Back home, we tried to make a fresh start, so I didn’t think anything of it when Robert asked me to sign the papers. But afterwards, he just grew nastier. One night, we got into an argument and he grabbed me by the shoulders. Shaking, I ran from the room. Two weeks later, I typed out a curt email to Robert. “I want a divorce,” I wrote. “I’ll be seeing a lawyer on Monday.” That weekend, Robert pleaded with me to give him one more chance. He seemed desperate to give our marriage another crack, so I agreed to visit a counsellor with him. I felt uneasy, but I still had a tiny bit of hope I could find the Robert I fell in love with again. Before the session though, it became clear we couldn’t salvage our marriage. I met with the divorce lawyer. Getting out of bed, I went outside to check the back of the caravan. I noticed a hose was snaking down from one of the windows. Following it back inside, I lifted up the mattress. It had been duct taped all the way to my pillow. Stranger still, I saw a jersey had been stuffed in a vent to keep the air out. Winding all the way to the garage, the hose was connected to a gas cylinder. “You’ve got to help me! Robert … he’s trying to kill me,” I babbled. I felt hysterical and couldn’t get the words out. “Are you having a nightmare?” he asked. “No!” I cried out. In an absolute panic, I couldn’t even remember the emergency number was triple-0. Finally, though, I managed to call the police and they said a team was on their way. Then Sasha and I headed back to the caravan with a torch, and I showed him the hose and cylinder. Finally, a month later, he was charged with attempted murder. In June this year, Robert Wayne Ridgeway, 64, appeared at Brisbane Supreme Court where he pleaded not guilty. The court heard that the day after I had asked him for a divorce, Robert tried to kill me, silently, by pumping colourless and odourless nitrogen gas into the caravan where I slept. “There would have been no warning,” prosecutor David Finch said. Now, I want other women to be aware of the signs. If I can help just one woman safely escape an abusive partner, I’ll be happy. Disrespect and violence in a relationship are never, ever okay. If you or someone you know is suffering from domestic violence, then call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. This post was written by Pepita Ridgeway Nicholls and was republished with permission.
