Showdown in the Bedroom

January 21, 2012 7:45 PM

A 25-year marriage comes to a violent end. Now, a jury must to decide -- did a wife have the right to kill? Richard Schlesinger reports.


by sarahblack1111 January 22, 2013 7:20 PM EST: I agree with others...unless you've gone through years of abuse you have absolutely no idea how you'd react in that situation. You can think you do all you want, but it's not the same as layered abuse year after year. It strips the abused of the ability to have rational thought.
I think the apple didn't fall far from the tree on her kids. How they can see the father abuse her the way he did and turn their back on her when she needed them most...that is awful and in a way it's just abusing her all over again, same as the father. She's better off without them if they can be like that.; Reply to this comment


by sml411 May 29, 2012 7:10 AM EDT: I have a problem with this happening after he's basically brain dead. The daughter even said she was tired of taking care of another child. Son calls him happy dad after the accident. So she killed him. Had she done this before the accident then she in my opinion could use the battered woman defense. The jury got it right and she got away with murder. So sad for the children and now the daughter with nobody left reconciles. So very sad.; Reply to this comment


by royakk April 21, 2012 12:04 PM EDT: I am satisfied with the verdict, anyone that has been in a abusive relationship would understand what she is been going through,I just wished the would leave the relationship before things end up this way.; Reply to this comment


by annacolleen April 15, 2012 2:00 PM EDT: Unless one has been through being battered for years, it is impossible to understand this. I watched my mother be thrown into my room, down steps, being threatend with a gun, lamps, and anything else that my father could do to hurt her. One of my earliest memories is creeping into their room at the age of 3, to steal the loaded gun out of my fathers sock drawer, when I heard him declare that he was "going to get my gun, and shoot you deader than dead". Unless one has been through it, they cannot understand the horror of knowing that you cannot leave the situation.I cannot for the life of me, understand her children, and think that they were angry about maybe not getting more money. They effectively stole her million dollars, and paid off their own debts, which I find disgusting. If my kids did that I'd never have anything to do with them again!; Reply to this comment


by WDeeW April 2, 2012 5:32 PM EDT: It's sad to hear the daughter describing her mom as the instigator, pushing his buttons, etc. That's a classic description of how an abuser describes the woman he batters. This young girl may find herself in a similar relationship with that attitude. Hopefully not, but she's setting her up to make excuses for an abuser.; Reply to this comment


by LastGirl2009 March 3, 2012 11:07 AM EST: If she was able to take a million to transfer to another account, why didn't she take money years prior to the shooting and leave him? Many abused women stay in those relationships because they do not have the finances to leave. Charlene did. She could have set up an account, plan a new life without him, use the million to hire a divorce attorney. It's unfortunate but there are women in abusive relationships who actually provoke their abusers knowing how they would respond. My sister's neighbors were fighting. The father was the neighbor and he lived with his parents. His ex-girlfriend brought their 2 children over to see him. Knowing this guy is abusive, she showed up with hickies on her neck from another guy. He beat her up in front of their children. He was wrong for hitting her but she was equally wrong going over there with hickies knowing his history of violence. Charlene too may have provoked her husband over the years. Abuse should not be tolerated and neither should murder. Charlene murdered her husband and it wasn't in self defense.; Reply to this comment


by flat_stanley March 3, 2012 10:01 AM EST: This woman was defending herself!!! Her children are disgusting, spending $1 million to pay off their own debts and then testifying to ensure that their mother got convicted so they wouldn't have to account for it.; Reply to this comment


by ru8903 February 28, 2012 12:06 AM EST: I don't think anyone who has never been abused can truly understand the state of mind that woman was in. We're talking about a man who knocked out his 5th grade son with one punch, and this same son admitted in testimony that his dad is capable of being extremely violent. It came down to him or her and she chose her, can you blame her? I don't understand the kids though, they all get beat and abused by him and she is the guilty one. Oh, I forgot, he just happened to turn into a pussycat right after the motorcycle accident, that's right.; Reply to this comment


by TONI0422 February 16, 2012 2:45 PM EST: Wow! As I read some of these posts I wonder how many of have ever been in an abusive relationship. He tied her to a chair, poured gas on her and threatened to kill her if she ever left. I have only been in one and can honestly say I was scared to death that he was gonna kill me. That feeling does not go awy just because he is having a nice streak. And as for her children, "daddy's little girl" needs a reality check, nobody ever deserves to be beat up for any reason, and for her son to testify against her after he himself was abused by this man is disgusting!Those children would have to earn my trust again.; Reply to this comment

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