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MONTEREY, Calif.- They saw the signs. It sounds cliché, but that's what neighbors are said Thursday about the murder of the young wife of a Naval Postgraduate professor. Central Coast News has learned some of the extreme things neighbors say happened before the death ever occurred.
Lawrence Jones won't see a court room again until next week. Maybe then he will enter a plea in the killing of his 29-year-old wife, Norife Jones.
If the news of the crime against the 69-year-old respected professor comes as a surprise to viewers, neighbors in the quiet beachfront community said it wasn't for them. Some told us they saw Jones' relationship with Norife unravel over the past year.
Neighbors said they saw Jones burning Norife's clothes, even ramming her car several times out of frustration. Police said Norife was shot and dismembered in Jones' house on Spray Avenue earlier this month. Then her body dumped in a wooded area of Aromas.
This story once brings up the issue of domestic violence and in this case like so many others therapist Juliann Leavy said there are signs.
"The more eyes, the more intervention that could take place. We cant keep quiet about domestic violence," said Carmel family therapist Julianne Leavy.
Neighbors said police were called to the house before. But Monterey police wouldn't tell us how many times. We do know that Norife left Jones earlier this year to live in San Jose. The tragedy may be in this case that at some point Norife Jones came back.
"Typically it takes a victim of domestic violence seven times of leaving before she finally ready," Leavy said.
Leavy said it's very hard to make a change in an abusive relationship, most of the time the person can't just walk away.
