BRANDI WULF - 3 yo (2006) - Las Cruces NM

LAS CRUCES - A father whose negligence resulted
in his 3 1/2-year-old daughter's death from malnutrition and
dehydration received the maximum sentence Wednesday in federal court in
Las Cruces.Air Force Sgt. Derek Wulf has agreed not to appeal the
verdict - a three-year prison sentence followed by a year of probation -
during which he is not allowed to possess weapons and must complete
mental health treatment.His ex-wife, Rebecca Colleen Christie,
28, who a jury convicted of second-degree murder and child abandonment
in November 2009, was sentenced to 25 years in prison last month. Wulf
pleaded guilty to child abuse not resulting in death a month after his
ex-wife's conviction.Defense attorney Paul J. Rubino of Las
Cruces argued that it was only during Christie's trial that Wulf
realized he shouldn't have trusted his wife and that her depression and
hours playing online games led her not only to neglect housework, but
their young daughter, Brandi."He didn't see that betrayal of the
spousal trust until the trial," Rubino argued, and when Wulf left
Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo on temporary military duty nine
days before the child's death, "he had no reason to think (Christie)
wouldn't step up."But while Wulf had taken at least one temporary
assignment earlier in the child's life, he had also expressed
reservations about his wife's ability to take care of her; Christie's
older daughter had already been placed with Christie's parents, court
records
show."Mr. Wulf may have been a good man for
most of his life, but otherwise good men can do bad things," argued
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan J. Lichvarcik. "And this is one of those
cases ... On a daily basis, he would see Rebecca too busy playing those
video games, would find his daughter with no water, her diaper
overflowing with diarrhea, so dirty he would have to immediately take
her to the shower."When Christie called 911 to report her
daughter was limp and unconscious the afternoon of Jan. 26, 2006, nine
days after Wulf left, Brandi weighed just 23 pounds and was the size of a
15-month old, Lichvarcik said.Her father's leaving was an act of
"abandoning" that little girl and his duty as his daughter's "ultimate
guardian," Lichvarcik said.Wulf, who attended sentencing in his
class A dress uniform, remains a technical sergeant in the Air Force,
according to the U.S. Attorney's Office."There's no doubt that
Mr. Wulf served his country ... Mr. Wulf is being sentenced because he
did not serve his little girl," Lichvarcik said. "He may have been
devoted to the Air Force, to his career ... but he was not devoted to
Brandi Wulf."In Christie's sentencing, prosecutors detailed how,
from noon to 3 a.m. throughout the month Brandi died, her mother's
computer showed "continuous activity" as Christie chatted online with
friends from World of Warcraft, a popular online fantasy role-playing
game. Less than an hour before Brandi Wulf was found dead, her ribs
"prominent," her teeth appearing "black and decayed," her mother was
online, doing just that, court documents state. Wulf told an FBI
agent he would regularly come home from work and find his daughter with
her water glass empty, because his wife was busy "playing on the
computer," according to court documents. There appeared to be so little
to eat in the home - with its overflowing litter box and pervasive smell
of cat urine - that the child would eat cat food, according to the U.S.
Attorney's Office. And in searching the home after the death, police
found no PediaSure - something a doctor a year prior had prescribed the
child take five times a day due to digestive problems and frequent
diarrhea. But the last time he saw his daughter and kissed her good-bye, "she looked healthy ... happy," Wulf told the judge."I'd
just like to say I'm sorry, to Brandi," Wulf said slowly, trying to
hold back tears. "I just wish I - I should have did something before
that. I never meant to hurt anyone. I accept responsibility. I should
have helped Brandi ... I should have did something and it'll - it'll
stay with me forever. Every day it bothers me. I'm sorry."He wiped the tears from his eyes and continued, saying he accepted responsibility for neglecting her."This
is the hardest thing that's ever happened to me," Wulf said. "I think
about it every day. I just wish I could have done something to stop it."In
sentencing, U.S. District Judge Robert C. Brack countered that Wulf
could have - and should have - done just that, and that the "enormity of
the mistake" made it such that it required a maximum sentence."Brandi
didn't have to die," he said. "Brandi should not have died. Brandi,
with proper medical care, could be that little cherub we saw in that
picture (from the previous Christmas) ... (but) those that gave her life
didn't nurture that life. They didn't support that life. They didn't
provide and protect that life, as was their responsibility."
http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_18285044