Larry, John, and Tina: A Triangle of Violence
A very telling story came out of the Roanoke Times yesterday:
When Larry Ferguson left Lynchburg, Sunday morning, he was headed to Forest to take his children to Church. Larry Ferguson tried to reconcile with his wife, he ended up beating Tina, with brass knuckles. He left her in a pool of blood unconscious on the floor.
Larry piled his children in the car, and took them to Church. While we can't get in Larry's head, to measure how his emotions moved him past reasonable thought. Larry was driven to do more.
As soon as Larry arrived at the house of John Preston Purvis, a friend of his wife, he had a gun in his hand. The door opened and he shot John in chest. John fought with him, he did get Larry's gun and Larry went to his car, he had another gun. The gun battle was on. Both John and Larry most likely shot each other.
Larry headed for the mountains. Most likely wounded, he ended up at a trail near the Peaks of Otter. There he took his 38 revolver, placed it to his head and shot himself dead.
The story of Larry, John and Tina is not a new story. It has happened before, many times. Deep inside we know those feelings, most of us can allow our reason to overcome our emotions. But sometimes, when things go bad for people, things happen. And when the rollercoaster of emotions take over sane thought, there is no thrill of the ride. Larry ended up dead.
Tina beaten badly, will recover from her physical wounds, but the deep emotional scaring will never heal. John, hopefully will recover from his wounds, but the haunting of the events will never leave him. And, the children, what about the children? There lives have been changed forever by one black Sunday in their lives. A change no child should have to suffer.
posted by B O B @ 10:15 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
This was a very interesting read. It gave me an opportunity to look at things from an angle I had not yet considered. However, I would just like to say, perhaps others should look at it from the other side of the angle. While I certainly do not condone or excuse the horrible actions of Larry, I knew him, and found his actions on this day completely out of character. People who knew him, knew him as a kind, bubbly, caring person. When I heard about this whole thing, to me, it was almost incomprehensible. If we look at things from Larry's side, John was not just a friend of Tina's, and it was a relationship that had being going on a long time. Also, Tina had just told Larry he did not need to be involved with his kids anymore; which believe it, or not, were his whole world. I do appreciate your thoughts. The were excellent. I just wanted to share mine, as well.
Thank you for your thoughts and comments. As a person who knew Larry, you offer some very good insights. I have always found it remarkable how someone can just snap, and do things that is so much out of their character. I have seen that happen several times in my life to people around me.
What you point out, seems to be the straw, that pushed Larry over the edge. On the outside, Larry was coping, but when Tina told Larry:
"Tina had just told Larry he did not need to be involved with his kids anymore; which believe it, or not, were his whole world."
That thought, from your observation, was one Larry could just not handle, and he struck out.
People do have breaking points. Ones that separate them from the conventions that they accept, and push them to acts, that they do not even accept or understand.
This whole affair was very sad to me. No one came out well from this. And in the end Larry did realize this.
Thank you again for your comments.
I thought long and hard about this before saying anything. I will begin with that Larry, Tina, and their children, and any friends or others are just human with all of their positive and negative traits. I am as well.
That being said, I will try to be fair to all as I am the person that was shot that day and lived. I am John Preston Purvis, not to be confused with any other John.
Tina and I worked together for years, but it never even occurred to me to have any kind of relationship with her because she was married at the time. So anyone suggesting that it went on for a LONG time and that she was married is not correct and is hurtful to Tinda. It does not hurt me, because I was single and divorced many years before that. I believe that the person that wrote the comments above had been a friend and was hurt that they felt deceived, but they were not deceived, and assumed much, but that happens with people sometimes and a good friend was lost.
She did confess to me that she had an affair during her marriage with a man from another state. I do not remember his name or many details, but I know that she had her reasons. Tina was very afraid of Larry becuase they had discussed divorce when this happenned, and he had threatened her life.
Larry was NOT attentive to his wife or children. He worked for Liberty University as an accountant all day and worked on his rental properties after hours. The rental properties were not much better than slum lords properties and Tina got sued for a couple after Larry passed. Larry was trying to get rich quick and found out that no such thing exists. Larry though was fuly invested though and was doing the best that he could to keep his head above water.
When I first encountered Larry's son, no names, he and a friend from school had a plan to create meth from household products and the oven at home. The important part at this point in the story is not the drugs, but that they were left alone long enough every day that they believed they could use the house kitchen oven to cook it long enough and safe enough without mom and dad even knowing. These kids had only tried the drugs and were FAR from hooked yet.
Tina confided to at least two other friends and myself that she intended to disolve the marriage between Larry herself -- one female and one male, ane then myself. Tina and I had become friends from years of working together -- there was nothing more at that time.
Read more in other posts...
Tina knew that she had issues wioth her son that Larry would just ignore. She confided in me becuase I had experience with it and had beat the drugs. I later fell victim to alcohol but that is later. I talked to the son and talked him and his friend out of their plans for drugs.
At a point during Tina and my relationship, and after she and Larry had separated, we began a more personal relationship. As I undertand it and saw the photos, Larry hired a private investigator at this point and had us all followed and photographed. I say all, becuase the private investigator did not just follow Tina and I but friends and family members as well.
Larry was in no danger of losing his children in a divorce. Larry wanted to take his children away from Virginia and to Colorado where he had other friends from the past. He could have just stayed where he was, and lived his life with his children as many fathers do these days and just like I did with my own children. I had job offers from Microsoft and the like, but they wanted me to move to Washington state and I would not leave my children from a former marriage. I am NO hero, nor monster, that was just my decision.
As I understand it, Larry was stuck in his decision to move to Colorado and did not want to leave his children, so he was in a life delimma but it was of his own making. Tina most likely told him that if he moved to Colorado then he would have no part of his children's lives. That is the delimma that Larry faced, not that Tina tried to take his children away from him.
The day that Larry chose violence over reason my children were supposed to be with me for weekend visitation. I had let them stay with their grandmother over night and Tina was supposed to meet Larry and give him his children for a visitation weekend. Then she was supposed to meet me at my house and we were to all meet at church with my children and gma and poppy and have lunch after.
Larry wrote several notes to his sister and children before he decided his path. He intended to kill us and appologized to his children and wanted them to live with his sister.
Larry picked up his children and put them in the car then returned to the house. Then Larry feigned illness during discussions with Tina. Tina went to assist Larry and he attacked her. Larry streangled her, beat her with brass knuckles, then shanged his shirt and levaing her for dead proceeded to drop his children off at worship service at their church. Instead of staying with his children, he left them to come for me.
He had taken Tina's car that day and since I was expecting Tina to arrive I had the front door open and did not suspect a thing when I looked out and saw her car. Larry had planned it this way. Make no mistake that this was chance or someone that had "snapped". Larry did not walk in on two lovers and in a crime of passion killed them both. Larry had left notes and plans to end our lives and his.
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