September 18, 2024 • 27 mins
Colleen and Rob McKernan were set up by common friends and had a quick, whirlwind romance. But her controlling ways would turn fatal as she learned the hard way that you can’t change anyone, no matter how hard you try.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
It's Christmas in twenty thirteen, and Kathy McKernan is happily
preparing her house for the holiday season. It is chilly outside,
like most Ohio Decembers are, and Kathy keeps herself busy
chopping carrots and onions in the kitchen. Kathy's modest house
is warm and cozy. The smell of stuffing and turkey
(00:28):
warms the air as her husband tends to the fireplace.
In the living room, Kathy focuses on her methodic chopping,
but she is so nervous. Her only son, Rob, is
bringing home his new girlfriend for the holidays. Rob has
been gushing about Colleen for months, and Kathy is excited
(00:50):
to meet the woman who has her son talking about
settling down. Rob is a laid back guy. He has
a child of his own from a previous relationship, but
he's never talked about marriage. He takes life as it comes,
one day at a time, but apparently Colleen has changed him.
(01:10):
Kathy looks down at the oven clock quickly, then sneaks
a peek at her reflection in the microwave glass, smoothing
out her hair. Just then, the doorbell rings. Kathy flies
towards the front door to greet her son. She hugs
him close, feeling the chill on his cheek as they
exchange greetings. Rob smiles as he takes off his coat. Mom,
(01:33):
this is Colleen. Kathy smiles as a pretty petite blonde
with short wavy hair extends her hand towards her. It's
so nice to meet you, Kathy, Colleen says. Colleen is beautiful.
She has a round lily face with big doe eyes.
(01:54):
She immediately takes off her coat and asks Kathy what
she can do to help. Later that evening, after dinner,
drinks and many laughs getting to know each other, the
family gathers to open some presents. Kathy picks up a
little box from under the tree and passes it to Colleen.
Her eyes light up and shock. You didn't have to
(02:14):
get me anything, she says modestly, as she carefully wedges
her fingers under the wrapping paper. Kathy watches as Colleen
pulls out the present, a little box of ammunition. Colleen
laughs and smiles. She knows that Rob must have told
his mother how much she loves target practice. Colleen is
(02:37):
an excellent marksman. She holds the box of bullets to
her chest like a diamond necklace and says thank you again.
Kathy smiles. She never imagined buying bullets for her potential
daughter in law. Then again, she never imagined that life
would take the turn it would in the next year.
(03:25):
Welcome to Sword and Scale Nightmares, True Crime for Bedtime,
where nightmare begins. Now. One year later, Colleen and Rob
(03:52):
were getting ready to go out on New Year's Eve.
Rob had been working hard all year on the oil rigs,
making the most money he ever had in his life,
while Colleen continued growing her career as a manager at
the call center. They both agreed that they could use
a fun night out a big break after a hectic year,
(04:13):
but Colleen had some rules. She was very frugal and
budget conscious. After all, Colleen made budgets for everything, and
a night out at the bar was no exception. She
decided that she would be able to spend one hundred
dollars of fun fund money celebrating the new year. As
(04:34):
Colleen and Rob got dressed up to meet their friends
at their favorite local bar, Colleen suggested that they make
a resolutions list. The couple had been bickering a lot lately.
The fights had been getting worse and worse, but deep
down they you know, they still loved each other, and
they were determined to get through these things. They just,
(04:56):
you know, they just kind of happened. Sometimes. Ellen was
as controlling as Rob was aloof, and even though she
was right, he was becoming a little sick of her
money management. These fights usually started out about cash, how
much Colleen would allow Rob to spend. She controlled everything,
even allotting his weekly lunch money, and how much he
(05:19):
was allowed to spend on his haircuts. I mean, you
can only declaw tiger so much. It can only demasculate
a man so much before the inevitable happens. She was
obsessed with saving and had a rigid plan for their future.
So as Colleen put on her makeup and Rob buttoned
(05:39):
up his favorite shirt, they decided that their new year's
resolution would be simple. No more fighting, easier said than done,
and more savings added Colleen, and less alcohol. Wait a minute,
that's three things. Rob rolled his eyes and then hugged
his wife. Colleen grinned bitterly, but she was also very serious.
