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POINT OF NO RETURN
Father stabs drug-addicted son to stop abuse
Philadelphia Daily News
By STEPHANIE FARR & WILLIAM BENDER
LAWRENCE DUGAN Sr. began Wednesday morning by praying quietly over his slumbering son. He ended the prayer with the sign of the cross.
Then, he told police, he drove a six-inch hunting knife into his son's head, back, chest and stomach in an attempt to end 11 years of abuse from his drug-addicted son.
Dugan, a longtime employee at the U.S. Post Office at 30th and Market streets whose ex-wife said he has a history of mental illness but has never been violent, was arrested and charged with attempted murder.
His son and namesake, Lawrence Dugan Jr., is recovering at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
"Either my brother was going to kill my dad, or my dad was going to kill my brother, plain and simple," the elder Dugan's daughter, Melissa, said yesterday as she sat outside the family's Upper Darby apartment, nervously smoking a cigarette.
She said she saw this day coming.
The younger Dugan, 25, has a mean heroin habit and a rap sheet to go with it, police and family members said.
When not in jail, Melissa Dugan said, he would steal his father's rent money or pawn his possessions to buy dope. He even wrecked his father's brand new Mitsubishi, but the senior Dugan never wanted to press charges.
"It's just a mess," she said. "When he got out of prison, he tracked us down and moved back in. We could never get rid of him. He wouldn't leave. He's a problem child."
She said she had hoped to get her father out of the apartment and away from her brother.
Now her dad's living at the Delaware County prison, awaiting his preliminary hearing.
"He's put my dad through hell, absolute hell and back," she said of her brother.
On Monday, Dugan, 52, tried to get police to intervene, police and family members said. He went to the Upper Darby Police Department across the street and told investigators that his son has been addicted to drugs for 11 years and requires 15 bags of heroin a day to fuel his habit.
His son, he told police, had recently asked him to purchase a gun for him because "he wants to go out like Scarface" and will "take out cops that try to stop him," according to police records.
Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said he immediately issued a police bulletin warning all officers to use caution when dealing with Dugan Jr. But, he said, police had nothing to charge him with at the time.
After years of threats, thefts and assaults, the father on Wednesday decided to take the law into his own hands.
When police arrived at their apartment on West Chester Pike, Dugan, whose hands and feet were covered in blood, told officers that he'd just stabbed and killed his son, the police affidavit said.
The younger Dugan, who was soaked in blood at the top of a stairwell, was able to identify his father as the attacker, according to court documents.
He was taken to HUP, where he underwent surgery for internal and external wounds. Police recovered what they described as a "blood-soaked hunting-style knife" at the front door of the apartment.
"It's a perfect example of what drug addiction does to families," Chitwood said. "These junkies destroy the fabric of family life by stealing and robbing from their own family."
Dugan Jr.'s mother, Patricia, agrees. She blames her son - not her ex-husband - for what happened.
"I think my son is evil, is what it comes down to," said Patricia Dugan, who does not live in the apartment.
Until Wednesday, Dugan Sr., who family members said also works at Philadelphia International Airport, had never resorted to violence, obtained a restraining order or changed the locks on the door, despite the troubles with his son, the family said.
"Maybe he was hoping Larry would change and get a job," Patricia Dugan said.
"I think he just snapped," she added. "He was not in the right state of mind."
At his arraignment, Dugan told his family that he doesn't remember stabbing his son.
"He blacked out," said his daughter, Kristen. "His mind wasn't there."
Chitwood said Dugan Jr. was known to Upper Darby police as a violent drug addict with an "extensive" criminal history, including assault, harassment and even a stabbing in Upper Darby. He is currently on probation in both Delaware and Philadelphia counties, Chitwood said.
Yesterday, Patricia Dugan visited her son in the hospital. His condition has been upgraded from critical to stable and he wants to go to rehab to get clean.
It was good news for the Dugans. But they seem more concerned now with the patriarch of the family, who has been charged with attempted homicide, possessing instruments of a crime, simple assault, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and harassment.
He remains at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Gathered at the apartment yesterday, the Dugan children worried about whether their father would get a fair trial and whether the jury would know all that they know about their brother - that there are mitigating circumstances to this crime.
Melissa Dugan cringed at the thought that her dad could spend the rest of his life in jail.
"I think he should be allowed to come back home," she said. *
Link!
