DL Open Thread: Sunday, December 24, 2023

Cris Barrish Chronicles Horror Story Of A Serial Abuser.   Despite having been repeatedly beaten and having the tip of her finger bitten off, his wife begs judge not to send him to jail:

Police and prosecutors still have not solved the 2019 murder of former Delaware banking executive Benjamin Ledyard’s second wife, but on Friday, a judge sentenced him to two years behind bars for battering his third wife and using what a prosecutor called “enough force to cause a gaping wound that exposed her skull.”

Superior Court Judge Danielle Brennan put Ledyard, 56, into prison for the crime of felony second-degree assault against Stephanie Ledyard on New Year’s Day.

The judge said she took into consideration the prosecutor’s memo that documented several prior acts of violence against Stephanie Ledyard that sent her to the hospital more than once.

Yet both Ledyards, who married in September 2021, cried openly in court as they beseeched the judge to give him a sentence of only probation.

“Please don’t incarcerate him. I beg you, I beg you,’’ Stephanie Ledyard, 55, said. “Please give us a chance. I forgive him. I believe God forgives him. If I forgive him, why can’t anybody else?”

Benjamin Ledyard, a former investment consultant with Wilmington Trust and Bank of America, told the judge his alcoholism fueled the attack, said he’s received treatment and is committed to being sober and non-violent.

“I’m so sorry for what I did to her,’’ he told the judge. “Please, please don’t send me to jail, I’ll do anything you ask.”

Hmmm, so if, if, he just might have had something to do with his second wife’s murder, he should be forgiven because the booze made him do it?  I’ve never understood, and please help me out, why people stay in such dangerous situations.  Is it Stockholm Syndrome?  OK, I’ll do my own research.  Here’s what the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence says:

A victim’s reasons for staying with their abusers are extremely complex and, in most cases, are based on the reality that their abuser will follow through with the threats they have used to keep them trapped: the abuser will hurt or kill them, they will hurt or kill the kids, they will win custody of the children, they will harm or kill pets or others, they will ruin their victim financially — the list goes on. The victim in violent relationships knows their abuser best and fully knows the extent to which they will go to make sure they have and can maintain control over the victim. The victim literally may not be able to safely escape or protect those they love. A recent study of intimate partner homicides found 20% of homicide victims were not the domestic violence victims themselves, but family members, friends, neighbors, persons who intervened, law enforcement responders, or bystanders.

Additional barriers to escaping a violence relationship include by are not limited to:

• The fear that the abuser’s actions will become more violent and may become lethal if the victim attempts to leave.
• Unsupportive friends and family
• Knowledge of the difficulties of single parenting and reduced financial circumstances
• The victim feeling that the relationship is a mix of good times, love and hope along with the manipulation, intimidation and fear.
• The victim’s lack of knowledge of or access to safety and support
• Fear of losing custody of any children if they leave or divorce their abuser or fear the abuser will hurt, or even kill, their children
• Lack of means to support themselves and/or their children financially or lack of access to cash, bank accounts, or assets
• Lack of having somewhere to go (e.g. no friends or family to help, no money for hotel, shelter programs are full or limited by length of stay)
• Fear that homelessness may be their only option if they leave
• Religious or cultural beliefs and practices may not support divorce or may dictate outdated gender roles and keep the victim trapped in the relationship
• Belief that two parent households are better for children, despite abuse

P-U-TUS:  Does Trump literally stink?  Look how he stands.  Sure looks like a guy with a loaded diaper:

Adam Kinzinger says, “I’m genuinely surprised how people close to Trump haven’t talked about the odor.  It’s truly something to behold. Wear a mask if you can.”

Noel Casler, a former staffer on The Apprentice, claimed in a video that Donald Trump’s incontinence and foul odor was a frequent issue on the set of the ex-president’s reality show.

“The diapers is not a joke,” Casler began.

“He would often soil himself on The Apprentice set. He’s incontinent from all the speed, all the Adderall he does, all the cocaine that he’s done for decades…His [bowels] are uncontrollable.”

Casler claimed that Trump has been wearing diapers since the 1990s and the he had a chance to witness it firsthand in the late 2000s, while working on the set of The Apprentice.

“We’d have to stop the show and change him and that was Keith Schiller’s job. He would take him off set, he would wipe him down. Our nickname for Keith was ‘Wet Wipes.’ It’s not a joke. It’s happened several times,” alleged Casler.

Casler also described an alleged incident in which Trump became so full of rage at being unable to read the word “arbitrage” on a cue card during a recording session and “very loudly evacuated his bowels” while screaming on set. Casler claimed he was holding the boom microphone at the time and was able to smell it. He also noted that the crew’s nickname for Celebrity Apprentice was “The Shitshow” due to these frequent incidents.

You don’t expect me to top that, do you?  I won’t. I can’t.

What do you want to talk about?