(06:04):
Walking into the bar, Colleen and Rob hung off of
one another like a loving newlywed couple. Their friends were
all waiting, drinks in hand, and ordered more. As Rob
and Colleen joined the group. Colleen sided up with some
girlfriends and Rob hugged his buddies and immediately pushed through
the crowd to get the bartender's attention. He waved his
(06:27):
arm and hollered. Then he ordered a round of warm
apple pie shots. Yeah, I'd never heard of them either,
but it sounded delicious during the holidays. The vodka, apple cider, cinnamon,
little whip cream on top. Goddamn sounded pretty good. Apologies
(06:49):
if you're an alcoholic anyway, Rob, Colleen and their pals
did four rounds in fifteen minutes, as you do on
New Year's Eve. The bar was loud and the music
was blasting. As Colleen gave Rob a kiss before sauntering
off to the bathroom. She was tipsy already from the
(07:10):
shots and could feel the booze running warm in her body.
She was happy. This was a beautiful relationship. So what
if they fought. Sometimes people fight, it happens. They were
making progress. Rob was going to keep to the resolutions.
Colleen pushed open the bathroom door and she looked at
(07:31):
herself in the mirror, feeling nice and buzzed and feeling good,
you know. She pursed her lips at her reflection and
wiped the excess mascara from under her eyes, and she
told herself in the mirror. Yes, this is going to
be an excellent year. Back at the bar, Rob had
(07:51):
the cash Colleen had allotted for their night out, and
he was throwing down. By the time Colleen returned from
the bathroom, Rob had spent almost all their cash buying
drinks for all of his friends. Well. Colleen was furious.
She pulled Rob aside and started lecturing him through grilled teeth.
(08:13):
What about their savings goals the New year's resolution. They
only had one hundred dollars to spend. What the hell
was he doing? Their friends pretended not to notice. As
Colleen chewed Rob out, He laughed and told her to relax.
There was a house party they could go to not
far away, and they'd be able to stick to their budget.
(08:36):
Colleen reluctantly agreed, and they left the bar. When Rob
and Colleen arrived at their friend's house party, Rob greeted
everyone as his jovial self, slapping high fives and hugs
with everyone in the room. Colin stood behind him with
a scowl on her face. Everyone at the party noticed
(08:58):
how foul she was. She sucked towards the kitchen to
pour herself another drink. Rob and Colleen go their separate
ways at the party, mingling with their friends and consuming
even more and more alcohol. After a while, Colleen notices
Rob isn't inside. She bolts from the conversation she's in
(09:20):
and storms around every room looking for him. He is nowhere,
and she swings open the back door of the patio
and catches Rob with his nose down snorting a line
of white powder. Well, rage overcomes her. You know how
(09:41):
a five foot four, one hundred and twenty pound woman
can become really scary fellas all of a sudden, just
somehow something comes over her and it's like frickin' Satan incarnate.
Yeah yeah, yeah, rage, rage overcome her, and Colleen charges
(10:02):
it Rob and begins screaming, swearing, and throwing her fists.
Where the hell did he get drugs? Did he spend
their money on that? She is irate. Colleen screams like
a bansheet, and Rob finally has had it. Maybe it's
(10:23):
the cocaine, It's probably the cocaine, But he just he
snaps he's been bossed around by his wife for far
too long, and he loses it. Their fight becomes so
intense that the owner of the house comes outside to
tell them they have to go. Get the hell out
(10:44):
of here. I don't want you to hear it. Leave.
They've made enough of a scene, they've embarrassed themselves enough,
and they need to go. You don't want the cops
showing up and ruining the party and all that. So
Colleen and Rob were in embarrassingly escorted through the house.
Rob hung his head as he beelined towards the door,
(11:07):
stumbling out without looking back. Colleen followed him, her head
held high and strangely proud. Then, before exiting the party,
she turned and looked at everyone and said, remember, this
is not my fault. She then slammed the door. Less
(11:27):
than half an hour later, something happened, and well, it
was her fault. Colleen McKernan grew up in Buffalo, New York,
(12:03):
with strict religious parents. Her father owned his own business,
and the family had a comfortable life. Like most kids,
Colleen started to rebel against her upbringing. As a teenager,
she developed an attitude and started fighting with other girls
in school to the point where she was expelled. Her
parents had enough and sent Colleen to Ohio to live
(12:26):
with her maternal grandmother. Unlike her dad, Grandma wasn't so
tough on Colleen, but in that relaxed environment, she thrived shockingly.
