Jovan Belcher was one sick son of B****
 

Exclusive: As troubles at home simmered, Chiefs tried to help Jovan Belcher
Police said the team was providing counseling to Jovan Belcher and his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins. But Belcher, before taking his own life in the parking lot of the Chiefs’ practice facility, said it wasn’t enough to fix their problems.
By CHRISTINE VENDEL
The Kansas City Star




Seconds after fatally shooting his longtime girlfriend, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher leaned over her in their master bathroom, said he was sorry and kissed her on the forehead.

His mother, who heard gunfire as she stood in the kitchen, rushed to her son’s bedroom and watched his remorseful goodbye.

Belcher apologized to his mother, kissed his 3-month-old daughter and fled his rented home in the 5400 block of Crysler Avenue in his Bentley.

The Star learned those details and others from multiple police sources Monday as officers continued their investigation into why Belcher, 25, killed his live-in girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, 22, on Saturday morning. Arguments over relationship and financial issues had simmered for months between them, according to the sources.

Belcher’s mother, who came from New York to live with her son so the couple could work through their issues, didn’t hear much of the argument. But just before 8 a.m., she heard her son say something to the effect of: “You can’t talk to me like that!”

Then she heard gunfire.

Afterward, Belcher drove to the only place he felt safe — to his other family at Arrowhead Stadium, police said.

As he covered the five miles from his home to the stadium, his violent act weighed on him, police believe.

“He probably realized he had done something and he couldn’t go back,” said Police Sgt. Richard Sharp.

In the parking lot of the practice facility at 1 Arrowhead Drive, Belcher encountered Chiefs General Manager Scott Pioli. Belcher stepped out of his Bentley with a gun pointed at his own head, police said.

“I did it,” he said, according to police. “I killed her.”

Club officials knew about the couple’s problems. The Chiefs had provided counseling and “were bending over backward” to help, Sharp said.

But Belcher told Pioli that the assistance wasn’t enough to fix their problems and now, “It was too late.”

When another Chiefs employee arrived, Pioli told him to stay back. Meanwhile Pioli tried to persuade Belcher to lay down the weapon, Sharp said.

Belcher thanked Pioli for everything he had done for him. He asked if he and Clark Hunt would take care of his daughter.

Chiefs Head Coach Romeo Crennel and linebackers coach Gary Gibbs arrived in the parking lot and Belcher reportedly announced, “Guys, I have to do this.”

Crennel tried to dissuade him.

“I was trying to get him to understand that life is not over,” Crennel told The Star. “He still has a chance and let’s get this worked out.’’

As Pioli and Crennel tried to reason with Belcher, the men heard police sirens closing in. Belcher then walked a few steps away with the gun still pointed at his head.

“I got to go,” Belcher reportedly said. “I can’t be here.”

Belcher knelt behind a vehicle and made the sign of the cross across his chest before firing a single bullet into his head.

Kansas City police believe Belcher killed himself because he was distraught over what he had done to Perkins.

“He cared about her,” Sharp said. “I don’t think he could live with himself.”

The night before the killings, Perkins had attended a concert downtown with friends, and Belcher had “partied” at the Power and Light District, police said. It was unclear when they arrived home, where Belcher’s mother was watching their baby. A woman who answered Belcher’s mother’s cell phone Monday declined to comment.

Detectives don’t know what specifically sparked the argument between the couple at home, but a friend of Perkins told The Star that the couple argued around 1 a.m. Saturday when Perkins returned home from the Trey Songz concert and drinks with friends afterward. Belcher was mad she had stayed out so late, the friend said.

Sometime later, Kansas City police talked with Belcher after finding him asleep in his Bentley on Armour Boulevard. Officers determined he was able to drive himself home. Police believe he arrived home about 7 a.m., well before a 9:30 team meeting. That’s when the yelling began.

Police said youth, immaturity and financial pressures served as a backdrop. During his college years, Belcher allegedly punched a dormitory window because he was upset over a woman.

Autopsies with toxicology tests were performed on both bodies, but results will take weeks, police said. Investigators believe alcohol may have played a role in the argument’s escalation.

Police recovered several legally owned guns from Belcher’s home. Investigators were testing each one, and the gun found with Belcher’s body, against shell casings and bullets they recovered.

Police spokesman Darin Snapp said Monday that Belcher’s mother, who had been staying with the couple, was given temporary custody of the couple’s daughter. But he said it was unclear if the grandmother and baby were still in the Kansas City area.

Perkins, who grew up in Texas, met Belcher, who grew up in New York, through a cousin, Whitney Golden Charles, the wife of Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles. Perkins moved to Kansas City in 2010 to be with Belcher. Her relatives learned of her death from the news, police said. A woman who answered the phone at a relative’s home Monday declined to comment.

