People Who've Known Murderers Are Sharing Their Stories, And It's As Terrifying As It Is Heartbreaking

22.

“My ex-fiancé was violent with me on the night of our engagement party, and I honestly thought he was going to kill me. No one believed me when I told them. No one believed he’d even be capable of hurting me in that way. I’d been abused in other ways before (emotionally, verbally, etc.), and he’d slapped me or pushed me from time to time, but that was the first and only heavily violent incident where I was properly beaten. But his eyes were different that night as if nothing was behind them. Eight years later — literally exactly eight years later to the day — after marrying the woman he cheated on me with and having a baby together, he murdered them both and is now locked away pending trial. He stabbed them to death, flew to another city, and lived it up in a hotel for two days before turning himself in.”

“He just left the bodies in the house, which were only discovered after he was in custody. I can’t imagine the scene; the whole event shook up our town and community. I thought it was all a dream until his face was all over the news, and my phone began to blow up. I found out the day he turned himself in, and as it happens, I’d just arrived for a brief holiday in the same city where he’d just turned himself in. It gives me chills. It was incredible timing as I could give my statement directly to the detective who interviewed my ex and ask any questions I needed or wanted for closure.

I had so many messages and calls apologizing for not believing me back then, many saying they were so grateful I got away from him because that could have been me. My mum called me, crying her eyes out, so thankful she still had me. It was so weird. I felt so numb. I’m glad people finally are acknowledging my trauma now, after all these years. It’s helping with closure and healing. But it was hard going through that season of the breakup feeling very alone and people treating me like I was ‘the crazy ex’ at the time for voicing what had happened to me in that relationship.”

—iliveinthelight