Donn Esmonde of the Buffalo News comments about the Ralph ‘Bucky’ Phillips tragedy unfolding in Western New York in Fugitive’s family values perverse.

As you may know, Mr. Phillips escaped from jail several months ago. He is suspected of shooting three NY State Troopers and of killing one, trooper Joseph Longobardo.

In the article Mr. Esmonde highlights the Christian witness of a local R.C. pastor, Fr. Patrick Elis. Beyond that, Mr. Esmonde makes an excellent case in regard to the responsibilities of fathers to their families and to all families. Excerpts follow:

Family? This guy doesn’t know anything about family.

In the stomach-churning saga of fugitive Ralph “Bucky” Phillips, perhaps the most nauseating notion is of this man standing up for family.

That is what a friend of Phillips’ told The Buffalo News last week, after two state troopers on stakeout near Phillips’ ex-girlfriend’s house were shot. Dan Suitor said State Police brought the ambush upon themselves by – days earlier – arresting Phillips’ daughter, her mother and boyfriend for helping Phillips avoid authorities.

“That was like a declaration of war,” said Suitor, who believes Phillips was the shooter. “You do not mess with [Phillips’] family or his friends.”

Pardon me while I gag.

If Ralph Phillips did what police believe, not since Charles Manson led his self-styled “family” astray has one man done so much harm to so many families – including his own. Phillips’ daughter, her mother and his grandchildren all have been put in harm’s way by his actions.

“Nothing he has done [since escaping prison five months ago] has helped his family,” said the Rev. Patrick Elis, who offered his Cassadaga church as a safe surrender site. “Not at all.”

Monday we endured TV images of the widow of slain state trooper Joseph Longobardo as her husband’s body was returned to his Albany-area home. Teri Longobardo, a kindergarten teacher, planned Thursday to celebrate her fourth wedding anniversary. Instead she will mourn her dead husband. In her arms was their 13-month-old son. Little Louis Longobardo will never know his father.

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Now tell me how much Ralph Phillips cares about family.

The guy spent most of his 44 years in jail. A real family man would have stayed out of stir, found a job and lived up to his responsibilities as a father.

No real family man would ever purposely destroy another man’s family. No one who values the web of a family’s interconnections, no one who realizes how every part – mom, dad, guardian, aunt, child, whoever – is a vital piece of a larger puzzle, would purposely destroy a family. Not for any reason.

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If Phillips truly cared about his family, he would take up Elis’ offer to turn himself in. Elis says he will put the $225,000 reward into a trust fund for Phillips’ grandchildren. The money gives them a chance at a better life than Phillips made for himself.

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