My Husband Shot Me

My Story

By

Jill Murray

Once I started work training to be a Nurse it involved weekend shifts and then a boyfriend, I married young and I moved to another town. By the time I turned 21 and back living in my home town.

One morning my husband face suddenly changed to the point I did not recognise him and suddenly he slapped me and back handed in the mouth splitting my bottom lip so bad, blood was running down my front. He cried and said sorry. These changes in his personality were happening more often. I spoke no words and these moods would not last long.

I truly loved my Husband but I felt there was this second character that I was now living with that was very frightening. One time after returning from a family gathering I was confronted with this second personality and he went outside and called me out, he had hold of my 10 week old baby goat I was bottle feeding, he grabbed the back legs and started smashing its head on the concrete until it was dead.

I left him as I was now feeling very afraid of him.

I stayed with my sister and husband. He came around to visit and asked me to sit in the car to talk, I was willing, but the question he asked: “was I ready to come home,” To which I said I just needed some time out, that was when the back hand slap, broke my nose.

I went to Perth to be with my Mum. My brother was in Shenton Park Hospital with only 6 weeks to live. At his funeral, my husband broke down asking for a second chance at our marriage and the promise he would never hurt me.

I went back, the next 6 months were wonderful before it all started again: One night after being at the pub he came home and hit my small dog over the head with a hammer ...it survived and I gave it to my Mother.

Early one morning, my husband picked me up while I was sleeping and put me in the car, he started to drive very fast and told me any moment he would lose control of the car and we would both be dead,the car suddenly stopped, he checked the engine, got back in and the car started straight away. My husband looked at me and drove back home quietly. One time he pulled me out onto the road, grabbed my wrist and started spinning me around until a car came towards us and let me go, luckily the car turned down a side street, I got up and raced for the car to drive away, he started kicking me with his boot between my shoulder blades and fractured my T6 vertebrae, four weeks he lovingly took wonderful care of me. But again it started, the backhand for not having his dinner on the table, he was drunk and started to yell that this time he would kill me, I drove into the darkness of the bush to hide. This time police got him and put him in a cell for the night. He had mental Health problems but alcohol would make him violent. I left many times, but this time we both agreed that for my safety I would go and live with Mum.

Three months later I had a good life, good friends, a job at the Sanitarium Health Shop and free of the fear. Mum, my 19 yr old brother and I were happy. One weekend my husband came to visit, he was very friendly, calm and didn’t stay long and a week later he did the same, only before leaving, he asked me to be his weekend wife. He was living with another woman. Before I could answer, he said it wasn’t a question, it was an order and will be back in 3 weeks for the right answer, otherwise I will shoot you and your Mum…I told Mum but she didn’t believe it, I was sure he would. Mum and I talked for hours, she brought out all her important papers and went through them, asked me to make a solemn promise to care for my younger brother, I said I promise. My Mum had been very ill for the last 12 months, and had started to talk of wanting the suffering to end. This was quite stressful for me to listen to. She had watched my Dad suffer over 2 years and my brother who also suffered before he died of cancer.

