by Patrick H. Moore
Doug Stanglin at USA Today writes that according to a San Diego TV station, the family of kidnapping and murder suspect James DiMaggio wants paternity tests conducted to see if he is the father of Hannah Anderson and her slain 8-year-old brother Ethan.
Although I have no opinion on this one way or the other, it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise. I had been informed this was a possibility by conspiratorially-minded readers who refuse to simply accept the “party line” which is that all the volition came from DiMaggio and that Hannah was purely a victim.
The speculation that DiMaggio could be Hannah’s biological father has been given a huge boost by the fact he left a $112,000 life insurance policy in the care of Hannah’s grandmother, Bernice Anderson.
Andrew Spanswick, a spokesman for DiMaggio’s family, told KGTV that he had expected the grandmother to take care of the two Anderson children with the money. He told the Associated Press on Monday that the beneficiary was changed in 2011 from DiMaggio’s sister to Bernice Anderson.
“He stated he did not want it to go to their parents because they were having marital problems and he didn’t trust them with the money on their own,” Spanswick stated.
According to Spanswick, the DiMaggio family is not challenging the insurance policy. They simply want paternity tests to find out if DiMaggio is Hannah and Ethan’s father.
“We are requesting DNA samples from Hannah and anything they can get from Ethan. There are rumors Jim was the children’s real father. The parents didn’t marry until 2002. We think it’s strange he left them so much money with no explanation.”
The children’s father, Brett Anderson, who lives in Tennessee but has recently been in California, dismissed the claim heatedly stating that the speculation was “disgusting”.
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I have no evidence one way or the other as to whether DiMaggio might actually be Hannah’s biological father. Although it certainly would be interesting if it turned out that he was, it still would not answer the main question. The main question does not revolve around the paternity issue entertaining though that might be. The real and pressing question is why did James DiMaggio brutally murder and perhaps torture Hannah’s mother and brother prior to him kidnapping Hannah? What was it that drove him to take this drastic and irrevocable step? This is the question that continues to frustrate and may never be answered.
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Meanwhile, in a snippet of a full interview to be shown Thursday morning on the “Today” program, on NBC’s Nightly News, Hannah Anderson spoke publicly for the first time:
“In the beginning, I was a victim but now, knowing everyone out there is helping me, I consider myself a survivor instead. My mom raised me to be strong.”
Click on the links below to view our previous posts on this case:
Hannah Anderson Rescue: The 14-Mile Trail to Freedom
Hannah Anderson Makes First Public Appearance at Fundraiser to Pay for Family Members’ Funeral
James DiMaggio “Tortured” Hannah Anderson’s Mother and Brother Before Killing Them
Hannah Anderson “Meets the Press” on Social Media Website ask.fm
Hannah Anderson Kidnapping: What Can We Learn from This Disaster?
Breaking News: James DiMaggio Exchanged Gunfire with FBI Prior to Being Shot and Killed
Hannah Anderson Rescued: SWAT Team Kills Kidnapper James DiMaggio in Idaho Wilderness
Amber Alert: Abducted Teenage Girl Hannah Anderson Sighted with Kidnapper in Idaho Wilderness