Her grades improved, her attitude softened, and she graduated a success.
After high school, Colleen enrolled in the Air Force. She
(12:46):
loved the structure and discipline of the academy and soon
began training as a security officer. She was very smart
and did well. Furthermore, she excelled with a firearm. Colleen
was an amazing shot and she loved guns. You should too.
In Crime Riddled twenty twenty four, Colleen joined the Air
(13:09):
National Garden graduated in less than three years. When she
returned to Ohio to work, she was hired at a
call center and quickly shot up the ladder to a
managerial role. Everything in her life was going perfectly, except
in the old romance department. That's when Rob came into
(13:30):
the picture. Colleen and Rob had common friends, and the
group always thought the two of them would hit it off.
Despite being opposites. Rob was laid back and liked to
have fun. He was less focused on his career and
more just about enjoying every day as if it were
his last. But like Colleen, he was also a serious
(13:54):
gun enthusiast, and their friends knew the two would bond
for target practice. So in October of twenty thirteen, their
friends through a backyard party with the sole purpose of
hooking the two up, and it worked. The relationship started slow,
but by Christmas of twenty thirteen, Rob had taken Colleen
(14:17):
home to meet his family. Rob's family was happy to
see him so in love and supported their relationship. After Christmas,
Colleen and Rob started looking at houses together. Colleen got
a promotion at work and was riding high. At Colleen's
request and encouragement, Rob stopped working odd jobs and decided
(14:38):
to get serious and begin working on the oil rigs.
He was finally bringing in some good money, which made
Colleen super happy. They settled into life together, and that's
when Colleen's stranglehold began. You see, it started slow, the
need for total control. That is, she started managing how
(15:03):
much or what kind of food they would eat, or
how much alcohol Rob would drink. But every time she'd
take away one of life's little pleasures like wine with
dinner or extra cheesy pizza. She'd later reward him with
a guilty pleasure. She was dangling carrots and slowly molding
(15:27):
Rob into the man she wanted him to be. I
can change him. Rob didn't seem to mind at first,
or maybe he didn't even seem to notice. Then one evening,
out of nowhere, Colleen decided to get down on her
knees and propose to Rob. It was sudden, strange, and
(15:50):
kind of domineering, but Rob smiled and he said yes.
They started planning a wedding, and that's when Colleen's budgeting
kicked into high gear. I'll tell you, if you want
to see a woman's true character, propose and have her
plan a wedding. People change, man. People changed real fast.
(16:13):
One evening well, discussing the wedding money, Colleen dropped a
bomb on Rob. If they wanted to keep the ceremony
small and inexpensive, then Rob's family just couldn't come. Wow,
there just wasn't enough money. Rob thought it, but Colleen
(16:34):
she insisted. So Rob called his mother Kathy to let
her know that she and his stepfather couldn't come to
the wedding. Kathy was beside herself. She cried, Rob crumbled,
and he finally put his foot down. Colleen realized that
(16:55):
this was a little you know, too far. She relinquished
and said they would find the money somewhere else. I mean,
if that wasn't a red flag, then you know, I mean,
you should not be in a relationship if you don't
see that big old waving red one. Their wedding was
outside in a state park, in front of a waterfall.
(17:16):
Colleen was dressed in a princess gown, her curly hair
bobbing around her face. She had a purple sash, which
Rob mirrored with the color of his tie. It was
a gorgeous spring day. As the two said their vows
in front of their flowing waterfall and a small group
(17:37):
of friends and family. As the sun beamed down and
they said I do, two butterflies landed on Colleen's dress.
Everyone noticed and took it as a sign of good luck.
I guess they haven't heard the rumor that white butterflies
carry the souls of deceased children. And no, I didn't
(17:57):
make that up, but that's neither here nor there. After
the wedding, Colleen and Rob bought a house together. Rob
got promoted at the oil rigs, and though he was
now a breadwinner of the house, Colleen still managed all
the money, and she gave Rob an allowance like he
was a little boy. Money became the sole source of
(18:20):
tension between them, and as Colleen obsessively made spreadsheets about
their savings goals and limited how much cash Rob could
take out to dinner with his friends, Rob became more
and more resentful of his controlling and domineering wife. In
November of twenty fourteen, they were out with friends at
(18:41):
a bar and got into a huge argument about money.