The Monday before my Husband said he would be back in 2 days, I thought if I went away for awhile he would calm down, so told Mum I would get time off work that day and leave in the morning. I would leave the car for my brother to use and take my motorbike. I had dropped my bike off to be serviced and they let me borrow a small road and trail bike until I came back later to get mine. I had only gone about 300 metres when a young girl came straight through a stop single gn and knocked me off the bike with her car.She said she didn’t see me, but she drove straight through the stop sign. I knew I was hurt pretty bad and could see my right arm laying in a very awkward way. Nobody got out of theirs cars to help, I could not move, it was peak hour on Maddington Road, I was half sitting in one lane, the car in the second and the bike in the third lane, A RAC van pulled up on the Medium strip, he was like an Angel and quietly sorted every thing out, took me to hospital, rang my brother, had all the girls information and then just vanished before I could say :Thank you. I was in intense pain, my Mum had to help me with clothing. I loved her more.I had fractured my elbow badly, taken layers of skin of my right shoulder, all the skin of my knuckles and damaged below the knee. Two days later (Wednesday) my husband is standing at the front door, saw how injured I was and broke out crying, saying we should have let him know. He then gave me another 7 days for my answer. Mum and I spent the days together and as I listened to her she still asked for a quick end, I would tell her of the dark cloud of doom above my head, but she would dismiss it. I was still in intense pain. Came Wednesday evening Mum, my 19 year old brother and myself were watching TV and knocking on the door, my husband stood smiling, calm and friendly, but I noticed the heavy smell of rum on his breath. He came in and said Hello and chatted for about 20 minutes and then asked me for my answer… I said No I can’t as he needed to get help, I would go with him. ( I just could not go back to that violence) With that he asked if he could come back shortly as he needed to say goodbye to someone who was going away, I said yes and never locked the door. We went back to watching the TV. I was sitting in a single lounge chair, with a heavy cast covering my right arm laying across my waist. My pet budgie snuggled asleep on my plaster. My brother in the 3 seater lounge and Mum in the other single seat. The front door opened and my husband calmly came in smiling, he carried a long object with a towel covering it. He removed the towel while still walking towards me and revealed a .22 rifle with the barrel Shawn off. I had to lean on my left arm as I was about to stand up, but he had approached me saying:” I TOLD YOU I WOULD TAKE YOU WITH ME” as he fired a shot through my chest, I saw my blood spurt up from my chest as my body lurched forward and backwards. He was walking back to where Mum sat...I was pleading, No,No, but he shot her through the heart and blaming her for my decision not to be his wife on a weekend arrangement. I was still pleading with him when he aimed for my head, I am convinced my brain went into survival mode and was instructing me to fall back as the third bullet passed through my fringe. My brother jumped up to face him, I was hoping for him to be unharmed. My brother sat down. I pretended I had died as I knew my husband was standing right in front of me…. I heard another shot and a thud, I opened my eyes and saw my husband laid out before me on the floor with a fatal gunshot to the side of his head. My brother ran out to phone for an ambulance ( Mum did not have a Phone) He had to go down four levels to the phone box. I knew my Mum was dying and I saw a beautiful warm golden glow, no words can describe it. The glow covered the whole ceiling and started to descend, the depth of peace and the warmth was so Beautiful, then a voice that was gentle and spoke…. saying…. Jillian do you want to come….. Yes, I wanted to drift into that glorious glow and be also with my Mother. But the promise I made to Mum three weeks ago came into my thoughts and I knew I had to stay, I need to be here for my brother. Mum took her last breath and the room returned to normal, I knew I would live. When I was placed in the ambulance, the ambo with me had his finger on my pulse and yelled to the driver: “We are losing her, she is not going to make it. PRIORITY ONE”.. I could not move nor talk, but I was at peace as I believed I would live. At the Hospital I counted 8 people around me and heard all 8 conversations, the head surgeon kept saying we can’t save her, I wanted to tell them I would be okay They worked on me for 4 hours, the detectives brought my brother to say Goodbye, I could only blink and and not talk nor move but I felt safe. The bullet had just missed my heart due to me leaning to the left because of the heavy cast on my right broken elbow the girl who knocked me off my bike had actually saved my life. The bullet split my 5th rib, went through my lung and out through my shoulder blade. My organs were shutting down, but I still believed I would live. I woke on the morning of the third day and my male nurse walked in with his “ Morning sunshine”....... His soft shoes sounded so loud, he turned on the air conditioning and it sounded like a jumbo jet had started up. Through clenched teeth, and covering my ears, I was yelling, turn it off, he rushed over and put his fingers each side of my mouth, telling me to open my mouth. My teeth were clenched shut, he pressed the emergency button and my room filled with Doctors. Every muscle in my body was in spasms, the bed was going back and forward, I was in extreme agony… Tetanus the head surgeon said, we can not save her this time. They stood around my bed helpless. At that moment, I felt a feeling enter through the top of my head and go through my body and flush out through my toes.I calmly sat up and said, Thank you, I feel better, all the Doctors near fell backwards as they witness my strong will to live. I was checked over and they all walked out in stunned silence…

Day 7, I woke to a growing rash on my forearms, turned out the penicillin was now causing a severe allergic reaction, and here I was dying again, the Doctors acted quickly, but my whole body did swell badly.

10 days and I was now recovering from a gunshot wound to the chest.