Suspect’s ex-wife expressed fear

Associated Press

SEAL BEACH, Calif.

Scott Dekraai’s neighbors considered him one of the friendliest guys on the block, a man who invited them over for pool parties and played catch with his son in his yard. Friends of his ex-wife, though, say she lived in fear of the man now accused of gunning down her and seven other people at the hair salon where she worked.

He suffered post- traumatic stress disorder from a 2007 tugboat accident that mangled his leg and left a colleague dead. His marriage to Michelle Fournier was falling apart even before that, and the court battle over their 7-year-old son was still raging Wednesday, when Dekraai is accused of spraying the Salon Meritage with gunfire.

Among those killed was Fournier, his ex-wife. The salon’s popular owner, Randy Fannin, also died.

Fournier’s boyfriend, Michael Warzybok, said that at a court hearing Tuesday a judge had pressed Dekraai to explain why he needed more time with his son than his current custody arrangement called for. Warzybok said a court-appointed psychologist had found the roughly 50-50 arrangement was working.

“All of a sudden, he didn’t get his way,” said Warzybok, who was interviewed by the psychologist along with Fournier’s co-workers.

Dekraai had also asked Fournier to meet for coffee Wednesday, the day of the shootings, but she turned him down.

Fournier had indicated to friends and in court documents that she was afraid of her ex-husband. Her friend Sharyn White said that just weeks before the killings, she told her that Dekraai had stopped by the salon and threatened to kill her and others.

White, who also is Dekraai’s step-aunt, said Fournier told her she took the threat seriously though others in the salon laughed it off. She said Fournier also had told her that when they were still married, Dekraai once had held a gun to her head.

There is no sign that Fournier sought a restraining order against her ex-husband, though other friends agree she was afraid.

Six women and two men were killed in the shooting in the quaint seaside town of Seal Beach, which had had only one homicide in the previous four years. A wounded woman was hospitalized in critical condition, although police Sgt. Steve Bowles said Thursday she was showing signs of improvement.