Documents: Slain dad beat son, wife

MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - The father stabbed by his son in a murder-suicide had attacked that son twice in earlier years and had been accused of repeatedly beating his wife and daughter, according to court records obtained by 24 Hour News 8.

The son, Justin Laverty, was 15 in 1998 when he tried to defend himself with a collectible sword as his father, David Laverty, struck him in the face with a frying pan at their home in Grand Haven, according to a personal protection order obtained by wife and mother, Kimberly Laverty.

"He has indicated to my son that if he ever went to the police again, he wouldn't ever live through it," Kimberly Laverty wrote in her PPO request in March 1998 in Ottawa County.

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Police say Justin Laverty, 30, stabbed his 57-year-old father repeatedly on Thursday outside their Muskegon Township home with a folding knife, then reportedly struck him in the head with a shotgun after his father had stumbled inside.

The son then shot himself in the head with a shotgun.

Kimberly Laverty told police the two had been arguing over a new business venture that the couple was planning. The family owned Kal's cleaning service.

She left for an errand, then returned a short time later, just before 4 p.m., to find her husband and son dead.

However, Muskegon Township police detectives say they're also investigating the family's history.

The family was living at a home on Washington Avenue in Grand Haven in March 1998 when the father initially got angry that dinner wasn't ready, his wife wrote in the PPO request.

"I gave him a plate to serve himself. He threw the plate on the floor, breaking it," she wrote.

The next day, he "targeted" his son, running at him with clenched fists, she wrote. "Justin backed up into room and grabbed one of his collective swords. David grabbed frying pan, went after Justin, knocked the sword down and hit Justin w/ the frying pan in the face."

Court records show Grand Haven police arrested David Laverty that day on a domestic violence charge.

In the PPO, the wife said this wasn't the first time her husband had been violent. She said he assaulted the son in 1996. Records show he was convicted of misdemeanor assault.

She also wrote that he'd assaulted her and their daughter repeatedly in the previous 20 years. "I have suffered from multiple injuries: sprained arm, bruised nose, hit me w/ wrench and a pipe, several black eyes, bruises throughout body.

"He smashed my daughter's face into the car dashboard several times," she continued.

In the PPO request, she said her husband threatened to kill her son. "He has indicated to my son that if he ever went to the police again, he wouldn't ever live through it."

A judge issued a personal protection order, but it was lifted early the next month at the wife's request. She wrote she was "upset with my husband" the day she filled out the PPO request, and that she and her husband were separated and going through counseling.

"He hasn't bothered me or come near my son," she wrote.

Records show the domestic violence charge was dismissed.

The son had no criminal history.