Idaho

Kids mourn loss of mother
Spokane 9-year-old pleaded with father not to kill mother after chase, police say

Thomas Clouse and Sara Leaming
Staff writers

Before Richard A. Atkinson went out looking for his wife Monday night, he asked his daughter the unimaginable, police officials said.

"He had asked her that day if she would be upset with him if he killed Andrea," Spokane police chaplain Kenny Klaja said. "That's not a question a 9-year-old should ever have to answer."

Spokane police spokesman Dick Cottam confirmed that Atkinson's daughter told investigators essentially the same thing.

The 9-year-old, who is Richard Atkinson's daughter from a previous relationship, was in the front seat of his white 1995 GMC Safari as it forced Andrea Atkinson's blue 1993 Plymouth Voyager off the road at Princeton Avenue and Lidgerwood Street, police said.

Witnesses said they heard the 9-year-old girl pleading with her father to stop as he repeatedly backed up and drove over his estranged wife as the couple's three younger children watched.

Atkinson, 32, remains in jail on a $1million bond. He's charged with first-degree murder in connection with 29-year-old Andrea Atkinson's death.

After the killing Monday night, the couple's three mutual children -- ages 6, 4, 3 -- and the 9-year-old girl went a block away to the home of family friend Sandy Abel.

Abel said Wednesday that she was Andrea Atkinson's best friend and that she served Richard Atkinson Feb. 28 with the couple's divorce papers.

On Monday, Andrea Atkinson and her three youngest kids -- she also had a 12-year-old son from a previous relationship while living in Western Washington -- were visiting Abel just prior to the attack, police said.

Spokane police Lt. Scott Stephens said earlier this week that Richard Atkinson had seen Andrea Atkinson's van at Abel's home Monday. He parked some distance away and waited for her to leave, Stephens said.

"She did not know he was looking for her," Abel said in a written response to a reporter's questions. "He was hiding out and stalking her."

When Andrea Atkinson left Abel's home, Richard Atkinson gave chase, Stephens said.

During the chase, Richard Atkinson rammed his wife's van several times before it struck a fire hydrant at the corner of Princeton and Lidgerwood, police said.

Andrea Atkinson and her three children tried to escape by running into a stranger's yard, but Richard Atkinson's van crashed through the chain-link fence, police said.

Andrea Atkinson's last act was to push her children out of the way before she was crushed, witnesses and police said.

"Andrea was a great mother, and that was all she cared about," Abel said. "She was a wonderful mom."

After the killing, chaplain Klaja went to Abel's home and spent the night with the four Atkinson children. They coped with crayons and crying, he said.

"We prayed ... and I pretty much spent the night trying to talk, trying to share and hugging a lot," Klaja said.

The 9-year-old daughter -- who considered Andrea Atkinson her mother -- told Klaja that she had asked her father to stop during the attack.

"She said, `Don't do this Dad,"' Klaja said of the girl's comments. "She'll never forget the look of fear on her mother's face before her father struck her down. There's going to need to be some healing there."

The 3-year-old Atkinson boy spent most of the night drawing, Klaja said.

"I think he's really almost too young to take in what happened. It's interesting that he was drawing pictures of vans," he said.

Klaja asked the 4-year-old brother how he was doing on Tuesday morning. "He said, `Well, my mom's dead' and then he went back to playing."

The 6-year-old sister "mostly just cried a lot," Klaja said.

Along with Klaja and a female police officer, a representative from Safe Start spent time with the children.

The program is funded through a federal grant and is administered by Partners with Families & Children, executive director Mary Ann Murphy said.

"We are learning that the sooner you can appear when children experience serious trauma, the more likely you are to be able to help the child," she said. "Obviously, children losing their mother are going to have lifetime effects."

Gary Woods, the clinical supervisor for Safe Start, said kids cope differently depending on their age.

"For kids like these who lost both parents, it comes up around anniversaries, holidays, bed time, meal time, bath time -- all the times you think about those little rituals," he said. "Those are the things that will evoke the memories and images of the lost parent.

"And sometimes it evokes the unpleasant memories associated with trauma. We know it takes time."

Murphy said she was "just undone" when she heard about the Monday attack.

"I don't ever remember hearing a more tragic story," Murphy said. "I cannot imagine how shaken to the core you would be watching your mother die. It's among the unimaginable traumas."

Both Abel and Klaja said they hope that state Child Protective Services keeps the Atkinson children intact as a family.

Woods said children specialists try to keep the children in familiar surroundings. So far, the children have remained with Abel, whom they visited every day before their mother died, Abel said.

"I love them like my own," Abel said. "I'm worried for them. They will need each other."

Richard Atkinson met Andrea, whose former last name was Novick, through a mutual friend, Abel said.

Richard and Andrea had their first child together in 1997. They married two years ago, but she filed for divorce in February.

Born in Bremerton, Andrea dreamed of becoming a forensics agent from watching her favorite TV show, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," Abel said.

"She watched that show every time it was on," Abel said. "She did all she could to help someone in need. Everyone who met her loved her."

Andrea Atkinson moved to Spokane about five years ago, she said. They met last September while working at a local Quizno's Classic Subs.

"It was like we knew each other for years. Now, she is like my sister," Abel said. "Without her, I will be lost."