As they left the bar, Rob got into the driver's
seat and started yelling at Colleen. He'd had enough of
being controlled and was sick and tired of her constant
monitoring of his money. Fueled by alcohol and annoyed, Rob
(19:02):
drove erradically while Colleen screamed back. Then she picked up
her cell phone and dialed nine one one, dropping the
phone on the floor before she could say anything to
the dispatcher. When Rob yelled, get the fuck out of
my car, the phone hung up. The next nine to
one one call placed by Colleen would be on New
(19:25):
Year's Eve twenty fourteen, at eleven fifty pm, Colleen would
call nine one one and say, I'm really drunk. My
husband hit me and I shot him. But the truth
behind what happened would be far worse than anything Colleen
(19:46):
had said. After arriving home from the New Year's Eve party,
(20:15):
Rob and Colleen fight all the way to the front door.
The next night is cold and crisp as their drunk,
angry voices echo through the air. Rob opens the front
door and barrels inside, trying to get as far away
from his wife's menacing voice as possible. I can't believe you,
(20:37):
she hisses, After everything we talked about before the party,
you spent all that money. Colleen goes on and on,
her face, becoming redder and more angry with every breath.
Rob storms off into the kitchen to get away from her,
but she follows him on the counter and covers his
(21:02):
ears like a frustrated child. Enough, he screams, I'm leaving.
He pushes past Colleen, grabbing his wallet and keys from
the counter, where he drop them. What do you mean
you're leaving? Aline cries, She's desperate and drunk, swaying under
the influence of all the booze inside of her. Rob
(21:24):
says nothing. Then he stops at the door. As drunk
as he is, he knows this is it. He is done,
and he tells her out loud, I'm done, Colleen. That
is when the rage comes. It boils up inside of Colleen.
(21:49):
She turns on her heels and spins around towards the bedroom.
She grabs her gun and thunders back into the hallway.
She doesn't even think before she does it. She just
raises it and shoots twice perfect bull's eye right into
(22:11):
her husband's face. She watches as his eyes flicker and
the heavy thud of his body slams on the ground.
She walks up to him, looks down and steps over
his body. She turns around and points the gun down,
firing eight more times into his chest. Her hands are trembling.
(22:38):
The adrenaline tightens her arms and she drops the gun.
It was as though she left her body and came back.
What had she done? Moments past? As her alcohol infused
brain begins to calculate the situation, then she reaches for
(22:58):
her phone. Colleen calls nine one one and claims that
Rob had hit her. She plays the victim, a distraught,
drunk woman afraid for her life and her safety. This
never happens, says the Believe Women movement. And here we are.
(23:20):
The abusive husband has been put to an end. But
Rob had never hurt Colleen before, He had no history
of violence, and his friends and family all swore that
he would never hit a woman. Colleen was taken down
to the police station and right away began rambling off
(23:41):
facts about domestic violence, victims, battered women. I wonder where
she got those facts. She sat in her striped jumpsuit,
slamming her feet on the ground, screaming about battered women,
about being a battered woman. But the females on the
staff were skeptical. You could say that perhaps they didn't
(24:05):
hashtag believe women. Battered women don't necessarily go around claiming
they're battered, after all, Sometimes they don't even know they're battered,
usually in fact, and Colleen was trying to convince everyone
that she was in fact battered, despite no evidence whatsoever.
(24:28):
The shellcasings on the ground in her house determined that
she had shot Rob in the face, then when he
was down, shot him eight more times. When it came
time for her very public trial. Colleen wept on the stand.
She put on the performance of a lifetime, the kind
(24:50):
of performance that should be on lifetime. That was that
bad maybe the Hallmark Channel. Anyway, she was trying to
save herself, so who can blame her? And it worked.
Juris are stupid. After two of them hung, Yeah, hung jurys.
