When Silverton resident Trisha Conlon tells her story, with all its bizarre twists and turns, she tells it from her heart.
The 42-year-old mother of two gets to the point: She does not want her children living with a woman who murdered her own two daughters in their sleep 20 years ago.
Conlon is in the midst of a harrowing custody battle with former husband John P. Cushing Jr., a retired Marine fighter pilot.
Cushing lives on Vashon Island south of Seattle and is back together with his first wife, Kristine, who used a .38-caliber handgun to kill her 4- and 8-year-old daughters at home in Orange County, Calif., in 1991.
Conlon’s two sons — whom she had with Cushing during their decadelong marriage that began in 1995 — are staying with their father and Kristine.
For three years, Conlon did not know Kristine was back in her ex-husband’s house. When she found out, she hired an attorney and went to court to alter the parenting plan she currently has with Cushing.
But Commissioner Leonid Ponomarchuk of King County Superior Court ruled against Conlon, and on July 31 she had no choice but to drop her sons off with their father.
“It felt like I was driving my kids to slaughter,” Conlon said.
Every day since has been just as hard.
“I think I’m more determined and focused now than ever. Each day, I just believe more and more that the commissioner’s ruling was wrong and this has got to change,” Conlon said. “I don’t think there’s one ounce of me that says, ‘Give up.’ ”
At 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Conlon and her attorney, Todd DeVallance, will appeal Ponomarchuk’s decision to the King County Superior Court judge assigned to the case.
She is asking her friends, family and strangers to pack the courtroom to let the judge know the importance of the decision.
“We’ve seen the worst. We’ve hit rock bottom as far as court rulings go,” Conlon said. “I have high hopes the judge will see the error made in this case.”
The Cushing/Conlon current parenting plan calls for their oldest son, 14, to live with Conlon during the school year and the younger son, 13, to live with Cushing. The boys split vacations and holidays between their parents.
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