John David Battaglia
I think all of you who visit this website probably have a one story that has affected you more than any of the others you’ve read. Sometimes it’s the cruelty in which the crime was committed that gets to us, other times it’s the innocence of the victims or the senselessness of the act that breaks our hearts.
For me, John David Battaglia wrote that story, the one that’s haunted me ever since I heard about back in 2001. That was when I first saw his story done on an American Justice episode, and I was so affected by the things I saw and heard that it left me stunned and furious. Even though it’s been 8 years and I’ve seen the same episode several times since then, I’ve never completely gotten over it.
I hate John Battaglia, I hate his ever-living guts, and I’d like all of you to hate him too. I think, by the time I’m finished telling you his story, you will.
When Mary Jean Pearle married John Battaglia in March of 1991, I doubt she had any idea what she was getting herself into. He had been married once before, to Michelle LaBorde, and there was a long history of physical abuse associated with that relationship. The most serious incident happened in August of 1987, after Battaglia learned that she had filed criminal charges against him for a previous assault.
He rode up to her on a bicycle as she walked home from a bus stop and said, “If I am going to jail, I am going to make it well worth my while.” Michelle describes what happened next:
“He then began to beat me around the face and head. His first blow broke my nose, his second blow hemorrhaged my eye, his third blow dislocated my jaw, and the fourth blow knocked me unconscious.”
“Witnesses have stated that if they had not come running to my aid, he would have killed me.”
In what would become a tragic pattern, Battaglia plead guilty to misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to probation. In spite of a pattern of domestic violence and violated protective orders, he never spent a day in jail. You can view John Battaglia’s criminal records here.
At the beginning of Battaglia’s and Pearle’s marriage, things were pretty normal. They had two children, Faith and Liberty, and bought a million dollar home in a the Dallas suburb of Highland Park. But as time went on, Battaglia became more and more abusive. At first it was just verbal abuse, insulting and threatening Mary Jean, but finally he showed his true colors a struck her several times.
Mary Jean was not the type to tolerate that kind of treatment, and she immediately filed for for divorce. John Battaglia, of course, continued his pattern of harassment and threats, even after Mary Jean took out a protective order against him. On Christmas Day of 1999, he beat the living shit out of her in front of the kids, even after she had pity on him and allowed him in the house to watch the girls open presents.
Mary Jean had Battaglia arrested for that assault, but once again he received straight probation. The terms of his probation stated that he couldn’t contact Mary Jean and harass or threaten him in any way. He violated those terms no less than 7 times between 1999 and April of 2001. She had been trying to get Battagia jailed for months for violating other standing protective orders. Finally, prosecutors decided to make their move.
Unfortunately, that process takes time, and while the prosecutors did their thing Battaglia still had visitation rights, and on the evening of May 2nd, 2001, Mary Jean Pearle met John Battaglia in order to exchange daughters Faith, who was now 9 years old, and Liberty, who was 6. What Mary Jean didn’t know was that John had found out about his imminent arrest, and he was very, very angry.
About a hour later, he had the kids call their mom. She didn’t answer, but when she returned their call, Battaglia puts them on speakerphone. Mary Jean testified in court to what happened next:
“Faith goes, ‘Mommy, why do you want Daddy to have to go to jail?’ Just like that.”
” And I go, ‘Come on, John,’ I go, ‘Don’t do this …’ I thought he was just messing with their heads or whatever.”
“And then I hear Faith going, ‘No Daddy, please Daddy, don’t do it! Daddy, please don’t do it!’ “
She said that several shots rang out as her husband shouted “Merry f—— Christmas!” She heard several more shots – five in all – before the phone went dead.
“When I heard her saying ‘No, Daddy, please!’ I knew it was so bad because she had never said no to her Daddy in her whole life.”
“I said, ‘Run, run for the door, run for the door!’ “
The police found Faith in a pool of blood at the doorway of John Battaglia’s apartment. Liberty was a bit farther up the hallway. Both girls had been shot multiple times in the back, then given the coup de’ grace behind the ear.
After he murdered his two daughters, while police frantically searched for him, John Battaglia went bar hopping. Cops finally located him at a tattoo parlor, where the son of a bitch had the nerve to get a brand new tattoo of two roses with the names ‘Faith’ and ‘Liberty’ under them. When he came out to get a pack of cigarettes, cops arrested him, and not without a fight.