She was finally offered a plea deal served seven years
(25:14):
for manslaughter. Rob's family was obviously not satisfied, but they
agreed it was better than nothing, and another trial could
have seen her walk away without serving a single day
because juries are nice to women Comparatively, Colleen McKernan did
(25:36):
her seven years and is now free. She's out and
living her best life right now, probably freely listening to
true crime podcasts like this one. Hi. Colleen. Rob, however,
is debt. His family suffers every single day knowing that
(25:59):
he will never come back. He's gone. Rob's mother, Kathy
has a pain she has to live with forever. And
it's not just the fact that she lost her only child. Now,
the reality, the objective one, is much worse than that.
(26:21):
You see, the bullets that were used to murder her
son Rob were the ones that she purchased for Colleen
on that Christmas. The irony of real life can sometimes
be devastating. If you enjoyed the show, please consider joining
(26:43):
plus at Sword and Scale dot com slash plus, But
if you can't, consider leaving us a positive review on
your preferred listening platform. Sweet Dreams and good Night,
It's Christmas in twenty thirteen, and Kathy McKernan is happily
preparing her house for the holiday season. It is chilly outside,
like most Ohio Decembers are, and Kathy keeps herself busy
chopping carrots and onions in the kitchen. Kathy's modest house
is warm and cozy. The smell of stuffing and turkey
(00:28):
warms the air as her husband tends to the fireplace.
In the living room, Kathy focuses on her methodic chopping,
but she is so nervous. Her only son, Rob, is
bringing home his new girlfriend for the holidays. Rob has
been gushing about Colleen for months, and Kathy is excited
(00:50):
to meet the woman who has her son talking about
settling down. Rob is a laid back guy. He has
a child of his own from a previous relationship, but
he's never talked about marriage. He takes life as it comes,
one day at a time, but apparently Colleen has changed him.
(01:10):
Kathy looks down at the oven clock quickly, then sneaks
a peek at her reflection in the microwave glass, smoothing
out her hair. Just then, the doorbell rings. Kathy flies
towards the front door to greet her son. She hugs
him close, feeling the chill on his cheek as they
exchange greetings. Rob smiles as he takes off his coat. Mom,
(01:33):
this is Colleen. Kathy smiles as a pretty petite blonde
with short wavy hair extends her hand towards her. It's
so nice to meet you, Kathy, Colleen says. Colleen is beautiful.
She has a round lily face with big doe eyes.
(01:54):
She immediately takes off her coat and asks Kathy what
she can do to help. Later that evening, after dinner,
drinks and many laughs getting to know each other, the
family gathers to open some presents. Kathy picks up a
little box from under the tree and passes it to Colleen.
Her eyes light up and shock. You didn't have to
(02:14):
get me anything, she says modestly, as she carefully wedges
her fingers under the wrapping paper. Kathy watches as Colleen
pulls out the present, a little box of ammunition. Colleen
laughs and smiles. She knows that Rob must have told
his mother how much she loves target practice. Colleen is
(02:37):
an excellent marksman. She holds the box of bullets to
her chest like a diamond necklace and says thank you again.
Kathy smiles. She never imagined buying bullets for her potential
daughter in law. Then again, she never imagined that life
would take the turn it would in the next year.
(03:25):
Welcome to Sword and Scale Nightmares, True Crime for Bedtime,
where nightmare begins. Now. One year later, Colleen and Rob
(03:52):
were getting ready to go out on New Year's Eve.
Rob had been working hard all year on the oil rigs,
making the most money he ever had in his life,
while Colleen continued growing her career as a manager at
the call center. They both agreed that they could use
a fun night out a big break after a hectic year,
(04:13):
but Colleen had some rules. She was very frugal and
budget conscious. After all, Colleen made budgets for everything, and
a night out at the bar was no exception. She
decided that she would be able to spend one hundred
dollars of fun fund money celebrating the new year. As
(04:34):
Colleen and Rob got dressed up to meet their friends
at their favorite local bar, Colleen suggested that they make
a resolutions list. The couple had been bickering a lot lately.
The fights had been getting worse and worse, but deep
down they you know, they still loved each other, and
they were determined to get through these things. They just,
(04:56):
you know, they just kind of happened. Sometimes. Ellen was
as controlling as Rob was aloof, and even though she
was right, he was becoming a little sick of her
money management. These fights usually started out about cash, how
much Colleen would allow Rob to spend. She controlled everything,
even allotting his weekly lunch money, and how much he
(05:19):
was allowed to spend on his haircuts. I mean, you
can only declaw tiger so much. It can only demasculate
a man so much before the inevitable happens. She was
obsessed with saving and had a rigid plan for their future.
