Transgender woman arrested for killing husband

**Unamused Cat** · October 12th, 2008, 03:56 PM

MIDDLEFIELD — A 40-year-old Middlefield woman was arrested late Friday night, after a more than four month investigation into the death of her 73-year-old husband.

Christine Mason was taken into custody at 10:05 p.m. and transported to the Geauga County Sheriff’s department. She is being charged with reckless homicide.

On June 2, Middlefield Police responded to the MIddlefield Village Apartments, 16119 E. High St., for a report of an unresponsive male in a swimming pool. When officers arrived, they discovered 73-year-old James Mason, lifeless in the pool. Chris Mason was also in the pool, holding him, according to reports.

Police had knowledge of prior alleged abuse from Chris toward James, which led to the opening of the investigation into James’ death. Police reviewed a surveillance video from the apartment complex which led to a criminal investigation, according to reports.

“That video revealed some pretty disturbing footage for about an hour and 40 minutes leading up to his death,” said Middlefield Police Chief Joseph Stehlik. “We knew we were going to be investigating an assault or a homicide.”

On June 3, James died and the homicide investigation began in conjunction with the Geauga County Coroner’s Office, Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office and the Geauga County Prosecutor.

The official cause of death was ruled as a heart attack by forced exercise in the swimming pool, Stehlik said. Police did not receive the homicide ruling from the coroner’s office until last month, which was pertinent to make an arrest, he said.

The surveillance video showed Chris blocking James’ exit out of the pool 43 times in the hour and 40 minutes, Stehlik said. James was, however, able to get out of the pool a few times, but ultimately was forced back in.

Stehlik could not give details of the investigation as much of the information is sensitive until the case is tried in court. Stehlik said he could not discuss what police believe Chris’s motives were, but did say, James was not a wealthy man, having only a small pension.

“He was not wealthy, which is kind of the irony of it all,” he said.

In an interesting twist, Chris was born in Kentucky as a male with the name John Lesley Ballandingham, Stehlik said. In 1993, she underwent gender reassignment surgery in Montreal, Canada. In Kentucky, it is legal to alter a birth certificate, so she changed her name to Chris Newton John. When she changed her name, she was then able to marry in Ohio, Stehlik said.

“It is quite the twisted story,” he said.

Chris is scheduled to appear in Geauga County Court Tuesday morning.

http://www.starbeacon.com/local/loca...286020513.html

~

**Pete Bondurant** · October 12th, 2008, 04:02 PM

When officers arrived, they discovered James Mason, lifeless in the pool.

I thought he was already dead. This is really weird, man.

**Jaded** · October 12th, 2008, 04:04 PM

Chris Newton John

Hahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!
Fuckin meanie...

**crickett** · October 12th, 2008, 04:15 PM

I'd like to know why she killed him? Kind of stupid unless he has unknown life insurance out there. Wow....she tried REALLY hard to make it look like a death from natural causes. I'm glad that she was too stupid to realize there were cameras out there. Fucking hateful assed bitch...what a cruel way to go.

**Lizard** · October 12th, 2008, 09:49 PM

This is one weird case!

**Owd Scrat** · October 12th, 2008, 10:50 PM

Originally Posted by crickett

I'd like to know why she killed him? Kind of stupid unless he has unknown life insurance out there. Wow....she tried REALLY hard to make it look like a death from natural causes. I'm glad that she was too stupid to realize there were cameras out there. Fucking hateful assed bitch...what a cruel way to go.

Maybe she just plaon ole hated him and wanted him "gone"!

**Unamused Cat** · October 12th, 2008, 11:33 PM

I think she had gotten all that she could out of him and justed wanted him out of the picture. Poor old guy.

Thanks for the pic Lizard.

**Dakota Valkyrie** · February 14th, 2009, 01:06 PM

A 41-year-old transgender woman pleaded guilty Thursday to reckless homicide for exercising her 73-year-old husband to death.

Her husband, James Mason, suffered a heart attack June 2 after being forced to swim for a long time in the pool at the Middlefield Village apartment complex, where they lived.

Middlefield Police Chief Joseph Stehlik said it was the strangest case he has ever investigated.

Christine Newton-John, 41, was born a male and named John Vallandingham. Vallandingham underwent gender reassign ment surgery in 1993 and changed his name to Christine Newton-John, in honor of his favorite singer, Olivia Newton-John.

Mason had been friends with the Vallandingham family since before his future wife was born. He lived in a boarding house operated by Newton-John's grandmother and for a time shared a bedroom with John Vallandingham.

In 2006, Newton-John and Mason married in Kentucky, a state that allows people to change the gender on their birth certificate, which thereby permitted the marriage.

The whole matter might have been dismissed as a death by heart attack if a police officer hadn't noticed the surveillance camera fixed above the pool.

"The video is bone-chilling," Stehlik said. "The whole case is very sinister. My personal feeling is that what she did was more intentional than reckless. This is a case that could just slip through the cracks."

"You can see the man struggling for his life on the tape, but there is no audio, so we couldn't hear what he was saying. All in all, I'm satisfied with the plea," Geauga County Prosecutor David Joyce said.

Stehlik said the department investigated reports of abuse weeks before Mason's death.

"I think he was victimized for years by her," he said.

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaind...130.xml&coll=2

A security camera video captured the last hour and 40 minutes of James M. Mason's life as the frail 73-year-old battled with his much younger, transgender wife in the pool of their apartment complex.

Mason's wife, Chris, 40, intensified the investigation by raising the idea of filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the apartment complex.
[...]
The tape shows Chris Mason pushing her mother in a wheelchair into the indoor pool area. James Mason trailed them, wearing baggy, dark trunks or shorts. He appeared agitated, walking in almost timid steps, clutching his arms to his chest.

