He's Going to Kill Me
By Kristin Quinn

Women face the greatest risk of being murdered by an intimate partner when they are leaving or have already left a controlling relationship. For Wendy Thibeault, an order of protection was not enough to keep her safe.

Wendy Thibeault died firmly gripping her cell phone in her left hand, though she was never able to place a call for help. On Memorial Day in 2008, she was found strangled to death at the foot of the wooden staircase in her secluded home in Cortlandville, N.Y. Wendy had been thrown down the flight of stairs, stripped to her underwear, and brutally beaten. Her body was discovered slumped against the bottom two steps, surrounded in blood, with her jeans in a tangled heap at her feet. Bruises left by fingertips dotted her neck, and a woodchip protruded from her bottom lip.

The contents of Wendy’s purse ⎯ including $200 and an order of protection — were untouched. This savage murder was neither a burglary attempt nor a serial killing. Wendy’s friends and family say that when they learned she was murdered, they didn’t need to ask who did it. “He’s going to kill me,” she told them, just weeks before her murder. The following March, Wendy’s husband, Charles “Randy” Thibeault, was convicted of second-degree murder.

Shocking Numbers
In the U.S., a woman is battered every 15 seconds, and 3 million women are battered each year. Of those, 1,200 women are killed, and like Wendy, many had left or were attempting to leave their abusive relationship. It’s a common misconception that domestic violence ends once a couple no longer lives under the same roof. In fact, experts agree that women are actually at the highest risk for intimate partner homicide after they’ve left their significant other.

Numerous high-profile, intimate-partner homicides have appeared in the news since Wendy’s death. In February 2009, TV executive Muzzammil Hassan beheaded his wife, Aasiya, in Buffalo, N.Y., just one week after she filed for their divorce and was granted an order of protection. Two months later, George Zinkhan, a former University of Georgia professor, fatally shot his estranged wife, Marie Bruce, and her lover outside a community theater in Athens, Ga., before later killing himself.

Advocates describe this wave of intimate partner violence as an epidemic, citing startling statistics. A study conducted by Johns Hopkins University revealed that intimate partners commit 40 to 50 percent of all female murders in the U.S. Some scholars have coined the term “femicide” to describe such killings.

The fact that we’re in an economic slump creates a sense of urgency for this epidemic. The recession creates a circular effect: as couples face fiscal difficulties, divorce and domestic violence increase. And while statistics show that low socioeconomic status and domestic violence are linked, the crime is not confined to its stereotypical associations with minority groups and trailer parks. The problem invades middle and upper class families as well. Wendy, for example, worked at Greek Peak ski resort in Cortland, N.Y. She was a dedicated community volunteer. Randy operated a computer business from home. Together, they had a 17-year-old son, and although they appeared to be the all-American family, violence didn’t discriminate.

The Johns Hopkins’ study identified two major causes of such murders: unemployment for batterers and a lack of available resources for victims, both of which are directly related to an economic slump. Resources have dwindled steadily since 2008.

Each year, the National Network to End Domestic Violence conducts a 24-hour survey of domestic violence programs throughout the nation. The Sept. 17, 2008 study found that while 60,799 victims were served that day, an astounding 8,927 requests for help went unmet. Programs cited a lack of resources as the number one reason that they were forced to turn away victims in need. As the demand increases for domestic violence services, these organizations are being hit just as hard by the recession as the families they are trying to help.

Experts sum up the correlation between divorce and an increased risk for intimate partner homicide in one word: control.

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