⋅Domestic Abuse Puts on the Ritz⋅

One morning late last summer, our call center dispatched us to Davis Islands, one of the wealthiest, most beautiful areas in Tampa, Florida. My senior technician and I just stared at each other when we got the call. What could possibly go so wrong in a paradise like Davis Islands that crime-scene cleaners are necessary?

A lot, it turns out.

Domestic Abuse is Equally Distributed across All Socio-Economic Strata

A servant admitted us into the multi-million dollar home, where we were told to wait in a study decorated with safari hunting photographs and numerous mounted heads of unusual big game—impala, cape buffalo, an enormous lion, Sitka blacktail deer, elk, and the full mounted bodies of a plethora of birds. After a short wait, the house manager came in and sat opposite us at the desk. He explained that the job for which we were being considered required the utmost discretion.

We were then led to the enormous master suite.

The huge marble fireplace opposite the king-size canopy bed had recently been used, which seemed odd at the peak of summer in a climate as hot as Tampa.

In front of the fireplace was a large zebra-skin rug, a trophy from one of our client’s many big-game hunting trips. The rug was covered with piles of ash and wood chips that appeared to have been dredged from the fireplace. In the middle of the ash pile was what looked like the carcass of a small, burned animal. Fireplace tools were carelessly strewn on the floor near this mess, and ash and soot covered the wood floor.

In the bathroom, the Italian tile floor was covered with blood, and blood splatter and tissue were all over the walls and open-style marble shower, whose imported floor-to-ceiling cut-glass window was shattered.

Shards of bloody glass lay everywhere, all over the floor, sinks, and marble counter tops.

The house manager gave only the details necessary for us to price the job: a dog had been burned in the fireplace and a suicide using a handgun had taken place in the bathroom.

He wanted the bedroom, fireplace, and bathroom cleaned and sanitized. His employer especially wanted the zebra-skin rug cleaned and restored, offering any amount of money necessary to do the job meticulously, as this rug was his crowning jewel.

“Can you restore these areas to their condition before these unfortunate—accidents—happened, and can you treat this unfortunate circumstance with the utmost discretion?” the house manager asked.

Of course we could do both, with the help of one of our partner companies that specializes in cleaning and restoring priceless rugs.

 

Domestic Abuse Often Begins with and Is Accompanied by Animal Abuse

We might never have learned the details of what happened here because our client’s money kept those details out of the media and kept the lips of his staff tightly sealed.

But his money couldn’t silence his wife’s personal assistant, who was also his wife’s best friend and lover.

“He knew she was seeing someone,” the assistant said, “but he just couldn’t find out anything. He couldn’t stand it if he felt her slipping off her tight leash. Usually, his rages were directed squarely at her. She’s had black eyes, broken bones, broken teeth, you name it. He restricts her access to his money sometimes, and lately, he’s taken the car away from her.

This time, though, he aimed his rage at the thing she loved most, Taco, her Chihuahua.

He speared that little guy with the fireplace poker and roasted him alive. And he made her watch. I never heard so much wailing in my life.

The dog was screaming. She was screaming. It was horrible.

Just as he was storming out of the room, I was bolting in. She had grabbed the poker and dragged Taco out of the fireplace, but he wasn’t dead. He was writhing around on the rug. So I ran to the linen closet to get some sheets to wrap him in, and while I’m gone, Taco dies and she kills herself.”

She buried her face in the palms of her hands.

“I wish I had done something before this happened. I knew how bad he treated her. I knew one day, something really horrendous would happen, but she begged me not to tell anyone. She was so ashamed and so afraid of what he might do. My fidelity cost Michelle her life,” she sobbed.

What Can You Do to Help a Victim of Domestic Abuse?

First and foremost, remember that you cannot rescue the victim of domestic abuse. What you can do is be available.

• Approach the victim in an understanding, unreproachful way.
• Do not judge her or criticize her decision to stay with the abuser.
• Emphasize that domestic abuse is never her fault, that you believe her, and that she deserves better.
• Listen compassionately, encourage her to express her feelings no matter what those feelings are.
• Refrain from making decisions for her or telling her what to do. Encourage her to consider all the help that is available.
• Collect good information ahead of time about shelters, hotlines, and legal issues and offer it to her.
• Encourage her to participate in activities outside the relationship.
• Refrain from calling the abuser names or expressing anger or hate toward the abuser. Remember that she has emotional ties to him. Criticism of him from you may make her defensive of him and reluctant to talk to you again.
• Offer to help her develop a safe plan for leaving, but let her decide to do the leaving.
• If she leaves the abuser, continue to support her.

If you or someone you know is the victim of domestic abuse, please know that Advanced Bio Treatment is here for you 24 hours every day of every year. We offer emergency services and help filing an insurance claim. We can be reached at 800-295-1684.

For more stories of abuse from our clients, information on domestic violence and resources for victims and families, see our Related Reading articles.

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