John David Battaglia was charged with two counts of Capital Murder. During interviews with psychiatrists for both the prosecution and the defense, he claimed he killed the girls for all sorts of reasons, from “he snapped” because he thought he was never going to see the kids again to “I was saving them from being prostitutes and drug addicts and hating their parents”. He also told one shrink he heard voices telling him to do it.
Most of those psychiatrists weren’t fooled and, like me, know it was all about getting at Mary Jean Pearle. He claims to this day that his daughters were the most important thing in his life, but he didn’t think twice about using them as the ultimate weapon to get back at his ex-wife.
At his trial in 2002, his attorneys tried to play the bipolar card. Did it work? Jurors took a total of 14 minutes to find him guilty of the murder of Faith, and he was sentenced to death. Hmmm, guess not.
Since then, he has spent his time appealing his conviction using some ridiculous, convoluted conspiracy theory that I’ve spent a lot of time studying over the years and still can’t make heads nor tails out of. You can check out his entire case by clicking here. This is also a great place to see just how much of an evil son of a bitch John Battaglia really is.
Not ONCE has this sorry excuse for a man shown any sign of remorse. He’s tried to minimize his responsibility by passing it off as mental illness, putting the lion’s share of the blame on Mary Jean Pearle for pushing him too far, and claiming that “outside forces” conspired against him. He’s blamed everyone from his lawyers to the prosecutors to the F.B.I. to the fucking IRS for a conspiracy to frame him for a crime he didn’t commit.
But never, ever has this coward said that he was sorry, not even to his two dead children. Not once.
Still on the fence about John? Well maybe this will make him as hateable to you as he is to me: At the end of that awful day in May of 2001, Mary Jean Pearle came home and noticed the answering machine in her daughters’ room was flashing. She pressed play, and John Battaglia’s voice hissed from the speaker:
“Good night my little babies. I hope you are resting in a different place. I love you. I wish you had nothing to do with your mother. She was evil and vicious and stupid.”
sigh
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67 Comments »
If they can’t find anyone to administer the lethal injection… I volunteer.
What an evil, sadistic, twisted man.
I hate him too, Max. This is one who should have 24/7 pictures of his daughters flashing in his cell until the minute they kill him. I just hope to God that those girls didn’t know what was going to happen till the last second. I really hate people some times. Excuse me as I wipe this little piece of dust out of my eye….
those poor babies! i can’t help but think the mother didn’t do enough though. i agree that the legal system failed her, without a doubt… but if the father of my children did to me what was described…. i would have rather gone to jail for the rest of my life than let him have any contact with my children.
if she hadn’t let the girls go for visitation she would have been put in jail for contempt of court and he would have been granted full custody.
I have seen this on American Justice myself and each time I do I also think that if we STILL had real Justice in America this bastard would have been hung by the neck until DEAD!
Ah, sweet Jesus. The vengeful needle dicked hateful prick. You have not only suceeded in makin me cry, Max, but I will happily join the “I hate John Battaglia and I hope he Rots in Hell” club. Shitless bastard was so vindictive and controlling that he would do something like this to his own little girls….Vengeful spiteful pussfilled anal growth. Fuck him in his A hole.
I say hell!!
Max,
I 100% whole-heartedly agree. This asshole has the audacity to to what he did, get tattoos for them, and claim their mother was the one to blame for what happened. I’m usually an advocate of reciprocating all pain to the ones who caused it on here, but I couldn’t do it to this person (I say person because he is definitely not a man.) I would be more than happy to skin those two tattoos right off his body and not feel a damned bit a of remorse. Burn in the deepest depths of hell John David Batagglia, you heartless, gutless, worthless excuse for a human being.
I would say he should get sentenced to a life time of ass rapage, and then he should be buried alive, but that is too good a punishment for him. He deserves worse. He’s the type of scumbag ass hat that would make Hitler vomit.
He’s awful, evil. No doubt. But the story that has FINALLY gotten to me (and I’m quite numb and jaded) is the tale of Angelo Mendoza, Jr. That ones gets me. I can’t bear to read the headline… which still appears in numerous places: “My daddy ate my eyes out.” Fuck. Fuck me. Fuck.
