By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
When a Burlington area resident was murdered in an apparent domestic violence incident March 22, it came about a day after the anniversary of one of the most notorious domestic violence incidents in the state.
Burlington resident Francisca Quintero-Montoya died last week, after her husband allegedly stabbed her three times with a screwdriver at an in Elk Grove, Ill., hospital. Her estranged husband has since been charged with murder.
The incident came less than 24 hours after a movie about the plight of Teri Jendusa-Nicolai aired on television.
Jendusa-Nicolai, who lived in the Town of Norway, survived a more-than 20-hour long ordeal at the hands of her ex-husband in 2004. She was beaten severely, then stuffed in an empty garbage can and left to die in a storage facility in Illinois.
While the incident stretched over two days, the movie that aired on March 21, “In An Instant,” on ABC lasted about two hours.
Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling, who was involved in the case, said those two hours did a solid job of recounting the tale.
But he also acknowledged how lucky Jendusa-Nicolai had been.
“We discussed just how fortunate she was,” Schmaling said about a recent conversation with Jendusa-Nicolai, about how each link in the case led to her being found and rescued.
“If any one of those links had not fallen in place, we would not have the same result that we do, and that is Teri being alive.
“She is a very lucky, very fortunate and very blessed individual to be alive,” he added. “And she clearly knows that, by virtue of the work she’s been doing.”
Dedicated to help
Jendusa-Nicolai has dedicated a great deal of time since to help alleviate the issues surrounding domestic violence.
Part of the problem, she said, was that when she was almost killed by her ex-husband, the punishments were too light.
“If the punishment is too light, people will continue to get worse and worse,” said Jendusa-Nicolai, who was beaten by her ex-husband for years before she fled, got a divorce and remarried.
“It’s just like a kid,” she added. “If you’re grounded for five minutes … you’re going to try to push the envelope further.”
Since then, she and Schmaling have worked almost hand-in-hand to try to change the laws, including beefing up restraining order laws, Jendusa-Nicolai said.
For example, people with a restraining order against them have to turn in weapons to law enforcement officials within 48 hours – or face arrest.
GPS monitoring bracelets can also be used to track the effectiveness of restraining orders.
“That’s been Teri’s mission, to reach out to as many victims as possible … to give them tools to get out of an abusive relationship,” Schmaling said.
Jendusa-Nicolai also said, though, that Schmaling’s dedication to the cause has helped.
‘I think we are so fortunate to have, in Racine County, to have a sheriff and detectives who are really concerned about this problem,” she explained. “I think we’re really blessed to have men and women on our team. We’re really blessed to have some good judges in Racine County, too.”
Changing behaviors
Jendusa-Nicolai joined the Women’s Resource Center in holding a vigil for Quintero-Montoya in Burlington last week.
“You can build so many shelters, and you can have so many advocates, and you can counsel, counsel, counsel,” Jendusa-Nicolai said. “But if that perpetrator doesn’t change his behavior, we’re still going to have this issue.
“What we need to focus on (is) getting these people not to be perpetrators,” she added.
Education is key, she said. She’s taken the time to talk to middle school and high school students about dating violence, discussing the cycles of violence as well as low self-esteem leading to the abuse.
“This is not how we treat people,” Jendusa-Nicolai said about the lesson she teaches. “We need to build people’s self-esteem.”
Strides have been made, though.
“We have more people getting out of these situations, getting into shelters,” she said.
That effort is taking another step forward. The Women’s Resource Center is working to open a Western Racine County shelter in Dover – at the former Dover School. WRC Executive Director Cherie Griffin confirmed last week that negotiations for the building have begun, and Schmaling and Jendusa-Nicolai both mentioned fundraising for that shelter coming in the next two months.
Schmaling called Quintero-Montoya’s death a tragedy. He also pointed out that if someone is “bent on evil,” the system might not be able to stop that person.
But the work that is being done – he is also on the board of directors for the Women’s Resource Center – helps.
“If we can prevent even one situation from turning deadly, this is all for good,” he said. “We are doing everything within our abilities to keep victims of domestic violence safe.”
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