WOODLAND — In the span of two and a half years, 62-year-old Woodland resident Joseph Thuney faced the loss of his wife to cancer, murder of his daughter and heart-wrenching lost custody battle over his granddaughter.
Thuney’s wife was already diagnosed with lung cancer before the tragic events of May 15, 2020, when his 32-year-old daughter, Brittany Thuney was gunned down in Kelso by her child’s paternal grandfather Scott Belenksi, who also turned the gun on himself.
Joseph Thuney chronicled his journey in a new memoir and is set to speak at a vigil dedicated to domestic violence victims Monday in Longview to help others struggling from similar nightmares.
His daughter was a victim of domestic violence since she was a teenager, he said, and a previous TDN report states she had a domestic violence-related protection order against her then-partner Kyle Belenski about a year before her murder.
Joseph Thuney said he remembers his daughter as a person who cared about people, who “truly enjoyed having people smile and laugh.”
And the writing process for the book, he added, has been a cathartic experience.
“It has been helpful in writing it and talking about if afterwards,” he said.
Bad policy
Joseph Thuney said an unhelpful law caused him to lose custody of his grandchild.
Even though the child had a protection order against Scott Belenski, Joseph Thuney said his daughter still had to obey the court’s parenting plan, meaning she had to drop off her daughter with her father, who at times lived with the eventual gunman.
Just months prior to the attack, Scott Belenski was charged in Lewis County for molesting his granddaughter. The case was dismissed after his death.
The series of tragic events spurred Joseph Thuney to write his memoir “Unimaginable Loss: A True Story of Murder, Heartbreaking Injustice, and Surviving the Unthinkable” for those going through similar situations and also urge change from Washington state lawmakers regarding guardianship.
The law Joseph Thuney is referencing is RCW 11.130 or Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Other protective Arrangement Act, a law he learned about when trying to renew the guardianship over his grandchild.
Originally Joseph Thuney and his wife had custody of their grandchild, though his wife passed away four months after the shooting.
Kyle Belenski was sentenced in 2021 to 10 days in jail for violating a no-contact involving the child and obstructing the investigation of Brittany Thuney’s murder.
In September 2022, a court ordered full custody to Kyle Belenski.
Joseph Thuney argues the law favors biological parents, even if their background includes crimes, substance abuse issues, or other issues that prove they are unfit to have guardianship.
“This … law allowed this little girl (to) go with this man that has caused the majority of every bad thing that’s happened in her life,” he said.
The shooting
Joseph Thuney said he heard the shots that killed his daughter over the phone.
He told the host of a Pacific Northwest podcast his daughter called him just after the 2020 attack, saying Scott Belenski shot her.
Brittany Thuney and her child’s father were separated and she was engaged to another person when she dropped off her daughter that day.
As she drove away, police report Scott Belenksi shot Brittany Thuney near the 1800 block of Boyd Street in Kelso. She stopped at the AM/PM at 1700 Allen St. in Kelso, but the gunman entered the parking lot after her and fired a handgun while she was still in her car.
Joseph Thuney said in the podcast he heard the events unfold while on speaker phone; his daughter pleaded for him to get her child. He then heard three “pops.”
Scott Belenski reentered his vehicle, drove to the other side of the parking lot, and turned the gun on himself, police report.
Seeking help
One of the people who heard Joseph Thuney’s story was Jill Mathews, shelter manager at Longview’s Emergency Support Shelter, who invited him to speak at the organization’s annual candlelight vigil at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Emmanuel Lutheran Church to honor those whose lives were changed by domestic violence and celebrate victims who dared to start again.
October is domestic violence awareness month, and in addition to the candlelight vigil, the Emergency Support Shelter planted 300 purple pinwheels outside the Longview Public Library to spread awareness.
Mathews said domestic violence is more unique than other forms of physical violence because the victim has “emotional investment” with their abuser.
For 90 days, people escaping domestic violence can stay at the shelter and receive services from child care, to resume assistance, to legal aid from outside organizations.
To prevent abusers from finding victims, the Emergency Support Shelter can remove tracking apps from electronic devices, which Executive Director Sarah J. Hancock estimates has been done for about 80% of shelter residents.
The shelter also uses fingerprint technology at the entryways and cameras around the outside of the building to ensure safety. Each client has their on entryway into the building, and the shelter has an onsite kennel so people can bring pets.
Hancock and Mathews said the agency helped 770 victims of intimate partner domestic violence from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023, which does not include children or secondary victims.
The organization also plans to hold a memory walk for Brittany Thuney at 1 p.m. Oct. 28 near the area of the shooting.