Father stabs drug-addicted son to stop abuse
Philadelphia Daily News
By STEPHANIE FARR & WILLIAM BENDER
LAWRENCE DUGAN Sr. began Wednesday morning by praying quietly over his slumbering son. He ended the prayer with the sign of the cross.
Then, he told police, he drove a six-inch hunting knife into his son's head, back, chest and stomach in an attempt to end 11 years of abuse from his drug-addicted son.
Dugan, a longtime employee at the U.S. Post Office at 30th and Market streets whose ex-wife said he has a history of mental illness but has never been violent, was arrested and charged with attempted murder.
His son and namesake, Lawrence Dugan Jr., is recovering at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
"Either my brother was going to kill my dad, or my dad was going to kill my brother, plain and simple," the elder Dugan's daughter, Melissa, said yesterday as she sat outside the family's Upper Darby apartment, nervously smoking a cigarette.
She said she saw this day coming.
The younger Dugan, 25, has a mean heroin habit and a rap sheet to go with it, police and family members said.
When not in jail, Melissa Dugan said, he would steal his father's rent money or pawn his possessions to buy dope. He even wrecked his father's brand new Mitsubishi, but the senior Dugan never wanted to press charges.
"It's just a mess," she said. "When he got out of prison, he tracked us down and moved back in. We could never get rid of him. He wouldn't leave. He's a problem child."
She said she had hoped to get her father out of the apartment and away from her brother.
Now her dad's living at the Delaware County prison, awaiting his preliminary hearing.
"He's put my dad through hell, absolute hell and back," she said of her brother.
On Monday, Dugan, 52, tried to get police to intervene, police and family members said. He went to the Upper Darby Police Department across the street and told investigators that his son has been addicted to drugs for 11 years and requires 15 bags of heroin a day to fuel his habit.
His son, he told police, had recently asked him to purchase a gun for him because "he wants to go out like Scarface" and will "take out cops that try to stop him," according to police records.
Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said he immediately issued a police bulletin warning all officers to use caution when dealing with Dugan Jr. But, he said, police had nothing to charge him with at the time.
After years of threats, thefts and assaults, the father on Wednesday decided to take the law into his own hands.
When police arrived at their apartment on West Chester Pike, Dugan, whose hands and feet were covered in blood, told officers that he'd just stabbed and killed his son, the police affidavit said.
The younger Dugan, who was soaked in blood at the top of a stairwell, was able to identify his father as the attacker, according to court documents.
He was taken to HUP, where he underwent surgery for internal and external wounds. Police recovered what they described as a "blood-soaked hunting-style knife" at the front door of the apartment.
"It's a perfect example of what drug addiction does to families," Chitwood said. "These junkies destroy the fabric of family life by stealing and robbing from their own family."
Dugan Jr.'s mother, Patricia, agrees. She blames her son - not her ex-husband - for what happened.
"I think my son is evil, is what it comes down to," said Patricia Dugan, who does not live in the apartment.
Until Wednesday, Dugan Sr., who family members said also works at Philadelphia International Airport, had never resorted to violence, obtained a restraining order or changed the locks on the door, despite the troubles with his son, the family said.
"Maybe he was hoping Larry would change and get a job," Patricia Dugan said.
"I think he just snapped," she added. "He was not in the right state of mind."
At his arraignment, Dugan told his family that he doesn't remember stabbing his son.
"He blacked out," said his daughter, Kristen. "His mind wasn't there."
Chitwood said Dugan Jr. was known to Upper Darby police as a violent drug addict with an "extensive" criminal history, including assault, harassment and even a stabbing in Upper Darby. He is currently on probation in both Delaware and Philadelphia counties, Chitwood said.
Yesterday, Patricia Dugan visited her son in the hospital. His condition has been upgraded from critical to stable and he wants to go to rehab to get clean.
It was good news for the Dugans. But they seem more concerned now with the patriarch of the family, who has been charged with attempted homicide, possessing instruments of a crime, simple assault, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and harassment.
He remains at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Gathered at the apartment yesterday, the Dugan children worried about whether their father would get a fair trial and whether the jury would know all that they know about their brother - that there are mitigating circumstances to this crime.
Melissa Dugan cringed at the thought that her dad could spend the rest of his life in jail.
"I think he should be allowed to come back home," she said. *
Link!
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
