Howard Woman, 3 Children Mourned

By Mary Otto
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 30, 2007

Relatives and friends crowded a historic Frederick church yesterday to mourn for a mother and three children, killed on Thanksgiving Day by an ex-husband and father who police say then fatally shot himself.

The four white coffins of Gail Pumphrey, 43, and the children, David, 12, Megan, 10, and Brandon Brockdorff, 6, were decorated with flowers, balloons and photographs. Banners and cards created by classmates of the children filled the stately old church, Evangelical Lutheran.

Little mention was made of David P. Brockdorff, 40, who police say murdered his family during a custody handoff required under the terms of the couple's bitterly contested divorce. But the church's executive pastor, the Rev. Albert K. Lane, pondered the forces that had ended five lives.

"We have stared at evil. It is encompassing us. Domestic violence is awful. We cannot answer every question we are feeling today," he said.

Police are preparing an official report on the incident, one of the deadliest shootings in Montgomery County's history. They found the bodies of the mother and children in two cars in isolated Unity Neighborhood Park in rural Damascus. They say Brockdorff, an electrical contractor, shot them, then walked 100 feet into the brush and turned the .22-caliber rifle on himself. He left no note.

In tributes read by ministers yesterday, Pumphrey was described as a devoted mother, loving sister and "faithful soul." She worked for 19 years as a flight attendant, most recently for US Airways, said the Rev. David G. Oravec, senior pastor, who addressed some of his comments to her many uniformed airline colleagues in attendance.

"Can you imagine all the fussy children and grumpy travelers?" Oravec asked. "She was there providing love and grace. She was the best at what she did, I'm quite certain."

Students from Lisbon Elementary and Glenwood Middle schools in western Howard County, which the children most recently attended, wrote letters to their lost classmates that were read aloud by school officials.

David was remembered for his "positive attitude," Brandon for his "big heart," and Megan as a "good friend."

"You were loved here at school," classmates wrote. "We will really miss you."

The Brockdorff children began attending Howard County schools last fall, after their mother purchased a house in Woodbine. The move was a landmark in a prolonged crumbling of their parents' marriage, a union that had started out with hopeful dreams. Pumphrey and Brockdorff were married in June 1996, bought land in Frederick and built a two-story house there with a wide veranda and sweeping views.

"I'm quite certain there was a time when there was happiness and joy, before things changed in ways I don't understand," Oravec reflected during yesterday's service. "If she was standing here today, I know she would say she was grateful for his part in bringing three children into the world. She loved those children from the first moment she saw them to the last moment she saw them and they went to heaven."

The tensions in the marriage appeared to grow over time. One neighbor had said earlier that years of fighting apparently came to a head about two years ago with a visit by police. In August 2005, Pumphrey obtained a restraining order against Brockdorff, according to court records. She filed for divorce three months later, and during the proceedings she accused him of verbally abusing her and using drugs.

"Gail showed such strength and courage in leaving a bad situation," Pumphrey's sister, Debbie Goodman, wrote in a letter read aloud at yesterday's service.

"We will fight to ensure another family doesn't have to go through what we've gone through," Goodman wrote on behalf of her family. "The pain we feel is incapacitating."

The divorce, which became final Jan. 16, was marred by accusations of abuse and financial troubles, according to court records and people who knew them.

Pumphrey got primary custody of the children, but fighting between the couple about child support and visitation rights continued. They sold their house in Frederick for $775,000, but much of the proceeds probably went to pay off debts and to attorneys' fees, according to a lawyer who represented Brockdorff.

Pumphrey used some of the money from the sale to buy the house in Woodbine. Brockdorff rented a home in Frederick. But according to court records, he was in financial straits, owing tens of thousands of dollars to creditors.

This fall, she accused him of neglecting to pay child support. After Brockdorff did not appear at two court hearings, including one Nov. 16, a judge ordered that he be taken into custody and held on a $10,000 cash bond.

A week later, on Thanksgiving Day, he left to pick up his children for a 26-hour visit, starting at 2 p.m.

Police said Pumphrey arrived at Unity Park about 4:30 p.m. with the children to meet him. Brockdorff was there, too, in a stolen Nissan Altima and armed with a rifle.