Investigators learned that Mason had a fear of water so great that he rarely bathed.
[...]
In the tape, James Mason gingerly walked down the steps into the pool, which is 4 feet at its deepest. His wife, a woman more than twice his size, followed him in seconds later. Several times, Mason appeared to panic and attempt to leave the water. On one occasion, his wife grabbed his arm and tugged him around the water, repeatedly putting his entire face and body beneath the surface.

Stehlik said she later told officers that her husband was only in the pool for a little while, swam around by himself for a bit, and never had his head submerged.

The video shows Mason's wife several times blocking the stairs as he tried to climb out of the pool. Stehlik said police counted 43 separate times in which she prevented her husband from leaving the water. She is also seen dragging him around by his arms and legs. On several occasions, Mason can be seen laying his head on the poolside, apparently sputtering and gasping for breath.

Stehlik said Mason was clearly in distress, and noted that his wife's experience as a former health care worker for the elderly should have tipped her off that her husband was in trouble.

Mason managed to get out of the pool, but he suffered a heart attack and collapsed moments later. Paramedics were able to revive him but he never regained consciousness and died a day later.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008...red_woman.html

**DarkPrincess** · February 14th, 2009, 01:31 PM

What a touching Valentine's Day story. lol

**theskyisfalling** · February 14th, 2009, 01:47 PM

She wanted to get 'Physical'.

**Pazuzu** · February 14th, 2009, 05:44 PM

That was a fucked up story.

**Tazzzz** · February 14th, 2009, 08:32 PM

Chris Newton John AKA John Lesley Ballandingham, 40

Let me get this straight, John Ballandingham was born a man, then had a sex change and became a woman named Chris Newton John , then married his mommys Ex-Lover ??? EEEEWWWWwwww. Ohh I forgot, They all lived in the same apartment complex. EEEwwwww

What if the dead dude was really the He/She's father??? He was stuping the mom before he/she was born. EEWWWwww. I had a sex change operation and married my own dad, coming up next on the Jerry Springer show.

Mason had been friends with the Vallandingham family since before his future wife was born. He lived in a boarding house operated by Newton-John's grandmother and for a time shared a bedroom with John Vallandingham.

Chris Mason was born a boy and named John Leslie Vallandingham. Maryanne Vallandingham and James Mason were friends when she had her son in 1967 in Kentucky.

Seconds after the trio entered the pool room, Chris Mason pointed out the security camera to her husband, and both spent a few moments looking into the lens.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008...red_woman.html

**w8ng4msrgt** · February 15th, 2009, 03:51 AM

Originally Posted by Owd Scrat

Maybe she just plaon ole hated him and wanted him "gone"!

Like we did you? Come step into the pool.

**TheMorningStar** · March 20th, 2009, 07:45 PM

Sentenced to four years in prison.

A transgender woman was sentenced Friday to four years in prison for killing her frail husband by forcing him to exercise.

Chris Mason, 41, was sentenced in Geauga County Common Pleas Court for reckless homicide in the death of 73-year-old James Mason. She pleaded guilty earlier and could have gotten five years at sentencing.

Mason's voice quivered as she tearfully apologized for the June death of her husband, who had heart problems. A surveillance camera caught Mason forcing her husband around in the pool.

Chris Mason also goes by Christine Newton-John, the name she took after her 1993 sex change.

"I want to apologize to my former husband's half-sister for her loss as well as to my family and for my loss," she said in court in an emotional tone. "It's been very upsetting and devastating for our entire family."

More:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...ItaMQD9720GLG0

**Kalehue** · March 20th, 2009, 11:54 PM

A transgender woman was sentenced Friday to four years in prison for killing her frail husband by forcing him to exercise.

That's a disappointing sentence. I'm not sure Bertha on Cell Block D is going to scare old Chris, either.

I read her entire "statement." Pathetic.

RIP James Mason.

**LiltingBanshee** · March 21st, 2009, 02:20 AM

Found an article with a little more description. She doesn't sound like a nice person. She'll probably be Big Bertha.

Although the tale of James and Chris Mason didn’t begin as a nightmare, the relationship always was considered unusual. The marriage seemed not much more than a living arrangement, said Chris Mason’s sister, Cathy Vondrasek, who learned of it only after the two were wed.

“I never knew of them to be romantic,“ she said. “Jim was always like an uncle to us.“

Her sister is domineering, “although I hate to say it,“ while James Mason was very gentle and laid back, Vondrasek said.

Her mother:

told police she once saw her daughter flip a chair while James Mason was sitting in it, putting a hole in a wall. She said she saw James Mason standing with his nose to a wall in the corner of the living room because, he told her, his wife had ordered it.

http://www.nbc4i.com/cmh/news/local/...killing/14020/

**Aslan** · March 21st, 2009, 10:49 AM

This story is all sorts of fucked up.
He was absolutely abused by his spouse and I have a feeling if it were a 73 yr old female bullied around in that pool the verdict would be a bit different.

4 years. Really?

**HijabiGirl** · March 23rd, 2009, 12:38 AM

This is my first time attempting this, so apologies if I screw up:

To synopse:

Mason was born a male, knew the victim he was a child. There is a healthy age gap between the two but I guess after some chopping and hormone treatments Mason was palatable to James Mason. James had a heart condition and was quite elderly but this didn't stop Mason from demanding the butterfly stroke out of her husband. He repeatedly tried to exit the pool but Mason continually blocked his path until eventually the old geezer gave up the ghost.

Mason has stated that she knew she would be getting VA benefits if/when James died. I guess she was tired of waiting and decided to give him a little "push. I find it interesting that this is clearly premeditated and yet still she is charged with wreckless homocide.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline...l-marriag.html