Copyright MassLive
A few weeks after Stacy Feldman’s death in 2015, her sister, Susan Malman Altman, was sitting at her gravesite, a humble rectangular patch of dirt. She felt a chill come over her. “Stacy told me something wasn’t right, and that I had to do something about it,” Altman said. That began a crusade, with multiple legal twists and turns, that lasted seven years, as she pleaded with investigators to take a second look at what they initially believed to be her 44-year-old sister’s accidental death in the shower at her home in Denver, Colorado. It ended in 2022, with a life without parole conviction for Robert Feldman, who a jury found had strangled his estranged wife and staged the accident scene. On Wednesday, Altman, of Needham, took her story to the State House in Boston, where she made a plea on behalf of a newly introduced bill that could spare other families similar pain. "Since I began doing domestic violence advocacy work, I have met far too many families whose cases were not appropriately investigated, and whose cases are now closed," she said. “ ... Families are climbing an uphill battle for justice.” If it’s approved and eventually signed into law, the proposal sponsored by state Sen. Rebecca Rausch would provide increased training and standards for law enforcement to recognize and investigate what initially appear to be staged deaths as a result of domestic violence. “At its core, this bill is about education, training and thorough investigation,” Rausch, D-Norfolk/Worcester/Middlesex, said during a Wednesday news conference. Read More: Matthew Farwell indicted on new charge in connection with killing of Sandra Birchmore The bill would require investigators to look more deeply at deaths where “the markers of staged suicide” appear to be present, Rausch said. That would include signs that the deceased, like Feldman, was trying to end the relationship, as well as in instances when the body is found by an intimate partner. Evidence of coercive control, strangulation or suffocation also would spark a more thorough probe, Rausch said, pointing to the death of Sandra Birchmore, a Canton resident who died under similarly suspicious circumstances. The bill also requires anyone with knowledge of a suspicious death case to report the incident to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office, the Needham lawmaker said. The bill would further provide victims’ families with access to survivors’ services and would allow them to " review records of the case and the right to request an independent autopsy and second opinion as to [the] cause of death," she said. Rausch could not point to specific data for Massachusetts, but there are 800 to 1,200 cases nationwide every year, she said. Similar legislation has already been signed into law in California, and lawmakers in New York and Illinois are considering similar bills, Rausch said. “This legislation is part of a growing national effort to honor the memories of domestic violence victims, to provide them and their families with justice equally after their deaths, and to hold perpetrators accountable,” she said. Domestic violence advocate Elizabeth Schön Vainer, who spoke at Wednesday’s news conference, echoed Altman’s sentiments. “Survivors tell us again and again that when they share their stories, they are often not believed — not by friends, not by family, sometimes not even by the professionals they reach out to for help,“ she said. ”Their experiences are minimized or rationalized, and when they are believed, they are too often told what they should do instead of being asked what they need to be safe." Rausch’s bill is a “common sense” solution to that issue, she said. “This bill ensures that the voices of those tragically murdered by their partners will be heard clearly and powerfully, leading to justice, accountability and healing for their families,” she said. More on Politics Overworked and underpaid: Legislative staffers demand better wages and conditions In challenging time, people, families turning to Transhealth in Northampton Meet the candidate: Susan Goff running for reelection as Ward 3 city councilor in Chicopee Meet the candidate: Mark McCarthy seeks seat as at-large School Committee member Meet the candidate: Brian Mendes aims for Chicopee councilor at-large seat in Chicopee
