Massachusetts News
By John Maguire

October 1--Diana Vencis, 42, is married and lives on Turner Avenue in Haverhill. She’s Dennis’ younger sister.

She has three daughters: Catie, Melanie and Stacy. She works at a clothing store in Haverhill. She calls the long persecution of her brother through restraining orders "ridiculous."

The effect on her household, especially on ten-year-old Catie, has been stressful, she says. No one in the family, not even Catie, can see Denna or Sara.

"Catie is a real emotional kid," Mrs. Vencis said. "She was really upset that she couldn’t see her cousins. She went through crying spells for a while. She’d go into her room and lie on the bed and cry." 

Mrs. Vencis has told her daughter to be careful what she says when Denna and Sara call. "I told her to talk about kid stuff, not to ask them for news about what is going on. I don’t know if their phone calls are actually monitored." She says her brother Dennis is not violent.

"He’s a hyper person, he’s a very active father. He always seemed to be doing things with his daughters. He’d take them to cheerleading, softball, and basketball. He would take them to museums in Boston. Maybe that’s what his ex-wife didn’t like..."

She has talked to her woman friends about the heart-breaking situation her family is in – her mother, herself, her daughter, her brother. They are sympathetic. "They don’t think it’s right. They think women have too much power. They can say practically anything and get a restraining order."

Though they are sympathetic, she says, "They don’t understand that it could happen to them, any time."