A Seattle doctor who has been accused of killing his partner and son is set to be arraigned on Monday morning on two counts of aggravated first degree murder. Dr. Louis Chen now faces the possibility of life imprisonment without release or death penalty. King County prosecutors are currently determining whether to seek the death penalty, and have 30 days to make that decision.

According to the Northwest Network, an organization which provides advocates for LGBT victims of domestic violence, the incident may have been triggered by an impending breakup and disagreements about splitting custody of the couple's child.

Court records detail that Chen admitted stabbing his 29-year-old partner and their two-year-old son, Cooper Chen, at their First Hill apartment. Cooper apparently received over 100 cuts to the face, neck, chest, back and hands and the child received multiple cuts to the neck.

According to Merril Cousin, a spokeswoman from the King County Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the case had classic signs of domestic violence in both homosexual and heterosexual relationships. The lessons from the case are also worth noting. As Cousin said in a recent Seattle Weekly article, around 75 percent of domestic violence assaults and homicides take place while the victim is attempting to leave the relationship or soon thereafter. Separation is the most dangerous time in such a relationship.

Additionally, the fact that Chen was a respected medical doctor underscores the fact that stereotypes are not accurate when it comes to identifying the characteristics of an abuser.

In our next post, we'll continue this story.

Source: Seattle Weekly, "Gay Rage Comes Out of the Closet," Keegan Hamilton, August 24, 2011.