When are the succession of lawyers/police/lawmakers who actually allowed the tragic consequences to happen in the first place going to appear on these pages?
Probation? Twice? For behaviour that was repetitive and life threatening?
Words fail me.
Yes Max, I agree that this is one evil son of a bitch. Unfortunately, there is absolutely nothing that can be done to this man to force him to accept responsibility for his actions or show remorse. He isn’t crazy, but he isn’t normal either. I learned a long time ago, some people are just evil and there is no point in trying to understand them. Giving him the needle is the best thing. Let the fucker fry.
But he’s too much of a pussy to turn the gun on himself…
What a real man.
Only Satan can be proud of someone that evil………..
I remember this story on American Justice and I remember feeling horrified for what that poor mother must have felt during that phone call. Apparently, I will never understand our justice system because I just can’t understand why this sick fuck is still alive!
There are always some that get away with just about anything, others who get their car booted for an overdue parking ticket and others who find themselves in front of a judge for looking cross-eyed at their ex-spouse
Burn every inch, one square inch at a time. Pour vinegar over entire body. Let heal. Repeat entire process… again, and again, and again…. for, let’s say, eternity. Play the last cries of his precious daughters inside his head the entire time.
Violent, abusive, murderous men seem absolutely impossible to get away from once you’ve made the mistake of committing yourself to them. It’s like trying to free yourself from duct-tape handcuffs. Between the mind-games they practice continuously, the violence they threaten at any provocation, and the beatings they administer at any sign of your imminent escape, it takes superhuman effort just to get them the hell out of your house, much less your life. And if you DO manage to get them out of your house, all you have to do to remind yourself of the nightmare is to just look up: they’re standing just outside the periphery, a predator staring, watching, waiting for you to let your guard down or glance away for just one second, just long enough to grab you by the soul, by your hair, by your loved ones.
It’s a terrible thing to be hunted.
exactly, i once made a mistake too, i tried to get rid of the fucker, he wouldnt go away, he would break in my home and be waiting for me when I got off of work, stalk me as i left my job or school, my 17 and 18 year old sons and their friends along with my 12 year old son and his freinds once chased him out with sticks and bottles, beat the hell out of him, only made him sneakier, he would come back when they werent there, lucky the landlord lived next door and when he came running up on me one day, the landlord stood in front of me, he stopped running towards me after that and went away forver… i sure enjoyed that beating they gave him though, sounds mean but I still laugh about it to this day, the younger kids were in trees throwing stuff at him while the bigger kids were beating him, he was a nitemare and i never made that mistake again…
I for one in this situation commend the mother for getting away before there were years of abuse. I can’t imagine talking to my children and hearing them dying and not being able to do anything. That poor mother. I just don’t think that you truly ever recover from that. I hope that she has wonderful family and is able to somewhat piece her life back together. That man is diffently pure evil.
To the person who questioned her allowing the children to see him, he had never shown any abuse to the girls, only to the mother, so why would you ever think that he would shoot your little girls? I question every legal decision here. We need to stop spouse abuses before it gets to this point. This man was all about control and he married a woman that wasn’t going to give it to me. That is what set him off.
Someone take a nail gun and use it to nail his balls to a wall…. when he gets tired of standing lets see what he does………
Who the hell voted NO he doesnt deserve hell? post their email address and name.
LMAO I am with TweedyO..it must have been a typo :)
Or a defense lawyer or some wacko who feels that we should not judge…….. some wacko that believes the first Amendment is for their use only.
Fred, I wonder if Raipher Pelligrino is free? I am sure he would pick this case up in a heartbeat. Seems right up his alley.
If there was a group on facebook to hate this man I would join. He makes me want to go to the nearest building and scream from the roof top about what a monster he is. He makes me want to administer a beating. The kind of beating that involves a cheese grater and his rose tattoo. I don’t have it in me as a person to give this kind of punishment, but I would find it deep down within myself just for him. I can only hope that some fine upstanding person in prison with him named bubba can give him the punishment and attention that he so truely deserves.
I actually bought this book and couldn’t put it down for about four days. It was well worth the money. Great story but so, so sad and tragic. I hope John Battaglia dies a horrible, painful death.
