August 24, 2015
Bullied to Death - The Chris MacKney Story
by Michael Volpe
On December 29, 2013, Chris Mackney drove to East Potomac Park in Washington D.C., parked his car, took a rifle from the backseat, put it underneath his chin, and blew his head off. Mackney was once a free spirited, outgoing, successful salesman, and father of two. By the time he killed himself he hadn't seen his children for nearly four years: he was homeless, jobless, suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and he'd been jailed four times. All of this happened as a result of a nasty divorce from his wife, Dina Mackney, whose father, Pete Scamardo, is a powerful builder from Virginia with a dark secret: he once had his best friend and business partner, Sam Degelia, killed. When Chris Mackney found this secret out, Scamardo decided it was time to kill Mackney; only instead of using a gun or hiring a hitman he used the family court system and hired an aggressive lawyer. Worse yet, Mackney's story is not isolated and the family court system is set-up, often times, to punish honest people while giving leverage to devious and dishonest people.
Why write this book:
Legal or not, Chris Mackney's suicide wasn't a suicide, but a murder, and those with blood in their hands must be held accountable, even if that accountability is in their exposure in a book available to all. More than that, one in two marriages ends in divorce and yet the American public has no idea what the family court system is really like. It is a system which mostly benefits the lawyers, judges, and other court professionals at the expense of the participants and often the children. It's a system built on conflict, with those who participate everyday- the lawyers, judges, and court officers- encouraged by the system to create and increase conflict among those trying to get a divorce because financially the system only works if there is enough conflict. Yet, the general public has no idea what divorce courts are really like because the media is too afraid, too biased, and itself not aware of the darkness and corruption that is inside it. Someone needs to tell the truth about a system which destroys life, and this book aims to be the catalyst.
