A veteran of the US military has been sentenced to more than four years’ jail for repeatedly attacking his wife. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to family violence.
A veteran with 25 years’ experience in the US military has been jailed for repeatedly strangling his wife in Australia, including while she was sleeping or was in front of their daughter.
The man, who is not named to protect his family’s identities, also told their daughter he would one day kill her mother by strangling her in her sleep.
The woman went on to tell the ACT Supreme Court how her experience of domestic violence and coercive control at the hands of her former husband was “a slow form of torture of the mind”.
The pair met online and initially had a positive relationship, but the man’s behaviour began to change after they lost their first child, Justice Belinda Baker said.
He began regularly verbally abusing her, such as calling her “inept”, lost control of his anger and threatened to harm both her and their daughter if she told anyone about the physical abuse he went on to inflict in the early 2020s.
On one occasion, the woman woke to find he was smothering her with a pillow, while on a second occasion, she woke up to find him choking her.
“If I hear you breathe, if you move in bed, turn over or disturb me, I will kill you,” he told her after taking the pillow off her face on the first occasion.
He later grabbed her around her neck and repeatedly shook her in front of their daughter.
“Papa shook Mama and grabbed Mama by the neck and shook her,” their daughter wrote in her diary after this incident.
One day, when the family was out running errands, he grabbed his wife around her neck and pushed her into the door while she was driving the car, making her hit her head against the window.
Their daughter was in the back seat and the woman almost lost control of the car.
Lastly, the woman was speaking to their daughter in the bedroom when the man entered and hit his wife from behind on the back of her head.
She went on to tell the court that the impacts of his abuse were life-changing and left a scar on her soul, while her daughter told the court she had watched while her father abused her mother almost every day, and he taught her it was okay to hurt others to get what you wanted.
The daughter said she was now doing well at school, but would never forget what her father had done.
Justice Baker said the man had a typical childhood in the US, then served in various war zones when he was in the US military where he was continually exposed to traumatic scenes.
Forensic psychiatrist Professor David Greenberg said the man had untreated post-traumatic stress disorder and depression at the time of his offending, which significantly contributed to the abuse.
The man wrote a letter of remorse to his ex-wife in which he described the abuse as “unintended actions”.
“Similar to you, I will be affected for life by my regrettable actions against you,” he said.
Justice Baker accepted that he thought his actions were wrong, but she didn’t accept that his remorse was complete. The authors of court reports said the man, who now has a new partner, didn’t demonstrate any insight into the use of violence and had claimed he was pushed into behaving that way by his victim.
The man pleaded guilty to four counts of choking and one of assault before he was convicted and sentenced to a total of four years and five months’ jail.
As he was handed a non-parole period of two years and three months, he will be eligible for release from custody in February 2028.
He has been in Australia on a permanent partner visa, which may now be cancelled following his sentence.
If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call Triple Zero.
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