Late last week brought an end to an ugly story of divorce and murder in Nevada. A 46-year-old Reno man was sentenced to life in prison for murdering his ex-wife and shooting the judge who presided over their divorce. The judge has since recovered from his injuries.

Every time I hear about one of these situations — and there are many horrific stories like these that arise out of divorce cases — I wonder about the legal process. Are all of the people who apparently are driven to this kind of violence by divorce just plain crazy? Or is there something about the nature of a divorce proceeding — the adversarial bitterness of it — that sends otherwise sane people over the edge?

I don't know if there's ever been any research on that topic, but there should be. It's bad enough to go through a divorce that can't be settled out of court, or without significant legal intervention. But to experience that and then also end up being impacted by a violent crime... well, it's more than I'd be able to handle. I know that much.

Click here for more.