Loving Mother, Nation Protector

Murder is always wrong. No one should condone such an atrocity.

There are no ifs, ands, or buts.

But what if the act of murder prevented not one, but two crimes – one of which would have been both a hate crime and an act of domestic terrorism?

I’m talking about the murder of James Cummings, 29, father, husband, and recent locator to the state of Maine from California. He was murdered by his wife, Amber Cummings, 31.

Yes, his own wife and mother of his child.

However, a judge in the beautiful state of Maine decided to not imprison a woman who confessed to killing her husband in cold blood – while he was asleep.

This case sounded very straightforward at first, James Cummings was asleep in bed and, at around 11:30 pm, his wife crept into their bedroom and shot him twice in the head with the Colt Peacemaker (.45 caliber revolver.) She then took their 9-year old daughter and they went to a neighbor’s house and called the police. She confessed and gave the police complete details of what, where, and how she executed him. She waited there for the police to arrive and detain her. She even arranged for care of her daughter while she was incarcerated.

Open and shut case.

But it wasn’t. It was the start of a bigger investigation that would involve the FBI, and have ties to the President of the United States.

So, back to the night of December 9, 2008…

Amber was cooperative with police throughout the entire investigation. The police started collecting evidence, and tried to piece together what caused this woman to murder her husband of 10 years while he was asleep.

Amber Cummings and her husband James Cummings moved from California to Belfast, Maine in 2007 to a foreclosure home that was in need of repair (which would be performed by contractors) Despite a relatively short period of time, Amber was liked in the area, and she was described locally as “very polite” and “pleasant.” On the flip side, however, anyone hired by James to work on the house had very negative things to say about the man of the house.

He was described by contractors as “verbally abusive” with an “explosive temper” and that he was obsessed with Adolf Hilter, and also a “gun nut” – which I use differently than an individual who collects firearms or even someone just upholding their second amendment rights. They would also say that he was very proud of his collection of Nazi memorabilia.

Turns out, the couple slept in different bedrooms, and Amber was a battered woman – she would tell police her husband beat, berated, and sexually assaulted her – the length of time of abuse was not mentioned in the articles I found.

Police realized there was a lot more to the story than a battered woman and a fan of Adolf Hitler. They found uranium, thorium, lithium metal, thermite, aluminum powder, beryllium, boron, black iron oxide and magnesium. And this got the FBI involved.

Maybe you’re like me, and you aren’t entirely sure what those items are when it comes to why the FBI would get involved in a homicide. Well, those things I listed are what one would need to make a “dirty bomb” – an device that combines an explosive with radioactive material.

Obviously, the authorities inquired to Amber about the items purchased by James. She explained he would sometimes mix chemicals in the sink trying to learn how to create a weapon because he was absolutely outraged by the election of Barack Obama as President. His white supremacist ideals were triggered and he wanted to use the weapon at Obama’s inauguration. He wanted to kill the president and his family.

Experts were quick to assure the public there was no danger – James’ skills were not developed and he wouldn’t have been able to do more than start a small fire.

But what led to his murder was actually his collection of child pornography. And he voiced to his wife he had urges to experience it. So Amber decided to protect their 9 year old daughter from becoming a target for a budding predator.

Amber was charged with “intentional manslaughter” which carries an 8 year jail sentence. She would be tried for his murder in January of 2010.

But the judge looked at the entire case and made a decision, and decided she would not serve jail time. Instead, she was sentenced to 6 years of probation. Her supporters were elated at the outcome of her case.

Her actions were ultimately a mother protecting her child from a very real threat. She chose to eliminate the threat, believing that was the only way to prevent the danger, but she also stopped an act of terrorism.

While murder is a crime, preventing a dangerous individual from harming others is an understandable action. A mother’s love protected both her child and the American public.

Happy Mother’s Day from Lady Sleuths!

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/no-way-out-sarah-camden/1124276058