Sherry,
I have been searching on amazon and I cannot find the book. What is the title? I am sure it will be more than my sensitive heart can take, but I think I need to read it.
Thanks – purple
I don’t recall the exact title, though I’m extremely into true crime books; I would imagine that’s what it is. I’ll take a look when I get home tonight and get the title and author’s name for you.
It’s called “No, Daddy, Don’t!: A Father’s Murderous Act of Revenge” purplekwidd. Here’s the link to it on Amazon.com.
http://www.amazon.com/No-Daddy-Dont-Fathers-Murderous/dp/0786015543
Thank you both. I am going to order that so I can read it, I can feel the optimistic nieve little girl dying alittle inside me already, but she had to go sometime.
If you are still looking for the book about john battaglia, try Wal-Mart. That’s where I found it.
Yep. That’s it. By Irene Pence.
It tells all about his first marriage and hor, ironically, his second wife hardly got the beatings that his firat wife got. Mary Jean Pearle was just way smarter and further ahead of the game than he was and that drove him CRAZY!
this is my first time reading this story and i have 2 things to say:
1. yes i hate him, i actually despise him
2. WTF
This pile of dirt obviously did what he did because he was spiteful and evil. Nothing more, nothing less. He never loved his children, this asshole doesnt know what love is.
And another thing, the fact that this bastard is still appealing makes me sick. Hopwfully no one wil be dumb enough to believe all of his lies which do nothing but take focus off the fact that he is responible for his own actions.
My heart goes out to the mother of those girls. I cannot imagine what she has had to go through and will cotninue to deal with forever. This scumbag deserves hell, like, yesterday.
def not worse then the brianna lopez case at all
I heard this story before and it disturbs me just as much now as it did before. People like john battaglia do not deserve to live- period. what he put his poor wife through is beyond words and my heart breaks for her. those two children did NOT need to be brought in the middle and apparent mr. battaglia was just a coward who KNEW he was worth NOTHING and wanted to make sure his wife had nothing too… whens the execution? can i get front row seats and a giant foam finger?!
“No Daddy, please Daddy, don’t do it! Daddy, please don’t do it!”
“Merry f—— Christmas!”
hahahahahahaaaa- I haven’t laughed that hard in a while! Thanks pysih!
hmmm, pretty pitiful attempt at trolling there Neil. I mean comon man, show a little bit of imagination Neilly.
pathetic, really pathetic….
I remember this case and also saw the American Justice episode about it. I can’t even begin to imagine how Mary Jean must have felt when she heard her daughter saying, “No daddy…no” and then gunshots. I can understand being pissed with an ex-spouse, but the children should never be exposed to any disagreements or name calling or crap slinging between the two parties. But this guy deserves to be shot and beaten by his ex-wife for what he did to those two beautiful children. She should be allowed to torture him slowly and be the one to decide how he dies. The biggest thing that infuriated me about this POS was his justification of killing his kids when he said, “I was saving them from being prostitutes and drug addicts and hating their parents”. What a narcissistic, egotistical pile of shit. It’s really disgusting to see his page on the death row usa website. The link for that page is http://www.deathrow-usa.us/JohnDavidBattaglia.htm. Glad to see he has so much time to do art and do “Jokes & Funnys”. I think his whole cell should be wallpapered in pictures of his two beautiful kids and all the drawings that they ever made for him. This way he is surrounded and reminded every moment of the two precious babies he took from this world. Yeah….really great he get’s to draw and make jokes – something his kids should have gotten the chance to do, but they can never draw another picture or tell another joke because their father was a selfish asshole. I have never forgotten this case and I will keep Mary Jean in my thoughts and hope that she can move forward in her life. This case should have never happened at all. RIP Faith and Liberty.
Oh my GOD!! I looked over his “site” and.. I dont know what to think.. I’ve seen a good deal of disturbing shit online.. but .. he basically insults his ex-wife in one of his little “drawings”.. the guy is evil, pure and simple.. You look at his stuff, and .. all you see is.. selfishness, and darkness, and.. It gave me the fricken chills..