So as Colleen put on her makeup and Rob buttoned
(05:39):
up his favorite shirt, they decided that their new year's
resolution would be simple. No more fighting, easier said than done,
and more savings added Colleen, and less alcohol. Wait a minute,
that's three things. Rob rolled his eyes and then hugged
his wife. Colleen grinned bitterly, but she was also very serious.
(06:04):
Walking into the bar, Colleen and Rob hung off of
one another like a loving newlywed couple. Their friends were
all waiting, drinks in hand, and ordered more. As Rob
and Colleen joined the group. Colleen sided up with some
girlfriends and Rob hugged his buddies and immediately pushed through
the crowd to get the bartender's attention. He waved his
(06:27):
arm and hollered. Then he ordered a round of warm
apple pie shots. Yeah, I'd never heard of them either,
but it sounded delicious during the holidays. The vodka, apple cider, cinnamon,
little whip cream on top. Goddamn sounded pretty good. Apologies
(06:49):
if you're an alcoholic anyway, Rob, Colleen and their pals
did four rounds in fifteen minutes, as you do on
New Year's Eve. The bar was loud and the music
was blasting. As Colleen gave Rob a kiss before sauntering
off to the bathroom. She was tipsy already from the
(07:10):
shots and could feel the booze running warm in her body.
She was happy. This was a beautiful relationship. So what
if they fought. Sometimes people fight, it happens. They were
making progress. Rob was going to keep to the resolutions.
Colleen pushed open the bathroom door and she looked at
(07:31):
herself in the mirror, feeling nice and buzzed and feeling good,
you know. She pursed her lips at her reflection and
wiped the excess mascara from under her eyes, and she
told herself in the mirror. Yes, this is going to
be an excellent year. Back at the bar, Rob had
(07:51):
the cash Colleen had allotted for their night out, and
he was throwing down. By the time Colleen returned from
the bathroom, Rob had spent almost all their cash buying
drinks for all of his friends. Well. Colleen was furious.
She pulled Rob aside and started lecturing him through grilled teeth.
(08:13):
What about their savings goals the New year's resolution. They
only had one hundred dollars to spend. What the hell
was he doing? Their friends pretended not to notice. As
Colleen chewed Rob out, He laughed and told her to relax.
There was a house party they could go to not
far away, and they'd be able to stick to their budget.
(08:36):
Colleen reluctantly agreed, and they left the bar. When Rob
and Colleen arrived at their friend's house party, Rob greeted
everyone as his jovial self, slapping high fives and hugs
with everyone in the room. Colin stood behind him with
a scowl on her face. Everyone at the party noticed
(08:58):
how foul she was. She sucked towards the kitchen to
pour herself another drink. Rob and Colleen go their separate
ways at the party, mingling with their friends and consuming
even more and more alcohol. After a while, Colleen notices
Rob isn't inside. She bolts from the conversation she's in
(09:20):
and storms around every room looking for him. He is nowhere,
and she swings open the back door of the patio
and catches Rob with his nose down snorting a line
of white powder. Well, rage overcomes her. You know how
(09:41):
a five foot four, one hundred and twenty pound woman
can become really scary fellas all of a sudden, just
somehow something comes over her and it's like frickin' Satan incarnate.
Yeah yeah, yeah, rage, rage overcome her, and Colleen charges
(10:02):
it Rob and begins screaming, swearing, and throwing her fists.
Where the hell did he get drugs? Did he spend
their money on that? She is irate. Colleen screams like
a bansheet, and Rob finally has had it. Maybe it's
(10:23):
the cocaine, It's probably the cocaine, But he just he
snaps he's been bossed around by his wife for far
too long, and he loses it. Their fight becomes so
intense that the owner of the house comes outside to
tell them they have to go. Get the hell out
(10:44):
of here. I don't want you to hear it. Leave.
They've made enough of a scene, they've embarrassed themselves enough,
and they need to go. You don't want the cops
showing up and ruining the party and all that. So
Colleen and Rob were in embarrassingly escorted through the house.
