Who was James Shields? And how did he become such a killer?NEW YORK - James G. Shields never came to terms with the fact that Linda Olthof, heavily pregnant with his child, went back to Deventer in the Netherlands. After many years of legal tug-of-war, he put an end to his fighting division with four bullets from his Glock 19.Jelle Boonstra 04-08-18, 10:40 Last update: 10:51643/5000
James Giacomo Shields (39), who shot his ex Linda, his wife Saskia, born in Rheden, and his son Jimmy on Monday, was a big man, but unremarkable. Not exactly someone with personality that stood out, say people who saw him in Deventer, when he walked around town for his son.
That there was a fight? Certainly. It was already visible in the name they gave their son. Mother Linda, art teacher at the ArtEZ in Arnhem, named her son Jimmy. His father continued to say James, in keeping with the tradition of the family tribe of the Shields, where father, son and grandson continue to be called James.
Pleasant manWho was James C. Shields? A pleasant man, say most neighbors. In the New York Times they even called him gregarious, or: cozy. Father James Sr. has a different opinion. "
A quiet boy, but none knew what went on inside him," he said. The day after the fatal shooting senior was holding his head in the hands of the apartment building at 23-07 30th Drive in Queens (New York). The place where it all got out of hand. ,,
It was just a good boy. And my grandson? A beautiful boy. ''
James Shields, the father of six year old Giacomo James Shields, ex-husband of Linda Olthof, killer and suicide killer.For the police it is certain that a 'out of control battle with Linda Olthof' was the motive for the multiple murder. In April, Shields tried to raise 30,000 dollars of crowdfunding on GoFundMe, for more legal battles. The title of his call - Child kidnapping - shows how he thought about it. He wrote: "
I always had a great life, but it sails down. The financial burden destroys my current marriage and my life. How can I choose between ruining my marriage and stopping the struggle to get my son back. '' No donation came in on the call. Or as the New York Post described it: "
It never raises a dime."
Shields wanted his son to see more often than the annual two weeks that had been assigned to him by the judge.
Linda then went to
New York. Sometimes James came to Deventer for a few days. One of the photos after the murder comes from his Facebook. Made in café Persee on the Brink in Deventer.
Great loveWhat did hurt him? That Linda finally returned to her birthplace Deventer while she was still pregnant with his child. She had lost her heart to Will van Dooren, scriptwriter and writer / poet (alias W.J. Aleksander). ,,
Her great love '', say friends. ,,
They knew each other from 2010. '' With the baby that was born in the spring, they lived together in an apartment in the Assenstraat. Good luck for Linda was not there: Will died on 28 July 2012 before her eyes to a cardiac arrest, while he was sitting on the edge of the bed. Then she did not want to live there anymore.
Shields was simply '
crushed' by her departure, Katharina Justic, one of Linda's acquaintances and girlfriend told
the New Post. In 2014 it had gotten out of hand. When Linda wanted to leave with Jimmy, James locked them up in a room. Jimmy upset, Linda disrupted. She did not want to go after that, but the judge continued to force her until the two weeks in the summer.
The Daily News in New York (a scandal that Shields mentions on the front page of
Devil Dad) spoke to a friend of Linda, who heard how Linda had to fly over the ocean with Jimmy at her own expense to an ex that was prickly and did not contribute a dime to the education of his son. "
She did not dare to leave Jimmy alone with his dad."
The murder was on the front page of the New York Daily News with headlines James Shields murdered his ex wife Linda Olthof and son Jimmy © New York Daily NewsIn New York, the triple murder suicide shooting in which it would all end this week was big news. No daily costs for hardened New Yorkers. And so everyone went crazy: what kind of man was James G. Shields?
There was not much to discover: he was trained as a physiotherapist. In 2010 he started a small business from home with a partner, Rick Pasquarello, who organizes home care for the elderly in greater Manhattan. The name - Score Rehabilitation - is on the mailbox of flat 1B. It did not exactly yield a ship with money. His flat on the ground floor is at the back, one of eight in a building on such a rumbling street in Queens, with the high-rise of Manhattan across the East River.
He had been married to Saskia for about three years, valuing acquaintances. She came from Deventer, just like Linda. No coincidence, they had met each other when James was "
over".
The couple was not very happy. Neighbor Elly Alvarado heard James screaming almost every day. Janet Christoforous, who lived up to 2014 for six years above, said that the police were at the door several times, because of high quarrels. A former friend of James had packed the suitcases after such an outburst.
Noisy partiesThe New York Post came directly with the
Jekyll-and-Hyde cliché (it is also an archetypal scandal), as a quote from
Tony Bekan, a close neighbor for ten years. "
Nice guy, although he sometimes had noisy parties, for example, until three o'clock on Tuesday night. Then the police came because the neighborhood could not sleep. He was not himself the last time and now this. "
Linda (pictured right) arrived with Jimmy on July 21st. They did the usual city highlights, the New York Zoo, Empire State Building, Pier 17 and would return this weekend. The fact that father James organized a dinner for everyone on Monday was a bit strange - so close they were not anymore after all the marriages, but well. When the manager of the building took out that garbage that evening, she saw broken glass and blood at the back of the window and called emergency number 911.
An arrest team discovered four death people in the apartment. With one shot each Shields had killed Linda, his own son and his wife Saskia. For the 9mm Glock 19 with which he did, he had a permit at home - said Dermot F. Shea, chief of the detective at the press conference.
No one had heard any quarrels or the shots, the neighbors said to the press. According to the concierge, Shields had cut his own throat. ,,
That would have looked like this, '' said Shea, '
because he had pushed the gun under his chin before printing.' 'He also had
a Glock 17 - also with a license. For use at home, he was not allowed on the street. He also had seven warehouses each with ten bullets. "
It is guessing what his intention has been with that."
For the police, the case is ready as a lump. ,,
He could not choose, should I let them go, or do I fight in this Trans-Atlantic conflict? He solved it with his Glock. "
Translation from Dutch to English by Google translate with some eduting from Pieter. Story in Dutch from the Dutch newspaper De Gelderlander. Source: www.gelderlander.nl/arnhem/wie-was-james-shields-en-hoe-kon-hij-tot-zijn-daad-komen~a781b0ac/