I would have moved, violating the custody order. Also…having been with an unstable person in this sort of situation. The min I thought he was incapable of being a human being, I petitioned the court citing “grave concerns for my physical safety and the well being of my child” to have our exchange point be in the lobby of the sheriff’s office at the county jail. All with sheriff’s looking on. So that any moment I could make a report upon dropping off or picking up if I had concerns. I suggest all women going through this sort of situation to do that.
Amen to Mazzi’s comment. For years I have said that the TDCJ should put a nice little TV up in his cell (mounted nicely so he can’t disable it), and then have nothing but home video of the kids playing. Go ahead and give Battaglia some extra sheets and razors. He would off himself within weeks.
this website should be called
Parents You’ll See in Hell
its almost all child abuse/murder stories now.
You’ve got a point al – I should try to post a better variety of stories. I’ll work on that buddy.
Thanks for your comment – I honestly don’t mind constructive criticism like yours. I wish more people would let me know how they’d like to see the website.
To whoever wrote this story, I have hated this man since I first saw the television broadcast on 48 Hours I think it was. I really, really hate him. Also, whoever voted no to hell for this bastard, seriously?!? I hope he has a lovely time in prison being EVERYBODY’S bitch. This guy is just too evil for words. The answering-machine message proves that.
I saw the same story, and the same thing happened to me. I’ve always wanted to write this asshole up, and I finally got a chance to do it. From what I can tell, Battaglia sits on Death Row working on that piece of fiction he calls an appeal. He now denies he even committed the murders, instead claiming he was framed and he’s a victim of some great conspiracy involving the Dallas DA, the IRS, the FBI and the Justice Department. He’s never EVER showed any sign of remorse. I don’t think anyone short of Mary Jean Pearle hates this SOB more than I do, but you’re free to claim that spot for yourself if you like Kim. :>)
Hell isn’t bad enough for this piece of shit. He deserves something worse than an eternity in flames. Just like all people that murder children. There should be a special, super bad hell for them. The English language does not really have the words for me to describe how I feel about murdering trash like this guy and all other child killers. The law should be amended to accommodate these situations with expediency. For crimes like this they should be shot through the heart within 4 hours from the sentencing of ‘death’.
1 bullet: about $1.25
Justice for the victims’ family: Priceless
Jeez Max– where do you find these winners!
I dont think I have ever cried so hard over something I have read on this site as much as I cried about this one.
I dont know what made it worse than anything else here–but it was.
I think it was the last part–the phone message!!
Probably I wont be able to sleep tonight.
Heinous!
Hello and thank to everyone for their kind words of support. This has been a tough 8 years without Faith & Liberty. But I’m not going to give JDB the benefit of what he wanted, my life ruined. People ask me “how do you do it”? I tell them I do it for Faith & Liberty, my only fear was ever, “He might kill me (although I didn’t think he would, he had never even threatened any of Us)”. Never was it a possibility it could be “that”. Anyway, it should have been me not Faith and Liberty. And if they can see me I want then to know what He did to them didn’t work, I know they are saying “Way to go Mom, we’re proud of you & see you on the other side :^)”. Again, thanks if anyone every reads this, best regards! Mary Jean Pearle
How cool of you to come on here and say hello and give us all an update on you. This case has haunted me ever since I first heard about it on TV. I’m glad that you have such inner stength and refuse to let that POS ruin your life…..I question whether or not I could be so tough in the same situation. Hats off to you! You have the right idea…..live your life to the best and fullest you can, and then when it’s your time look forward to seeing Faith and Liberty on the other side. God bless your beautiful daughters, and God bless you, Mary Jean :-)
Oh yeah…..it should NOT have been you, Mary Jean instead of your daughters….it should have just been that sorry SOb offing HIMSELF if he was that “distraught”. This was nothing but pure, unmitigated evil no matter what. He wanted to punish you more than he loved his own flesh and blood….EVIL. That is proven by how he did it- with you listening. (I am SO SORRY that you will have that memory forever). He is just a selfish, gross piece of steaming shit, and NONE of you should have died unless he killed himself. My two cents…lol
I want to convey my deepest sympathies for what you’ve gone through. I know that nothing can take away the pain of what happened, but I hope that knowing you have so many people standing behind you, who admire your strength, courage and will to go on living, helps at least a little bit. You are an amazing woman — never, ever forget that.
