Maggie Lawrence

Professor Presnell
UWRT 1103
20 October 2014
Evaluative Works Cited: The Dangers of Love Triangles
Avila, Jim. "Online Love Triangle, Deception End in Murder." ABC News. 27 Aug. 2011. Web.
13 Oct. 2014.
I found this story online through a Google search, and it lead me to the ABC News
website, one of the top news sources in the country. The author of this article, Jim Avila, is an
award-winning journalist, the Senior National Correspondent at ABC News, and White House
correspondent for Fusion, the ABC/Univision joint venture launching in 2013.
This article is the story behind a 21st century love triangle involving a married man, his
coworker, and a young girl he met on an online chat room. Thomas Montgomery, a 46-year old
married man and father of two, was posing as an 18-year old in a chat room where he met an 18year old girl who went by the name of Talhotblond. They struck up an online relationship, and
little did she know who she was actually talking to. When she found out who he really was, she
quickly ended things. She then started talking to Montgomerys coworker, Brian Barrett, and
they became a cyberitem. When Montgomery found out, he wanted to make him pay. On
September 15, 2006 Barratt was shot three times with a military rifle in the parking lot at this
work by Montgomery. When the police questioned Talhotblond, they found out that she was
actually much older than she said and was sending pictures of her daughter to the men.

This source interests me in my search because I was looking for another love triangle
murder to compare my original one to. Since the original one is from 1938, I thought it would be
interesting to compare it to a more recent, modern one. I chose it as one of my five because I
found this story the most interesting and one I can easily write about. It connects with my other
sources because Im comparing it to my original love triangle murder.
Brewer, John. "Fatal Triangle." Smithsonian.com. 1 May 2005. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.
An online Google search lead me the Smithsonians website about a tale of love, madness
and murder in 18th-centruy London. The author, John Brewer, is a journalist for the Smithsonian,
the worlds largest museum and research complex.
This story takes place in 18th-century London and involves the Earl of Sandwich, his
mistress Martha Ray, and the Rev. James Hackman. Hackman was deeply infatuated with Ray,
even though she rejected his offers of love and marriage. Hackman did not take this rejection
well, trying to kill himself on two different occasions. One day, Ray and another woman,
Caterina Galli, were coming out of a theater where Hackman saw them. He had already planned
to take revenge on the woman who rejected his love. There was a huge crowd around the
women, but that didnt stop Hackman from carrying out what he went there for. Hackman found
them in the crowd, one pistol in each hand, and shot Ray with one and himself with the other.
It interests me in my search because its a love triangle murder from long before our time,
and even long before my great aunts love triangle. I thought it would be a good idea to compare
it to my original story. It connects with my other sources because its also a love triangle murder,
and it proves why love triangles are potentially dangerous.
Moore, Thomas. "The Love Triangle." Dark Nights of the Soul: A Guide to Finding Your Way

Through Life's Ordeals. New York: Penguin Book (USA), 2004. Print.
Dark Nights of the Soul: A Guide to Finding Your Way Through Lifes Ordeals by
Thomas Moore is a book about helping you through some of lifes toughest challenges, and in
the book there is a chapter about love triangles and the difficulties that can surround them.
Thomas Moore is an American psychotherapist and writer of popular spiritual books, including
the New York Times bestseller Care of the Soul.
The chapter in this book that I am using discusses the authors viewpoint on why people
get themselves involved in love triangle situations. Through personal experience in his therapy
sessions, he has listened to many clients confess to a new love while still being dedicated to their
family. He also discusses the several stages of struggle that love triangles take you through and
gives his opinion on why these things happen to people. In his opinion, these new loves people
find can mean many things from being a signal of problems with their partner to finally feeling
theyre finally with the right person. These situations could go in many different directions.
It interests me in my search because not only is my research on particular love triangle
murders, but also on love triangles in general. I chose this as one of my five sources because it
gives me a good perspective on a therapists view on the topic, one that is professional and not
taken from just anyones opinion. It agrees with my other sources because it could possibly
explain how the people in my stories could have felt while they were dealing with the love
triangle situations they were in.
Peabody, Susan. "Triangles: The Agony & Ecstasy." Love Addiction Forum. 3 Nov. 2077. Web.
13 Oct. 2014.

Through an online Google search I came across an online forum for Love Addicts. One
of the entries was all about love triangles and why the author believes people get involved and
other opinions on the topic in general. The main contributor is Susan Peabody, who has written
self-help books and is also a counselor and educator.
In this forum, Peabody explains her view on why people get themselves involved in these
complicated love triangles. She believes that sane people get out of them as soon as they realize
they are a part of one, but love addicts dont because they hope things will work themselves out.
She then explains why some people are able to tolerate the pain and suffering of the triangle. The
most important thing to know about love triangles is that they are unhealthy, painful, and
potentially dangerous. One day, Peabody got a call from a woman named Andrea. She needed
advice because her boyfriend had an addiction, and she eventually found out he was cheating on
her, finding herself in a love triangle. Peabody explains the process that she took her through and
the advice she gave her. She wants her readers to know that love triangles arent worth it and
anyone caught in one should get out of it immediately.
It interests me in my search because it does a good job of explaining why people get
themselves involved in love triangles. I chose this as one of my five sources because this was one
of the best explanations to what I was looking for about love triangles and they author is
credible. It agrees with my other sources in the sense that love triangles arent a good idea and
can be potentially dangerous as I have learned.
"Tharrington Guilty Second Degree Murder." The Smithfield Herald 30 July 1938. Print.
Tharrington Guilty Second Degree Murder is an article from The Smithfield Herald, a
newspaper that circulates in Johnston County, North Carolina. The author of the article is

unnamed, but the newspaper itself is credible, as it has been in circulation since 1882 in Johnston
County.
This article is about a love triangle murder trial in 1938 in Selma, NC, with my great aunt
being right in the middle of it. James E. Tharrington was on trial for the murder of John
McMillan. My great aunt Rosalie Hales King was previously divorced, and now dating
McMillan. On the evening of March 31, 1938 the two went out on a date where they were seen
by Tharrington. He then followed them back to her apartment where he got into a fight with
McMillan and ended up shooting him in what he claimed was self-defense. It was believed to be
a rivalry in love, since Tharrington visited her monthly, but he claimed he was in no way
involved with Rosalie Hales romantically. He was found guilty of second degree murder in
Johnston County Superior Court and sentenced to 25-30 years in the state prison.
I originally wanted to just write about my findings involving this trial, but I expanded to
the topic of love triangles and also comparing this trial to another one of modern times. I chose
this source as one of my five because it is the only source of information that I have found on the
trial, and it was my original interest for this research paper. All of my other sources were based
off of this article, since this was what I was going to originally write about, so they all connect.