Photos by Monica Caison
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Susan Murphy Milano, National Advocate, Dies of Cancer
Nationally recognized for her work with victims of abuse
Myrtle Beach, SC………On Sunday morning, October 28, 2012, Susan Murphy Milano, one of the nation’s leading pioneer advocates for victims of intimate partner violence, lost her battle with the ultimate abuser, cancer, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Susan left this earth from the home of her close friend, caretaker, and business partner of several years. She was 52.
Throughout her 20 year career Murphy Milano was well known as an outspoken, fiery activist who took on the role of protector of the abused, often using distinctive methods for insuring safety from their abusers.
Susan Murphy Milano began her one woman crusade in 1989 after the death of her beloved mother at the hands of her police detective father. Growing up in a household which held many secrets, she vowed that the world would look differently at battered women and provide necessary resources which weren’t available to help her mother.
Murphy Milano’s books, “Defending Our Lives”, “Moving Out, Moving On” and Time’s Up, are considered the “bibles” of how to make the move away from abuse and deal with the many confusing situations surrounding violence prevention, stalking, break-up or divorce.
Susan received many awards and accolades through the years for her work with victims of abuse, and her quest for justice was instrumental in the passage of the Illinois Stalking Law and the Lauternberg Act. She has been prominently featured in newspapers, magazines, radio and television including: The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Radio, ABC’S 20/20, Justice Files, E-True Hollywood, CNN, Sunday Today Show Profile, Women’s Day, Family Circle, US News and World Report to name only a few. She frequently participated in guest media commentary panels on major news programs and appeared in the 2010 A&E Biography of Drew Peterson.
In recent years Susan was involved in several radio shows, co-hosting Crime Wire, a regular guest spot on syndicated The Roth Show, and her own radio show, Time’s Up, which featured unsolved cases to which she was bringing attention, missing persons with Monica Caison of CUE Center for Missing Persons, and true crime author interviews.
Beginning in 2007 she covered the disappearance of Stacy Peterson extensively on her blog,
Murphy Milano’s Journal, often making bold statements which later proved to become eerily true. On a visit with Stacy’s Pastor, Neil Schori, she became inspired to develop the
Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit which, when properly used, helps successfully prosecute cases where the victim becomes incapacitated, missing or murdered, allowing it to be entered into evidence and being the victim’s testimony against the perpetrator, thus circumventing most hearsay laws.
Susan Murphy Milano’s legacy will continue through the efforts of her many colleagues who will attempt to fill her shoes providing expert training and presentations based on her work and the
Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit. Through her affiliation with Sandra L. Brown of The Institute for Relational Harm Reduction, and Pastor Neil Schori, the site
Document The Abuse was created to house information about the
Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit and future development of Susan’s ideals.
Susan was preceded in death by her mother, Roberta Murphy, and her father, Philip Murphy, of Chicago. She is survived by a brother, a sister and her son, along with hundreds of colleagues and thousands of friends, survivors and followers across the country.
A memorial service to honor her life is being planned at Naperville Christian Church with Pastor Neil Schori officiating in Naperville, Illinois, and the scattering of her ashes in South Carolina at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, Susan requested that donations be made towards establishing a trust to help victims in crisis. Donations can be made through her site
http://www.conqueringcancer.me