Rob hung his head as he beelined towards the door,
(11:07):
stumbling out without looking back. Colleen followed him, her head
held high and strangely proud. Then, before exiting the party,
she turned and looked at everyone and said, remember, this
is not my fault. She then slammed the door. Less
(11:27):
than half an hour later, something happened, and well, it
was her fault. Colleen McKernan grew up in Buffalo, New York,
(12:03):
with strict religious parents. Her father owned his own business,
and the family had a comfortable life. Like most kids,
Colleen started to rebel against her upbringing. As a teenager,
she developed an attitude and started fighting with other girls
in school to the point where she was expelled. Her
parents had enough and sent Colleen to Ohio to live
(12:26):
with her maternal grandmother. Unlike her dad, Grandma wasn't so
tough on Colleen, but in that relaxed environment, she thrived shockingly.
Her grades improved, her attitude softened, and she graduated a success.
After high school, Colleen enrolled in the Air Force. She
(12:46):
loved the structure and discipline of the academy and soon
began training as a security officer. She was very smart
and did well. Furthermore, she excelled with a firearm. Colleen
was an amazing shot and she loved guns. You should too.
In Crime Riddled twenty twenty four, Colleen joined the Air
(13:09):
National Garden graduated in less than three years. When she
returned to Ohio to work, she was hired at a
call center and quickly shot up the ladder to a
managerial role. Everything in her life was going perfectly, except
in the old romance department. That's when Rob came into
(13:30):
the picture. Colleen and Rob had common friends, and the
group always thought the two of them would hit it off.
Despite being opposites. Rob was laid back and liked to
have fun. He was less focused on his career and
more just about enjoying every day as if it were
his last. But like Colleen, he was also a serious
(13:54):
gun enthusiast, and their friends knew the two would bond
for target practice. So in October of twenty thirteen, their
friends through a backyard party with the sole purpose of
hooking the two up, and it worked. The relationship started slow,
but by Christmas of twenty thirteen, Rob had taken Colleen
(14:17):
home to meet his family. Rob's family was happy to
see him so in love and supported their relationship. After Christmas,
Colleen and Rob started looking at houses together. Colleen got
a promotion at work and was riding high. At Colleen's
request and encouragement, Rob stopped working odd jobs and decided
(14:38):
to get serious and begin working on the oil rigs.
He was finally bringing in some good money, which made
Colleen super happy. They settled into life together, and that's
when Colleen's stranglehold began. You see, it started slow, the
need for total control. That is, she started managing how
(15:03):
much or what kind of food they would eat, or
how much alcohol Rob would drink. But every time she'd
take away one of life's little pleasures like wine with
dinner or extra cheesy pizza. She'd later reward him with
a guilty pleasure. She was dangling carrots and slowly molding
(15:27):
Rob into the man she wanted him to be. I
can change him. Rob didn't seem to mind at first,
or maybe he didn't even seem to notice. Then one evening,
out of nowhere, Colleen decided to get down on her
knees and propose to Rob. It was sudden, strange, and
(15:50):
kind of domineering, but Rob smiled and he said yes.
They started planning a wedding, and that's when Colleen's budgeting
kicked into high gear. I'll tell you, if you want
to see a woman's true character, propose and have her
plan a wedding. People change, man. People changed real fast.
(16:13):
One evening well, discussing the wedding money, Colleen dropped a
bomb on Rob. If they wanted to keep the ceremony
small and inexpensive, then Rob's family just couldn't come. Wow,
there just wasn't enough money. Rob thought it, but Colleen
(16:34):
she insisted. So Rob called his mother Kathy to let
her know that she and his stepfather couldn't come to
the wedding. Kathy was beside herself. She cried, Rob crumbled,
and he finally put his foot down. Colleen realized that
(16:55):
this was a little you know, too far. She relinquished
and said they would find the money somewhere else. I mean,
if that wasn't a red flag, then you know, I mean,
you should not be in a relationship if you don't
see that big old waving red one. Their wedding was
outside in a state park, in front of a waterfall.
(17:16):
Colleen was dressed in a princess gown, her curly hair
bobbing around her face. She had a purple sash, which
Rob mirrored with the color of his tie. It was
a gorgeous spring day. As the two said their vows
in front of their flowing waterfall and a small group
(17:37):
of friends and family. As the sun beamed down and
they said I do, two butterflies landed on Colleen's dress.
