Murder of Melissa Batten

Melissa Brooks Batten (March 2, 1972 – July 29, 2008) was a software development engineer who worked at Microsoft Game Studios, where she was credited on Halo 3 and Gears of War and supported developer Rare on the Xbox 360. A graduate of Harvard Law, she had earlier worked as a public defender handling domestic cases for the Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Public Defender's Office from 2000 to 2002 before moving to Washington state in 2002. Her husband, Joseph Eugene Batten (January 23, 1972 – July 29, 2008), was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, held a mathematics degree from Marshall University, and worked as a video game programmer at Microsoft before becoming a Senior Project Manager at Wizards of the Coast, where he headed the Gleemax project. The couple lived together in Kent, Washington.

On June 5, 2008, after learning of an affair Melissa had, Joseph confronted her, at one point pointing a gun at her and then at his own head. Melissa subsequently moved into a friend's apartment in Redmond, but Joseph located where she was staying. A mutual friend persuaded him to sell his .22 caliber handgun back to a dealer, but he later purchased a .357 Magnum Smith & Wesson revolver and a 9mm Taurus semi-automatic pistol. On July 16, 2008, Joseph broke into Melissa's workplace on the Microsoft campus while she was out of town; when security guards discovered him, he was barred from returning. Melissa reported to police that he called her more than 30 times on July 19 and 20. On July 21, Melissa obtained a protection order against Joseph, requiring him to stay at least 100 yards away; it was served on him on July 25. She had also begun divorce proceedings.

Shortly after 9 a.m. on July 29, 2008, Melissa left her friend's apartment to go to work. Joseph approached her in the parking lot and fired several fatal shots into her torso with a 9mm handgun before shooting himself in the head, dying by suicide. Investigators at the scene found fuzzy handcuffs, hardcore pornography, an 8-inch cutting knife, and $6,000 in cash in the trunk of Joseph's Mercedes sedan.

In the aftermath, Microsoft provided grief counseling to Melissa's surviving relatives and assisted family and colleagues in organizing memorials. The case became a reference point in Washington state debates over domestic violence and gun rights, since laws in other states might have prevented Joseph from purchasing additional firearms after his .22 caliber handgun was sold back. Washington state legislator Roger Goodman cited the Batten case during the passage of a 2014 state gun control law addressing domestic violence and firearm access.