Roxanne and Chelsea, Part 1

Our Story Part 1

Our names are Roxanne Martin and Chelsea LeBlanc and on November 29, 2017 our lives would be FOREVER changed! After months of secretly planning, I, Roxanne, was finally able to escape 30 years of domestic violence. No one knew of my plans!!! NO ONE!! No family members, friends, co-workers, not even my children knew of my plans. I knew it would come as a shock to everyone!!! You see, when you live with domestic violence you learn to pretend that things are normal. You don’t want people to know how unhappy you are and how crappy life can be. What I didn’t know when I pulled out of the driveway that morning, is that the deep psychological effects would be long-lasting for both myself and our daughter, Chelsea. And the nightmare didn’t end just because I didn’t live there any longer. Here is our story.

Roxanne: I knew leaving him would put my life in danger. I knew this because I’d tried to leave numerous times over the 30 years we were together. When I would attempt to leave he would either chase me down, block me in so I couldn’t leave, or I would return because I couldn’t financially support myself and our two children. A few of the times I tried to leave, I had my daughter, now 26, with me. Unfortunately, she witnessed most of the abuse. My son is from a previous marriage and spent every other weekend with his father. He witnessed the verbal and psychological abuse. Did my ex intentionally do this? I’m not sure. I think my son liked doing things with his friends when he was home and spent a lot of time with them; therefore, was not home to witness the things our daughter and I went through. Our daughter, however, was always with us and therefore saw and experienced way too much. I thought I had put enough safety measures in place such as living in an unknown location and having a protective order in place prior to leaving. Unfortunately, that was not nearly enough to keep him away from me.

Chelsea: 11/30/17: His plan was to find her and kill her. He told me multiple times when he found her it would be the end. I spent a lot of time over those couple of days talking him down and praying that he wouldn’t find her even though I knew he would. He is smart and uses all of his resources. First, he went into every gated apartment complex he knew of, all the while thinking she would be living someplace secure. She wasn’t in any of them. His next plan was to report her phone missing and tried to get AT&T to ping it for him. They refused. It took him one day to find the location of her vehicle. He then watched and waited. He looked into several apartment windows and let the air out of her tires. What he didn’t know was that for her safety the apartment manager had allowed her to park at a different complex. She didn’t notice him following her to the apartment complex where she was actually staying. He couldn’t see exactly what door she went into so he walked around the complex until his phone connected to her mobile hotspot. That’s how he found EXACTLY where she was. 

Roxanne: 11/30-12/2/17: Well he did exactly what he said he’d do. He found me! I was leaving my apartment headed to an appointment with my divorce attorney when I noticed his truck following me. When he realized I had noticed him, he chased me down Johnston Street then onto University until I turned into the Lafayette Police Department. Once he realized where I was going he quickly turned onto a side street. The police allowed me to leave my vehicle in the secured parking lot for the weekend. Terrified to return to my apartment, I stayed with a friend for the weekend and returned to the police station to get my car that Sunday. 

Chelsea: 12/3/17: I tried to come to terms with the possibility of never seeing my mom alive again. I got a phone call from my dad and listened to every detail. He was out of breath as he was shutting his truck door. He told me that he had confirmed what, in his mind, he thought was true. He thought my mom having an affair. He had once again found her car, went to the house she was staying at, and took pictures of her vehicle. I told him to go home and that he was violating the protective order. He told me everything was going to be ok and that he was just “watching her”. I called her numerous times but she didn’t answer. I thought that was it! I thought he had killed her. My family and I sat on the floor and prayed. We prayed that my mom would make it out of the situation alive and that my dad would find the help he needed. Then after what seemed like forever, she called to let me know she had contacted the police and my dad had been arrested. Her friend’s family member contacted them because they had spotted my dad under the carport near her car. I knew I NEEDED to see her. That was a VERY emotional time for me. Seeing my mom ALIVE again gave me hope. I lived a couple of houses over from my parents and I knew if I was ever going to return to my home and feel safe, I’d have to change the locks and that’s exactly what I did. He called for me to bail him out of jail. I knew that wasn’t something I could or would do. He needed to learn his lesson. 

Roxanne: 12/4/17: He got out within two hours! TWO HOURS!! I knew that he would be furious that HE got arrested for breaking the protective order. I was so terrified that I rented a hotel room out of town for four days. I would drive back into town each day for work then drive back to the hotel room just to feel safe. Chelsea was so terrified by the events of the past few days that she would never return to her home.

Chelsea: 12/5/17: He was going to manipulate her into going back to him one way or another. He decided to publicize her leaving him. He made signs, banners, and put up lights with her information on them so everyone could see. We lived off of a busy highway so he put them up during the busiest times of day. Everywhere I looked it was there! I was it on snapchat, facebook, twitter, and instagram. A local radio station even posted it to their facebook page. I was humiliated!

Roxanne: 12/6/17: I was leaving my friend’s home headed for work. He had again waited and watched. Didn’t I have a protective order?? Hadn’t he already been arrested??? This made NO difference to him. He chased me down the road through oncoming traffic to a four-way stop! He pulled alongside me and was shouting that he wanted to talk and if I wouldn’t talk to him then he would kill me. Police were called again! Unfortunately, I couldn’t prove that he had chased me. The police wanted proof!! I would have to drive, video, and have the police on the phone all at the same time!!! WOW!! I did have a witness but that wasn’t enough.

Chelsea: 12/9/17: When he realized that I wasn’t returning to my home he tried to use everything he had to get me back. He tried to get me to come home the same way he tried to get my mom home, by threatening me. Since I wasn’t giving into him he decided to turn my phone off. I thought this would be a break from him I needed because he no longer had a way to contact me. WRONG!!

Roxanne: 12/11/17: I eventually went back to my apartment vowing that I would not be afraid to stay there. I walked out of my apartment and found a note from him on my car!!! Always breaking the restraining order!!! How could this possibly happen!! We went back to court and the restraining order was granted until 6/18/18.

Chelsea: 12/12/17: I had a new phone number (which he soon found out) so he began to contact me at work. He called to tell me he was on his way to kill her. I called the police and told them that she needed protection now! I gave my statement over the phone. The cop told me to look into having him committed to a mental hospital. This is where I felt he needed to be and could get the most help. He desperately needed therapy! When I called the coroner’s office I was told that when he was picked up, my statement would be read aloud to him and he would be under observation. If he could pass the evaluation then he would be released. He is very manipulating so I knew he could pass. The coroner told me if I was worried about my protection I shouldn’t go this route, so I didn’t. 

Roxanne: 12/14-12/18/17: Letters and books continued to be left on my car at various locations which just proved that he continued to follow me even with a protective order. I’ve learned to take pictures, document, and file police reports if I am to remain safe. I must be vigilant!!! 12/19-21/17: He is re-arrested and a  $4000 bond is set for each charge. 12/22/17: He was released from jail the following afternoon!! The very NEXT day he was, again, following me!! He also tried to contact me through email. What good was my protective order I wondered.

Chelsea: 12/24/17: I was trying to prepare myself for my first holiday without my family as a whole. I was hoping for a calm Christmas even though I knew it would be emotional. He began contacting my mom through email. She reported it to the police. They went to his house to give him a warning but he wasn’t there. I spoke with his sister and brother-in-law around the time all this was happening. They told me his friend picked him up from their house before the police arrived. They searched his sister’s house but he wasn’t there. I knew his friend’s address so I called the police and told them where he was. His friend’s house was searched. He wasn’t there. I later found out that his sister and brother-in law had lied to me. They set me up. He was hiding in their camper the whole time the police searched their house!