Real Life: I thought Id found love but I married a monster

Chitra Holmess partner Mark was a great husband, not to mention a brilliant father to their eight-year-old son, Ben*. She was in love and imagined theyd spend the rest of their lives together. That was until one day in April this year when, without so much as a word, Mark upped and left.

Our marriage had always been strong and happy, Chitra says. We had our problems and argued, like all couples, but I never believed Mark would just take off. It didnt cross my mind.

Devastated Chitra heard nothing from him. There were no phone calls, no letters even Fathers Day came and went, leaving Ben heartbroken and confused. Chitra, who had been with Mark, 30, for 10 years, tried to get on with her life, telling her son, Daddy has a few problems he needs to sort out. She was certain hed eventually get back in touch.

Then, two months later, Chitra received a phone call from a friend. She asked if I was OK and if I knew what had happened to Mark, says Chitra. My heart skipped a beat. She told me about the story shed read in the newspaper and it sent a shiver down my spine. I couldnt comprehend what she was saying.

Chitras husband had been accused of brutally raping a 17-year- old chambermaid. He allegedly tied up and raped the young hotel worker after kidnapping her at knifepoint. He was also accused of leaving another woman, college professor Ellen Elfstrom, 50, for dead by beating her 20 times over the head with a hammer as he fled the scene.

I felt like my world had ended. I was horrified, says Chitra.

She discovered Mark had travelled to Key West, Florida, where hed been living rough. It was there that he allegedly went on a rampage of violence fuelled, police believe, by crack cocaine.

Chitra studied photographs in the newspaper of her shaven-headed husband as he was arrested wearing only a pair of swimming shorts.

I didnt recognise him. Its as if hes been taken over by the devil, she says. Marks never been violent, hes never raised a hand to me. He used to be so gentle, he wouldnt hurt a fly. This person bears no resemblance to the man I married.

Mark faces up to 60 years in jail after he was charged with attempted murder, rape, kidnap, armed robbery, burglary and resisting arrest.

The construction worker, originally from Salisbury in Wiltshire, is accused of gagging and tying up the chambermaid with towels and electrical cord before raping her at knifepoint in a bedroom at the Hyatt Sunset Harbour Hotel in Key West. Police reported when they arrived on the scene, she was incoherent and foaming at the mouth.

He is then said to have beaten Ellen Elfstrom 20 times about the head and face with a claw hammer as he stole her car, threatening to kill her and leaving her covered head to toe in blood. After a chase, Holmes apparently abandoned the car and fled on foot before he was pepper-sprayed and wrestled to the ground, and taken into custody.

Ellen, 50, was airlifted 100 miles to Miami, where she spent three days in intensive care at the Ryder Trauma Center. A team of eight surgeons worked on the multiple fractures to her skull and face. Her son William, 22 who heard the attack when Ellens phone accidentally redialled his number didnt recognise his mother because her face was so battered and swollen. She could barely see because of the swelling, couldnt walk and vomited blood for three days.

Chitra thinks her husbands drug addiction led to his life spiralling out of control. I feel so sorry for those women, she says. I just hope theyre going to be OK. I cant even begin to imagine what theyre going through. Marks family are devastated and in shock. It breaks my heart.

Hes had trouble with drugs, but I had no idea things had become so bad, Chitra adds. Hed been arrested in the past, but said it was just marijuana, and that I had nothing to worry about.

Obviously, Marks problem with drugs was much worse than Chitra had thought, and she realises she will never see her husband again if he is convicted. I cant face seeing him. I dont know what I will do. I still cant comprehend what has happened.

Mark is currently being held in a high-security detention centre awaiting trial. Chitra says the worst thing is what she will have to tell Ben about his father. Ill just have to try to shelter him as much as I can. But sooner or later Ill have to tell him the truth, because I dont want him learning it from somebody else, she says.

My son is my life and I just want to protect him. I love him more than anything in the world, she adds. Whatever happens, though, our lives will never be the same again.

Copyright 2005 MGN LTD
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.