W's Deliberate Accident.
After everything life had already tested me with, I didn't think it could get much worse. I was wrong.
I got up early on Thursday as usual and met the gang at the diner. Bear wasn't there that morning and I didn't get a chance to tell him that W knew I was leaving. Actually FLF wasn't there either. So the only one I told was RDP. The older lady I was just becoming close to. She left when I did so we could talk briefly before going on to work. I remember telling her that I thought W had taken the news oddly and it made me nervous. She told me I was just upset and it would work out fine. RDP was one of the few who knew I was seeing Bear. She liked him, but she didn't know W.
All morning at work, I still couldn't shake that strange feeling. I had a meeting after work and had told the boys that I'd be at the bowling alley first and home a bit later. Our Thursday womens bowling league only bowled in the winter, It was late August and we had our organizational meeting at 1 p.m. I was still the Treasurer, so I felt I needed to be there.
When I got to the lanes, the first thing I did was tell FLF and a few others who had been friends for years. Except for FLF, the others were pretty surprised. They didn't even know of any problems in my marriage. I answered some questions, but I didn't elaborate. We had our meeting and I was in a hurry to get home. I was the first to leave, but I had to stop at the grocery for a few things. Having two boys had really increased my grocery stops that summer.
I'd returned to the car after shopping and started home when one of my boys shouted for me on the CB radio. I don't even remember which one, but they were telling me there had been an accident. All the strangeness I'd felt all day was roaring in my head. I said I was already on my way home and I'd be there soon. We didn't say anything more over the radio.
What happened first and what did I manage to put together later? This may not all be cronologically correct.
I believe TK was alone at the house when I got there. His older brother told him to wait for me and tell me to drive up the hill from the house to the field where I'd see the Emergency Squad and some Sheriff's cars. The only thing TK knew was that his Father had an accident with a gun while shooting groundhogs in the pasture above the house. When I got to the pasture, JT met me and told me W was going to be ok and the squad was working on him. I suppose the normal thing for me to do would have been to rush to my husbands side. I have no idea what I was thinking or feeling. I just know I didn't go to W. I have an impression that my 17 year old son was keeping me back, but I sure can't swear to that. I vaguely remember the Sheriff coming to me, but I don't remember a thing he said. I learned later my actions were regarded as suspicious, but so were JT's.
The squad finished what they could do in the field and started to the hospital. I was asked if I wanted to ride along and I told someone that I had to find someone to care for my boys and then I'd follow. I was pretty sure this was going to take a long time and I didn't want the boys at home alone wondering what was happening. JT and I went back to TK and told him what we could. They told me that W had taken his .30-06 rifle and said he was going to shoot groundhogs. But, it was dinnertime, and he left JT fixing them something to eat. Just before leaving he told JT that if he heard a shot and didn't come right back, that JT should come looking for him. And that's what JT did, and how he found his step-father so quickly. I phoned my parents to drive from Marion to get the boys, but I didn't wait on them. Then I drove to the hospital. I still didn't even know just where he was hit or how bad it was.....but I was pretty sure it wasn't an accident.
I got up early on Thursday as usual and met the gang at the diner. Bear wasn't there that morning and I didn't get a chance to tell him that W knew I was leaving. Actually FLF wasn't there either. So the only one I told was RDP. The older lady I was just becoming close to. She left when I did so we could talk briefly before going on to work. I remember telling her that I thought W had taken the news oddly and it made me nervous. She told me I was just upset and it would work out fine. RDP was one of the few who knew I was seeing Bear. She liked him, but she didn't know W.
All morning at work, I still couldn't shake that strange feeling. I had a meeting after work and had told the boys that I'd be at the bowling alley first and home a bit later. Our Thursday womens bowling league only bowled in the winter, It was late August and we had our organizational meeting at 1 p.m. I was still the Treasurer, so I felt I needed to be there.
When I got to the lanes, the first thing I did was tell FLF and a few others who had been friends for years. Except for FLF, the others were pretty surprised. They didn't even know of any problems in my marriage. I answered some questions, but I didn't elaborate. We had our meeting and I was in a hurry to get home. I was the first to leave, but I had to stop at the grocery for a few things. Having two boys had really increased my grocery stops that summer.
I'd returned to the car after shopping and started home when one of my boys shouted for me on the CB radio. I don't even remember which one, but they were telling me there had been an accident. All the strangeness I'd felt all day was roaring in my head. I said I was already on my way home and I'd be there soon. We didn't say anything more over the radio.
What happened first and what did I manage to put together later? This may not all be cronologically correct.
I believe TK was alone at the house when I got there. His older brother told him to wait for me and tell me to drive up the hill from the house to the field where I'd see the Emergency Squad and some Sheriff's cars. The only thing TK knew was that his Father had an accident with a gun while shooting groundhogs in the pasture above the house. When I got to the pasture, JT met me and told me W was going to be ok and the squad was working on him. I suppose the normal thing for me to do would have been to rush to my husbands side. I have no idea what I was thinking or feeling. I just know I didn't go to W. I have an impression that my 17 year old son was keeping me back, but I sure can't swear to that. I vaguely remember the Sheriff coming to me, but I don't remember a thing he said. I learned later my actions were regarded as suspicious, but so were JT's.
The squad finished what they could do in the field and started to the hospital. I was asked if I wanted to ride along and I told someone that I had to find someone to care for my boys and then I'd follow. I was pretty sure this was going to take a long time and I didn't want the boys at home alone wondering what was happening. JT and I went back to TK and told him what we could. They told me that W had taken his .30-06 rifle and said he was going to shoot groundhogs. But, it was dinnertime, and he left JT fixing them something to eat. Just before leaving he told JT that if he heard a shot and didn't come right back, that JT should come looking for him. And that's what JT did, and how he found his step-father so quickly. I phoned my parents to drive from Marion to get the boys, but I didn't wait on them. Then I drove to the hospital. I still didn't even know just where he was hit or how bad it was.....but I was pretty sure it wasn't an accident.
posted by LeeAnn | 4:53 PM
1 Comments:
T.K. here. Just filling in the details I know.
It was JT who got called you on the cb.
We heard the gunshot, and didn't think much about it, figuring he was on his way back to the house. Fifteen minutes passed, and he wasn't back yet, so that's when JT went to find him.
He came back out of breath, and told me that W told him to tell me to go check on the wild kittens in the hayloft. I started to argue, saying I'd do it after I ate, but he yelled at me "Your dad said to do it NOW!" I thought it was a bit strange, since W had never been worried about them before, but JT didn't want me to hear him call the squad, so he could talk to them without me freaking out and interrupting. He didn't want me to find out like that, so he came up with the story about the order to check on the kittens.
He was just getting off of the radio with you when I came back in and asked him what was going on. He explained quickly, then ran back up to the field to help guide the EMS to the right place while I waited for you.
I barely remember sitting on the front porch watching for your car, then running down to the road to tell you where they were.
I don't remember anything of that day after that.
The Sheriff's report eventually said that the angle of the wound indicated that it was self-inflicted, and non-accidental. Their testing of the Remington 700 model 30.06 showed that the gun could not have mis-fired under the circumstances W described.
He was using ammo he'd loaded himself: 180 grain (over the legal limit for a 30.06) boat-tail bullets.
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