Monday afternoon, the family issued a statement that spelled Perkins’ first name with a double s, though she spelled it with one on her Facebook page:

“On behalf of the Perkins Family, we appreciate the outpouring of love and concern for our Kassandra ‘Kasi’ Perkins. Our hearts are truly broken for Kasi was a beloved daughter, granddaughter, sister, mother, cousin and friend.…

“Please keep us in your hearts and prayers as well as the Belcher family for two lives were loss. Again we thank you for your support, our wish is for Kasi to be remembered for the love she shared with us all. Kasi will be truly missed!”

Jamaal Charles also released a statement: “Our family has suffered a personal tragic loss.… As this is a very tough time for our family, I ask that we are respected as we grieve. Kassandra was not only family, but a friend and a loving mother. As my actual family and my Kansas City Chiefs family have been altered forever, we ask that you keep us and most importantly their child in prayer. Thank you all for your continued support.”

Later Monday, Belcher’s somber relatives provided statements outside of Belcher’s boyhood home in New York. Yamiesse Lawrence, a cousin of Belcher’s, said the weekend’s events were an “inconceivable tragedy.”

“As a family, no words can express the sorrow we feel over the loss of Jovan and Kasandra,” Lawrence read aloud.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/12/04...#storylink=cpy

Kind of reminds me of Chris Benoit putting Bibles by his wife and son after he killed them. Except he had hours to have done that. How do you go from that kind of rage to remorse in just a matter of seconds?

****ing hell.

Was.

She shouldn't have talked to him like that.

He was a sick banana?

Or a sick barbie?

Sick burrito?

Anyone who says the Chiefs organization didn't do enough to help prevent this is just looking for excuses.

The Chiefs should have dumped Belcher months ago IMO.

Why was a mediocre 2-down LB worth all that trouble?

I was going to say because of his high character.

Wow

:eek:

:shake:

Words can not explain all of this.

Because that's the only UDFA Pioli had managed to get any production out of LMAO

wow

I wonder if Clark was aware of Belcher's problems. Not just relationship problems, but issues with painkillers, alcohol, head injuries, and anger management.

This guy's personal life honestly sounds WORSE than Larry Johnson's.

I hate to bring football into this but this is a black, black mark on Pioli's ledger.

There's no way this kind of person should have been playing football for the CHIEFS of all teams.

The Hunt family doesn't tolerate people like Belcher.

The Chiefs organization didn't do enough to prevent this.

He was a Controlling Boyfriend that's why this poor women is died.

He should have been cut months ago.

NFLPA Has programs to help the players i don't know why he didn't use them.

What? Because he had relationship issues with girlfriend?

That he killed

Ok? So Pioli was supposed to know months ago that he would eventually kill his girlfriend?

Because he was an alcoholic with domestic issues. And he owned handguns. And he was 25. And he liked to stay out all night.

The signs were all there that this guy was going to do something eventually. People like Jovan Belcher are scum. He was clearly all about that thug life.

Thanks for describing half the league.

ROFL

Are you actually being serious right now or are you trolling?

Jump to conclusions much? Come on really?

I can't answer that question.

But according to recent reports, he and the club where aware of their issues, which is obviously why he, Gibbs and Crennel knew that they were in no danger when he stormed the gates on Saturday.

This may end far worse for Pioli and Crennel than anyone could have possibly imagined.

:rolleyes:

This isn't Any Given Sunday.

And it's certainly not the culture that Chiefs football has been.

Or maybe it's cause Belcher kept the gun pointed at his head the whole time and he was thanking them the whole time?

And shit, either way... how do you know they didn't feel danger?

The Chiefs had provided counseling and “were bending over backward” to help him. I just wanna know why Belcher didn't turn to the NFLPA for help too.

Jared Allen and Derrick Thomas say whats up.

How can you possibly inject blame on anyone else besides Belcher? No matter the knowledge of their situation, I'm fairly certain Crennel or Gibbs had no idea this guy would snap like this?

I think people are reading too much into his character which we know little to nothing about and overlooking someone who obviously just snapped that day.

Sorry, were the reports of those guys having domestic issues swept under the rug or something?

Please.

Jared Allen was clean FOR A YEAR before he was traded.

Not remotely comparable.

That's what Puss* does to some man.

It's mostly because they've been quoted by every media source as saying "I didn't feel like I was in danger".

People havent been within 100 miles of Belcher and act like his psychiatrist.

Yet when people who talked to Belcher literally every single day talk about his character, people here ignore it.

Because they didn't run. Because Pioli didn't hesitate to call Gibbs and Crennel to the scene.

If Pioli felt he was in danger, he would have run. Or walked away. Or backed his way into the facility.

Basically, anything other than what he actually did.

I think that went out the door when he MURDER SOMEONE.

Dunno, they never killed anyone for us to find out.

Jared Allen has had 3 DUIs and Belcher has had 0. Sorry, I'm inclined to believe Allen was the bigger alcoholic.

You're what, 19 years old?

You don't know ****ing dick about the world.

When you're 38, your outlook will be far different.

Well, hopefully.

That's because they were trying to talk him out of what he was going to do.

Still doesn't explain why Pioli would have known for months that Belcher would do something like this.

That's just plain ****ing stupid

Wait. What? Is this a real argument?

And you don't know dick about Belcher's behavior before this.

