On October 20, McCluskey sent the detectives screenshots of threatening text messages from Rowland, and detailed information about his criminal history that she had found online.
On October 22, McCluskeys dad called the campus police and 911, after overhearing McCluskey get attacked while she was on the phone with her parents. It was too late. Rowland had shot her in the head and killed her. Police pursued him, and he ultimately committed suicide during the chase.
A subsequent review of the case was alarming. A report on how campus police handled McCluskeys case found University of Utah police officers were not familiar with how to conduct criminal background or parole information. Had they conducted a proper check, they would have found out that Rowland was listed on the sex offender registry, and in 2004 was convicted of enticing a minor and attempted forcible sexual abuse. He had spent over a decade in prison, had been released on parole three times, had violated that parole, and had been sent back to prison twice.
Even without that information, campus polices lack of urgency in responding to McCluskeys case was troubling, considering that authorities knew of the threats against McCluskey as early as October 10, and given that approximately 75 percent of women who are murdered by their abusive partner are killed when they try to end the relationship.
The independent review of the University of Utah polices handling of McCluskeys case the same reportthat lays out many of the missteps above was also disturbing. It concluded that campus police had taken McCluskeys reports seriously, and stated that her death was not preventable.
McCluskeys parents disagreed with that analysis.
We respectfully disagree with the conclusion that Laurens murder could not have been prevented, they said in a statement. There were numerous opportunities to protect her during the almost two weeks between the time when our daughter began expressing repeated, elevating and persistent concerns about her situation and the time of her murder.
More than 1,000 women are murdered by intimate partners every year in the United States. The funding for the landmark Violence Against Women Act, however, which assists victims of sexual violence, domestic abuse, and stalking, has currently lapsed, thanks to the current partial government shutdown.