a result, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor-level assault charge and was given two years' probation. Pearle filed for divorce immediately after the incident, and the divorce was finalized in August 2000. Pearle was attempting to have Battaglia's parole revoked because he had harassed her over the telephone. He was not supposed to send messages to her, and she contended that he should be incarcerated because of his history of domestic violence. He also used marijuana, which violated the terms of his probation. Up to that point, he had not hit either of his daughters. Pearle stated that he previously doted upon them, and until he killed the girls, she did not believe he was willing to harm them despite his earlier domestic violence towards adult women. He was allowed to have periodic visits with them. To his acquaintances, he made negative statements about his ex-wives while making positive statements about his daughters. Jacquielynn Floyd, a columnist for The Dallas Morning News, stated that "He fooled people into believing he was a devoted father." Murders On May 2, 2001, Pearle left her daughters with Battaglia for a planned dinner at the mall, but he instead took them into his apartment in the Adam Hats Lofts in Deep Ellum in Dallas. Battaglia called Pearle from the apartment. With Pearle on the phone he shot and killed his daughters, ages 6 and 9. During the phone call, he asked Faith to ask Pearle, "Why do you want Daddy to go to jail?" Before her death, she cried, "No, Daddy!” “Please don't!” “Don't do it!" Pearle then told the girls to run, but, it was too late. Jon grabbed his gun and shot Faith three times and shot Liberty five times with his gun. He told Pearle, "Merry Fucking Christmas", in reference to the Christmas 1999 assault. Pearle terminated the call and dialed 9-1-1. After the killings, Battaglia left a message on the answering machine in the girls' bedroom: "Hi, girls. I just want to tell you how very, very brave you were, and I hope you are resting in a better place now. I wish that you had nothing to do with your mother. She’s evil and vicious and stupid!" Battaglia then visited a tattoo parlor and got two roses, representing his daughters, on his left biceps. He was apprehended shortly afterward, getting into a fistfight with the arresting police officers, which