I wouldn't be surprised if Belcher had multiple alcohol-related incidents that weren't reported.

Really cant hide that stuff from the NFL Bud.

And I think that you're speculating.

It's clear that he had problems and the Chiefs were aware of said problems.

You have absolutely no idea if the team psychologist warned Pioli or the organization that Belcher was on edge and ready to snap.

Pioli, Crennel and Gibbs calm collectively calm demeanor on Saturday while dealing with an armed man that admitted to murder tells me that that weren't shocked or stunned to hear that news.

Yeah, but the NFL, and especially guys like Scott Pioli, can hide it from YOU.

Sure you can.

You can hide from the government, you can change your identity and in many cases as of late, you can hide your gender.

Were they supposed to be screaming at him?


That probably wouldn't be conducive to what they were trying to accomplish...

We're talking about the most rich and powerful professional sports league there is.

And you don't think they control what gets out about their players?

They most certainly do.

So?

The second I read the story, I knew and posted that the murder/suicide had NOTHING to do with head trauma and was a crime of passion.

The second I read that Pioli, Crennel and Gibbs felt no danger, I KNEW it had nothing to do with head trauma, a killing spree or that he was intent on murdeing others.

Okay I may be speculating, but you are assuming a whole lot and honestly it isn't worth bickering over.

We weren't there and have no clue how it actually went down and never really will no matter what comes out. Everything else is speculating in all reality.

I don't know man, Been a lot of players suspended by the NFL for drug and alcohol abuse.

I'm not arguing any of that it was a crime of passion.


But to backtrack a bit, because it was a crime of passion, that means Pioli and Crennel should have known months ago Belcher would kill his girlfriend?


Is this really what you're suggesting?

Well ****ing said. REP

Yeah, but they weren't superstars like Jovan Belcher. He must be protected!

You are assuming. I am not.

Pioli, Crennel and Gibbs were unafraid of a man holding a gun AFTER he confessed to murder.

That tells us that he wasn't on some muderous rampage. He wanted her dead to such a large degree that he didn't mind taking his own life as the endgame.

The dude was seriously jacked.

Or maybe it's because he realized that he couldn't live with himself after what he had just done and that he'd be going away to jail for a long time anyway.

Just injecting a bit of logic in that world you live in.

That's not true, unfortunately:

Bam Morris
Tamarick Vanover
Warren Moon
Andre Rison
Jim Tryer
Larry Johnson

Yeah, and how long did they last here?

Point proven.

Would you go out and talk to a Co-worker that showed up to work holding a gun AFTER he confessed to murder ?

Wait, how can you call it a crime of passion and then in the next post say "he wanted her dead to such a large degree..."

Really? Warren Moon was brought in AFTER he admitted to domestic violence. Larry Johnson was charged and found guilty his first year here.

What point are you trying to prove?

If the Chiefs were aware of his alleged alcohol and drug abuse, while simultaneously advocating and aware of relationship counseling, I think they had to know that it was possible for this to end badly for both victims.

With ESPN firmly in their pocket along with the rest. Broncos cheating the cap when they won their SB, didn't really ever hear much about that. With all the baseball steroid issues that made news, when it happened in the NFL it was a freaking blurb.

Got it Dr. Phil.

I'm not denying that he was jacked up, but to dissect the situation and act as though you know exactly what was going on is pretty presumptuous. I know there's no debating with you though....carry on.

He shoot her NINE TIMES that is a crime of passion.

Depends on the relationship I have with them. I have some good friends that I would try to talk out of killing themselves.

That's the same relationship that Pioli and Crennel had with Belcher. They were his family.

In fact, Johnson was charged THREE times with domestic violence while he was in KC, and the first time he threatened a girlfriend with a gun, and continued to play for an additional 5 years here.

Vermeil AND the Chiefs unfortunately have a knack for supporting a legal travesty.

Ending badly =/= murder suicide.

Warren Moon only played here two seasons as a backup and had 0 issues.

LJ was tolerated only because of his contract and because he was so good. He was dumped as soon as it was clear he was a shitty player in tandem with being a shitty person.

The Hunt family has never tolerated guys like Jovan Belcher.

Pioli being here changed that obviously.

The world I live in? I'm college educated. I dated a licensed medical social worker for years that dealt with similar trauma.

I'm not some teenager experiencing life throw the glass eyes lens for the first time. I'm 47 ****ing years old and have seen more shit firsthand in this regard than I hope you'll see in your lifetime.

Do you think Pioli called them and said "Hey guys, come on out, Jevon's got a gun and wants to talk to you!"

Whatever...I'll leave all the details to the CP Shrinks.

No, I'm talking about the contradiction.


If you want someone dead to a large degree, you can't commit a crime of passion.

I give up.

Look at the facts.

ROFL

What?

You argued successfully against yourself when you said "LJ was tolerated only because of his contract and because he was so good."

Thank you for the assist.

You're a child. You've provided no insight, only questioned other.

As usual, you're a worthless piece of shit.

The subject matter is irrelevant.