Paramedic’s wife tells of terror

Edmonton News (Canada), Mar. 4, 2003
http://canoe.ca/
By TONY BLAIS, COURT BUREAU

An Edmonton paramedic went on trial yesterday accused of beating his former wife and sexually assaulting her, her sister and one of her friends.

The 26-year-old ex-wife testified he slapped her, choked her, twisted her arm and kicked a chair from under her while she was changing a light bulb during a four-year marriage she said she was too afraid to leave.

“I was really, really scared,” she said, adding he threatened to flee with their son and hurt her family.

She said her ex-husband once told her he’d hunt (her) whole family down … if she left him.

The soft-spoken woman said she also was prevented from leaving the marriage by her faith as a Jehovah’s Witness, a religion she said frowns on divorce unless one of the parties cheats on the other.

The woman, who can’t be identified under a court-ordered publication ban, testified her former husband choked her until she passed out in 1994 during an argument while they had friends over for dinner.

“He just looked at me and squeezed,” she said.

In 1996, she said she rebuked him for belching into her face and he slapped her across the cheek. The alleged chair-kicking incident also happened that year, she said.

In 1997, she said her ex struck her several times with a hockey stick after she allowed their son to play hockey inside the home using his hockey tape as a puck.

“He hit me across the back of the legs with it,” she said, adding on the same day he also twisted her arm behind her back when she refused to give him her bank card.

The alleged sexual assault happened in 1998 when he forced unwanted anal sex on her, she testified.

The woman described her former husband as being controlling and highly egotistical about his job as a paramedic.

“He used to say when people are praying to God, they’re praying to me…,” she said.

The 36-year-old paramedic, who can’t be named to protect the identity of his former wife, was charged after the woman went to police in January 2002. The man’s boss said earlier he will remain off work until the charges have been dealt with.

The Court of Queen’s Bench trial continues today.

Read Another Article

Report Details Sex Abuse by Priests and Inaction by a Diocese
College of Life leaders surprised to learn state votes to pursue their property

Related News Articles Topic(s): Jehovah's Witnesses Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates Subscribe to Religion News Blog [What is this?] Get Religion News Blog's headline by Email [What is this?] Follow Religion News Blog at Twitter Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults: ApologeticsSearch.com: Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs. CounterCultSearch.com: Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, and cults experts -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support. Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com Jehovah's Witnesses Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles Kent Hovind: Evangelist arrested on federal charges Beast’s real mark devalued to ’616′ Muslim Woman Gives Sex Advice on Arab TV Michael Jackson Confirms Conversion to Islam Kent Hovind, ‘Dr. Dino,’ guilty on all counts The fall and rise of Carlton Pearson Search False prophet Harold Camping sets another date for rapture: May 21, 2011 Watch the film Theo van Gogh was murdered for Kent Hovind — Dr. Dino — sentenced to 10 years in prison

Search Religion News Blog