Mary Jean, you are so brave. My heart and thoughts are with you every nght when I say prayers for you and your beautiful daughters. I have two grand daughters the same age your precious daughters were when that monster took their lives. Children are the innocents. You are honoring Faith and Liberty every day by the way you are conducting your life. I know your girls can see you, you promised them their father would pay and he will! He will indeed burn in hell. But when, when will he be put to death?
Just think. It’s SO HARD when an Amber alert is out there because a NON CUSTODIAL parent took the child/children…I always think if it was for PREVENTION of situations like this and we as the public put them back in harms way. Always my thought. Stranger abductions are WAY DIFFERENT…but …who knows if the running parent is trying to protect the children from stuff like this!!!!! AMBER ALERTS SHOULD BE RESTRICTED TO STRANGER ABDUCTIONS ONLY.
Parental abductions should be included if there is any chance that the parent will harm the child.
I smiled when I read he was sentenced to death. :)
i want them to play Faith’s recorded plea for her life 24/7 on John Battaglia as well as show him flashing pictures of his dead children until he loses his mind and kill himself. He must be tortured to death, and that is much much less than what he truly deserves.
I like that. Can we buy him a one-way ticket to Hell, so it can join Eric Harris/Dylan Klebold, 9/11 Terrorists, and Joseph Stalin.
If this case isn’t proof that our legal system needs revamping, I don’t know what is. Let alone the fact he abused his wives for years with basically no punishment – but he remains alive on death row being allowed to actually post to an internet site? I found that site today – having just read the Irene Pence book, I had gone searching for the day his sentence had been carried out and instead found he is still breathing air – not fair. Not right. I was raised that there are consequences for your actions – someone needs to see that he receives the consequences for his unthinkable actions instead of allowing him to permeate the world with his warped ideas. The appeals process must be shortened – the sentence has been imposed for 8 years now – carry it out already!
The Mother was afraid of him but how could she know? What kind of person even can think this? She was afraid he would hurt her but never in a million years did she ever think he would do this… this woman has suffered enough without us telling her what we would have done to protect our babies, the father? he dont give a fuck, playing that recorded message will only somehow reinforce the idea he got revenge on his ex wife…
oh wow, i just scrolled up and read her comment, the spanish inquisition made many innocent people suffer and die a horrible death, this is what I wish on this dog, drag his ass out, tie him to a stake and burn him alive, draw and quarter him forst though and he is not worth even being called a dog, a dog is way better than he could ever be…
Can we send hate mail? there are so many i would love to barrage with hate mail…
Please read “No, Daddy, Don’t” by Irene Pence – it is the story of Battaglia and his two wives and 3 children. Abusers don’t abuse all the time; they’re sorry and charming in between bouts of violence.
I have a friend who finally got away from her abuser because he emotionally abused her son (from a first marriage); unfortunately, I have a cousin that as of a decade ago was trapped in an abusive marriage because of threats to her children (and threats to take away her children.) ‘Don’t know how the second turned out, but the first man has (as least for now) stopped violating the order of protection.
BTW, although I voted “hell” I do understand that some people just don’t believe in hell and everlasting punishment. Can a loving God really do that to his children? (But then again, how can a loving God permit this type of crime to happen? Bad choices need consequences.)
BTW, many of the laws covering domestic violence were changed because of this court case. Mary Jeane Pearle (the second wife and the girl’s mother) felt defenseless, although it looked as though he was finally going to jail the next day for parole violation; he had never (or rarely) offered violence to his children – didn’t even raise his voice; and he had often threatened to gain custody of the kids if she didn’t let him take them. No one questions her decision to let him have the kids that night as much as their mother.
Thanks again for your kind words of encouragement. We’re hoping for a Execution in the next couple of years. PLEASE DO NOT buy Irene Pences Book on the Girls death. It was written against my wishes with lies (concerning my academic career,etc…) and total fabrications of events. No one that knew the Girls or myself contributed. Without the egotistical Chapters of Johns 1st Wife there would not even been a book. This only pads the pocket book of a woman that profits from Others misfortune. Regards, Mary Jean
he needs to burn in hell for doing that to those poor little girls…
mary jean pearle, i pray for you and your daughters
this is just so sad. That poor woman. . .those poor kids.