The Montana Domestic Violence Fatality Review Commission will come to Glendive to review the murder-suicide deaths of Erikka Mathison Pierce, 35, and Brian Pierce, 40.

"It's sad that the fatality review commission has to exist, but we're encouraged by their efforts to investigate domestic violence-related homicides," said Lora Knowles, domestic violence advocate at Dawson County Domestic Violence.

The Pierces, who were divorced, were found dead at Brian Pierce's Highland Park residence in June of 2005.

The cause of death appeared to be gun shot wounds, said Sheriff Craig Anderson. Dawson County deputies and two agents from the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Montana Department of Justice were involved in the investigation.

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The commission is guided by a "no blame, no shame" philosophy, according to its report. The purpose of a fatality review is not to identify an individual or agency as responsible for the deaths. By reviewing the homicides, the commission seeks to identify gaps and inadequacies in the response to domestic violence at all levels. Its goal is prevention of future family violence homicides.

The commission starts with the fatality and works backward. Its intention is to study the incident, learn from it, and hopefully prevent more like it in the future, said Lynn Solomon of the state Attorney General's office.

Day one of the review process includes putting together a timeline of key events in the lives of the victims and perpetrator and any contact either one had with professionals or service organizations.

Day two of the review process includes discussion and evaluation of the timeline with community members who have been involved in providing information for the review. The commission looks for trends and makes recommendations based on the review.

At the conclusion of the review, a summary is written and is the only record of the review. This document is not made public.

By statute, the meetings conducted by the commission are private and not open to the public, Solomon said. Those attending the meetings sign a confidentiality agreement.

Four cases, involving a total of 12 deaths and in two cases the deaths of the couples' children, were reviewed for the commission's initial report.

The report found that the average age of adult victims was 31 and the average age of perpetrators was 39. The murdered children ranged in age from 3 years old to 7 years old.

In that 2005 report, it was stated by the commission that domestic violence-related homicides occurred across the state in families of varying socioeconomic status, that the homicides took place after the offender was convinced the victim was ending the relationship permanently, and that firearms were used in each of the reviewed deaths.

Another trend identified by the commission was that the homicides in each case were the last in a series of controlling behaviors exercised by the offender.