6-month- old Luke on Thursday morning.

Armandariz, 28, started sending menacing text messages to his ex-girlfriend, Lauren Smith, at the beginning of the week, friends said.

The couple were due to have a custody hearing next Monday. On Wednesday, the angry text messages took a graphic and tragic turn.

For more info:


http://abcnews.go.com/US/texas-man-gabriel-armandariz-accused-killing-sons-sending/story?id=13385026

This is beyond sick

Found this update from the Graham Leader Newspaper.

Snipped:

"For the last year, Armandariz has been sitting in the Young County Jail waiting for his day in court. Over that same time, Lauren Smith has been mourning the loss of her two sons.
For the last year, Smith has declined to speak publicly about her feelings and how her life was impacted when her sons were killed. This week, she agreed to answer some questions from The Graham Leader."



http://www.grahamleader.com/index.asp?Story=24685

'He will have a very miserable life': Father who murdered his two young sons and sent a picture of dead child to their mother will NOT be put to death
Published: 11:29 EST, 13 March 2015 | Updated: 14:13 EST, 13 March 2015

A young father who strangled his two sons and then sent a picture of a dead body to their mother will not face execution.

Gabriel Armandariz, 32, of Graham, Texas was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Thursday at Young County Court.

Armandariz killed his two sons, Gatlin, two, and Luke, who was just eight-months-old in April 2011 before sending a string of chilling text messages to their mother, Lauren Smith.

One of the messages included a graphic image that appeared to show Luke dead, dangling from the closet held by cloth attached to his neck.

While he will not be put to death, defense attorneys insist he will have a miserable life in prison.





Armandariz was convicted of the murders on February 27 which was followed by four weeks of testimony that the court heard before deciding his fate, according to the Graham Leader.

Read more:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2993372/Father-murdered-toddler-son-baby-boy-sending-graphic-image-dead-child-NOT-death.html

(Lots of pictures at this site.)