'He said he would kill me': Wife lived with confessed killer husband for over a DECADE before she finally turned him in
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Bernadette Sugrim was just 17 years old when she met her future husband Brian Sugrim.
She was so infatuated with Sugrim that when he told her he killed someone, she thought she could save him.
The couple lived together in Kalamazoo, Michigan, for over a decade, in an increasingly violent and dangerous situation, until the day Mrs Sugrim came home and found him brutally beating their daughter.
That's when she finally mustered the courage she needed to turn the killer in to police.
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Family: Bernadette Sugrim, right, Sky, center, and Christopher, left, appear on the Today show to talk about Brian Sugrim's conviction and their life with the murderer
Killer: Mrs Sugrim turned in her husband for the murder of Linda Gibson, a Kalamazoo, Michigan, woman
In the beginning: Mrs Sugrim was just 17 years old when she fell in love with her future husband and he first confessed to being a killer
Mrs Sugrim and her family spoke to the Todayshow about the long journey that brought them to safety and put Sugrim behind bars.
'The biggest message I want to get out to other women in the same situation is not to let the fear paralyze you,' she told Today on Friday.
'That’s what it did for me for many years, and I regret that I wasn’t able to do something sooner.'
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ShareMrs Sugrim said that in the beginning, the marriage was very good.
'I was very young, and I was in love,’ she said. 'I didn’t see anything else at the time. I just knew that I was in love with this person, and I wanted to be with him, and he made all these promises about how good our life was going to be together.'
The couple had two children together, Sky and Christopher, and lived in a leafy home in Kalamazoo.
Happy family photos of their lives hid the evidence of the turmoil Mrs Sugrim underwent as she lived in constant fear of her husband.
Victim: Mrs Sugrim's testimony lead to the conviction of Sugrim's brutal killing against Linda Gibson, pictured
Abuse: Sugrim, left, told Mrs Sugrim, right, that he would kill her if she ever told anyone what he'd done
Last Straw: It wasn't until Mrs Sugrim found her husband brutally beating their daughter Sky, far left, that she finally turned him in
She told the Today show she used to sleep with a loaded gun under her pillow and even sent a sealed letter to a friend saying if she ever disappeared, it was most likely at the hands of her husband.
'There were many opportunities (to contact the police), but I was terrified,’ Bernadette told Matt Lauer.
Sugrim was so bold in his abuse that he bragged to Mrs Sugrim he killed again — and would kill her too if she ever said a word.
'He told me that if I ever left, he would kill me, and if he didn’t kill me, he would kill my family. He would find every one of them. In fear of that, of just the people I love, I didn’t say anything or go anywhere,' she said.
Escape: Sky Sugrim said she thought her father was going to kill her, but managed to run away and call 911 from a neighbor's house
Court: Sugrim did not testify at his trial and was sentenced to life in prison without parole
Last May, however, Mrs Sugrim had enough.
She saw him ferociously attacking their 11-year old daughter Sky, who only managed to escape by running to a neighbor's house to call 911.
Justice: Judge Gary Giugere said that life in prison was the only way to protect society from Sugrim
Mrs Sugrim decided then and there to tell the police everything she knew and she became a key witness for the state to prosecute Sugrim.
Sugrim was convicted on February 13 of beating and killing Linda Gibson in 2003, a case that was cold for years.
Thanks to Mrs Sugrim's testimony, Sugrim was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Sugrim did not testify during his trial, but the jury said it was Mrs Sugrim's detailed descriptions that pushed the scale against him.
Sugrim did speak eventually before his sentencing, calling the court a 'circus of lies' and insisting that his wife was brain-damaged from a heart attack she had years before, according toWoodTV.
'I didn't murder Linda Gibson,' he said. 'I don't know why you don't want to believe that, when the evidence proves it.'
He demanded a mistrial from Judge Gary Giugere.
'If you are worthy of the post that you hold, you will declare a mistrial. You will reverse this verdict because there is no evidence that supports it. Not one shred,' he said.
Life of Fear: Mrs Sugrim said she used to sleep with a loaded gun under her pillow
What Lies Ahead: Mrs Sugrim has filed for divorce from her husband, excited for her future without him
'Your permanent incapacitation is the only legitimate method to protect society,' the Hon. Giugere responded.
NBC's Dateline sat down with Sugrim for an interview and the convicted killer admitted he'd murdered someone in the past, but that it wasn't Ms Gibson.
The interviewer pressed him to name his victim.
'Like I'm going to sit here and tell you that,' he said.
Mrs Sugrim has since filed for divorce, happy for a chance at a fresh start.
'We’re just living one day at a time,' she told the Today show.
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Sugrim: life in 2003 1st-degree murder: woodtv.com
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