When Battered Women Kill by Angela Browne

Author:Angela Browne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Free Press
Published: 1987-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Many times, women attempted escape when they could sense that an attack was imminent, or during a break in an assaultive episode.

It was Saturday morning, and Karen and Hal Simon were sitting at the kitchen table. Hal was already drinking when Karen said they were spending too much money on beer. Hal always warned Karen not to tell him what to do. He reached over and, holding her wrist, put his cigarette out in the palm of her hand. Karen ran to the sink to run cold water over it and, to calm him down, said she was sorry. But Hal followed and slammed her into the counter, yelling at her about never leaving him alone. He hit her several times and then said he was going to get the gun. Karen knew what that meant and just stood there; they had been through this before. She never knew if someday he would really use it but she knew she didn’t have time to get away. She had terrible nightmares about him shooting her in the back as she ran across the yard, so she never tried.

Hal came back with the rifle. He pressed it against her temple and clicked the hammer, then began ramming it into her stomach, yelling, “I’ll kill you, goddamn it! I’ll kill you this time!” Finally, he laid the gun down and went outside. Karen could see him pacing around and knew he was still angry. He’d talk to himself about all the things she had done wrong and really attack her later.

When Hal left to get more beer, Karen fled, taking her small dog with her. Hal had nearly killed the dog several times when he was angry. She couldn’t bear to leave it at home, knowing what would happen to it. Hal never allowed her to have keys to the car, so Karen walked all the way to the nearest town and asked for directions to the police department, hoping they would help her. She told them she had to get away from Hal before he killed her. The police advised her to swear out a warrant for his arrest, but Karen was so afraid of what Hal would do that she hesitated. Finally, she called a friend for advice, but the friend called Hal and he showed up at the police station a short while later. Hal was furious. He said she was not going to swear out a warrant against anyone; she was his wife, and he was taking her home. He took her elbow and walked her out the door, and nobody intervened.

All the way home, Hal was saying, “You goddamn bitch! You think you’re going to leave me? When I get home we’ll show you about leaving!” He snatched her over close to him, holding her clothes so she couldn’t jump out. Karen was so terrified she couldn’t focus on anything. She just sheltered the dog in her arms and prayed. When they got to the house, Hal came around and jerked her door open.

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