Domestic Violence Expert Weighs In On Whittemore's Statement

Allison O'Malley from Safe Journey is a well-known advocate for victims of domestic violence. 

When she read that Clayton Whittemore said he had snapped, this is what she had to say...

"If this would have been blind rage, if he had really snapped, and could not control himself, he would have ran out of that dorm," said Allison O'Malley.

O'Malley believes if Clayton Whittemore's statements to police are true, he had a lot of options.

"There were three distinct choices he had during the course of this altercation," said O'Malley.

In court documents, Whittemore says he got into an argument with Alex Kogut at a party. It got heated when he took her back to her dorm room.
   
In his statement, Whittemore says, "She started pushing me and yelling at me, so I pushed her back against the wall to get her to stop. She wouldn't stop pushing me so I started punching her, and just snapped. I kept hitting her over and over with my fists."

"He could have said oh my God, I have to call 911 or I have to just yell for help. He didn't want to get caught. This is a dynamic of control, this is not rage," said O'Malley.

In the report, Whittemore also says Kogut struggled to breathe after he beat her.

He says, "I didn't want the girl I loved to suffer, so I started beating her with the curling iron until the noise stopped...I wasn't even drunk, I just snapped."   

"The analogy is like a horse with a broken leg, I have to shoot it. That was a choice point," said O'Malley.

"Why didn't he call when she was gurgling, why didn't he call 911, instead he took a curling iron and bludgeoned her to death to put her out of her misery; that was a choice," said O'Malley.

O'Malley believes Whittemore's statements in the police report are excuses. There is no way to justify domestic violence.

Here are some numbers for women to call in our community. You can call Safe Journey at 425-1580. The number for Alternatives for Battered Women in Rochester is 232-7353.