A Model's Dangerous Marraige: story

"When Kevin and I met, he was almost too good to be true: kind and soft-spoken. After Kevin and I go

t married, everything changed," says Heather about her husband of four years. "The first time I noticed that there was a serious problem with Kevin was the day of my first sonogram. He assaulted me after the sonogram. Once he saw the baby, and I was definitely pregnant, he became controlling."

 

"I got married, I bought a home and found out I was pregnant all within the same month. That was overwhelming for me. I did want children, but not right away. I wanted to get used to being a

husband first," Kevin explains. "I felt almost immediately she was trying to control me. I'm one of those guys, I've been a bachelor my whole life. I'm not going to be whipped by this person who's 12 years younger than I am who thinks she knows everything in the world." He shares his perspective of what happened after Heather's first sonogram. "When she was pregnant with my daughter, she said, ‘I don't want to bring a child into this marriage.' I counter attacked with, ‘Well, why don't you just let me get it over with and punch you in the stomach and be done with it?'"

 

Heather says that currently their marriage is in total chaos. "Kevin calls me insane, stupid, crazy, bitch, the

C word," she shares. He has also been physically violent with her. "He threw me down and strangled me numerous times during my pregnancy, slammed me up against the wall, squeezed me so hard that I couldn't breathe and I thought I was going to break my ribs, held a knife to my throat while threatening to kill me."

 

Video cameras in their home capture Kevin calling Heather a psycho. "You nag and complain about everything I do. You're driving me crazy," he tells her. "I would rather be without you."

Kevin acknowledges that the marriage is in shambles. "I have picked her up by her neck before. I wasn't trying to hurt her. I was trying to intimidate her to get out of my face and to leave me alone," he

says. "I have threatened my wife before, because when I tell her to leave the room, she'll keep coming back in." Kevin admits to saying vile, despicable things when he is in a fit of rage. "It's not an excuse to do it, but if she would just leave me alone, it wouldn't happen," he contends. "I don't want to hurt my wife, and I get no enjoyment out of bullying her."

 

Heather says she feels trapped. "We can't get away from him," she says, referring to her and her daughter.

 

Kevin claims that he doesn't want to get divorced, but his words say otherwise. "My wife needs to work on her issues real soon, or divorce is

inevitable," he says. "If my wife wasn't so attractive, I probably would have hit the road a long time ago, to be honest with you."

 

Heather fears for her life. "Kevin told me that if I take his money if we split up, that he will slice my throat and kill me," she reveals. "Kevin told me in detail that he was imagining coming downstairs, grabbing a kitchen knife and stabbing me to death. He's told me he'll bury my body or put it in a lake. He would get away with it because nobody would know that he had pre-planned it, so he wouldn't get first-degree murder. He would only get manslaughter."

Dr. Phil tells Kevin that he must be completely honest in order to make progress. "Why did you unplug the cameras?" he asks, referring to the cameras the Dr. Phil show set up in their home. "Why did you go into no-camera zones to protect your conduct and behavior?"

"I don't intentionally go out of no-camera zones," he says. "I get out of her way." He does admit to unplugging the cameras. "She's constantly following me around trying to provoke me into saying or doing something, and I just don't like being antagonized."

"So you did unplug the cameras to hide your reactions," Dr. Phil says.

"Yeah," he replies.

"So that was dishonest. You were not wanting me to have all the data," he explains.

 

 

"Do you have any ownership in the drama here?" Dr. Phil asks Heather.

"I'm sure there's some of it that's my fault," she says.

"Do you realize there are times when you need to back off and when you need to give space?"

"Yes."

"And you don't do that, do you?" Dr. Phil asks.

"I try to leave, but he takes my keys, and if I run on foot, then he chases me down," Heather says.

"You don't really expect me to accept that answer?" a stunned Dr. Phil asks. He questions Heather's desire to get help. "Do you think the only time I'm talking about is when he won't give you your keys, or do you think it's when you will wake him up and talk to him and won't let him escape the pressure cooker?"

"I usually avoid him," she replies.

Dr. Phil shakes his head in disbelief. "Your capacity for insight is underwhelming," he tells her.

"I have some ownership," she says. "Sometimes I should probably leave him alone."

"Why did it take me three minutes to get to that? I really don't have the time to chase you," he says. "You have ownership in this," he tells her, but points out, "There's not one thing you do does that justifies what [Kevin] does."

Dr. Phil lists Kevin's violent behavior toward Heather, including: cornering her and grabbing her by the neck, threatening to throw her down the stairs and pushing and hitting her while she's holding the baby. "Have you strangled her?" he asks.

"I put my hand around her throat and picked her up, yes. Have I strangled her? No," he says. "Was I trying to squeeze the life out of her? No. Was I trying to intimidate her to leave me alo

ne? Yes, I was, and yes, that is wrong."

 

"Have you said, ‘You want to talk. You want attention. I'm going to give it to you, you stupid bitch, you stupid C'?" Dr. Phil asks.

"I probably have said that," he says.

"Have you thrown her up against the bedpost until it broke?"

"I grabbed her, and I was going backward with her, and her shoulder hit it," he explains.

"That's what happens when you get physical. Things happen by accident," Dr. Phil tells him.

"That's why I'm here, because I don't want to do it, no matter what," he says. "I'm going to get fixed one way or the other, with or without her."