Roberto Souffront was carrying a gun when he went looking for his wife in Williamstown on Dec. 7, 2013. He beat his wife Nicole when he found her. Then he turned on James Harbst, 27, and shot him three times at close range.

Nancy Eshelman

One might expect the Dauphin County judge who sentenced him to 7-1/2 to 20 years in state prison to lecture Souffront on the dangers of carrying a gun when you're a man with a short fuse.

You might have thought he would talk about the loss of the young father of two.

Instead, reporter Matt Miller wrote, the judge blamed Nicole Souffront.

Judge William T. Tully "cited her testimony at trial that she went out drinking with Harbst in Harrisburg without telling her husband, and turned off her cell phone so he couldn't call her," Miller wrote. "She also testified that she was in bed with Harbst, although both were clothed and were not engaging in sex, around 3 a.m. when her husband rushed into the trailer where Harbst lived.

"Tully called her testimony 'cold,' and said her actions 'precipitated' the deadly confrontation.

"I got the impression it was all about her, about what she wanted to do that night," he said. "She basically shut her husband out, knowing he had a propensity for jealousy, a propensity for violence.

"She put (Harbst) at great risk by her conduct that night," Tully added.

Feel free to pause here and read those words again.

I know I did.

Then I read them several more times, and I still couldn't believe what I saw.

I suppose Tully would have been happier if the little missus had stayed home with her knitting and her jealous, violent husband.

Absolutely unbelievable.

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Next thing you know, bank robbers who threaten a teller will get lighter sentences because their nagging wife wanted a new car or a guy who robs a mini-market can throw off his crime on his wife, who wanted a pack of cigarettes.

Let me say here that I respect the office of judge; it deserves respect. But I can't ignore those words from a judge, particularly the judge who rules on requests from people, mostly women, who are seeking protection from abuse orders from violent, threatening partners.

I called Jennifer Storm, who is the state's Victim Advocate, to ask if she had seen the judge's words. She had, and she wasn't happy.

Storm said she was disappointed, especially because the words came from the judge who has been Dauphin County's Protection from Abuse judge for two years. She said she feels horrible for Nicole Souffront, who not only was beaten but heard the shots when her husband killed her friend.

She asked if the court is saying it's OK to murder someone if a wife turns off her cell phone and goes to a bar.

As someone with a long history of advocating for victims, Storm said she has always thought a judge's role is to comment on the conduct of the offender, "not to pontificate on how the victim behaved."

Finally, she suggested that Tully sign up for some "serious training" from the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Couldn't hurt. In fact, I'm thinking it's overdue.

Nancy Eshelman: columnist1@verizon.net