Everyone noticed and took it as a sign of good luck.
I guess they haven't heard the rumor that white butterflies
carry the souls of deceased children. And no, I didn't
(17:57):
make that up, but that's neither here nor there. After
the wedding, Colleen and Rob bought a house together. Rob
got promoted at the oil rigs, and though he was
now a breadwinner of the house, Colleen still managed all
the money, and she gave Rob an allowance like he
was a little boy. Money became the sole source of
(18:20):
tension between them, and as Colleen obsessively made spreadsheets about
their savings goals and limited how much cash Rob could
take out to dinner with his friends, Rob became more
and more resentful of his controlling and domineering wife. In
November of twenty fourteen, they were out with friends at
(18:41):
a bar and got into a huge argument about money.
As they left the bar, Rob got into the driver's
seat and started yelling at Colleen. He'd had enough of
being controlled and was sick and tired of her constant
monitoring of his money. Fueled by alcohol and annoyed, Rob
(19:02):
drove erradically while Colleen screamed back. Then she picked up
her cell phone and dialed nine one one, dropping the
phone on the floor before she could say anything to
the dispatcher. When Rob yelled, get the fuck out of
my car, the phone hung up. The next nine to
one one call placed by Colleen would be on New
(19:25):
Year's Eve twenty fourteen, at eleven fifty pm, Colleen would
call nine one one and say, I'm really drunk. My
husband hit me and I shot him. But the truth
behind what happened would be far worse than anything Colleen
(19:46):
had said. After arriving home from the New Year's Eve party,
(20:15):
Rob and Colleen fight all the way to the front door.
The next night is cold and crisp as their drunk,
angry voices echo through the air. Rob opens the front
door and barrels inside, trying to get as far away
from his wife's menacing voice as possible. I can't believe you,
(20:37):
she hisses, After everything we talked about before the party,
you spent all that money. Colleen goes on and on,
her face, becoming redder and more angry with every breath.
Rob storms off into the kitchen to get away from her,
but she follows him on the counter and covers his
(21:02):
ears like a frustrated child. Enough, he screams, I'm leaving.
He pushes past Colleen, grabbing his wallet and keys from
the counter, where he drop them. What do you mean
you're leaving? Aline cries, She's desperate and drunk, swaying under
the influence of all the booze inside of her. Rob
(21:24):
says nothing. Then he stops at the door. As drunk
as he is, he knows this is it. He is done,
and he tells her out loud, I'm done, Colleen. That
is when the rage comes. It boils up inside of Colleen.
(21:49):
She turns on her heels and spins around towards the bedroom.
She grabs her gun and thunders back into the hallway.
She doesn't even think before she does it. She just
raises it and shoots twice perfect bull's eye right into
(22:11):
her husband's face. She watches as his eyes flicker and
the heavy thud of his body slams on the ground.
She walks up to him, looks down and steps over
his body. She turns around and points the gun down,
firing eight more times into his chest. Her hands are trembling.
(22:38):
The adrenaline tightens her arms and she drops the gun.
It was as though she left her body and came back.
What had she done? Moments past? As her alcohol infused
brain begins to calculate the situation, then she reaches for
(22:58):
her phone. Colleen calls nine one one and claims that
Rob had hit her. She plays the victim, a distraught,
drunk woman afraid for her life and her safety. This
never happens, says the Believe Women movement. And here we are.
(23:20):
The abusive husband has been put to an end. But
Rob had never hurt Colleen before, He had no history
of violence, and his friends and family all swore that
he would never hit a woman. Colleen was taken down
to the police station and right away began rambling off
(23:41):
facts about domestic violence, victims, battered women. I wonder where
she got those facts. She sat in her striped jumpsuit,
slamming her feet on the ground, screaming about battered women,
about being a battered woman. But the females on the
staff were skeptical. You could say that perhaps they didn't
(24:05):
hashtag believe women. Battered women don't necessarily go around claiming
they're battered, after all, Sometimes they don't even know they're battered,
usually in fact, and Colleen was trying to convince everyone
that she was in fact battered, despite no evidence whatsoever.
(24:28):
The shellcasings on the ground in her house determined that
she had shot Rob in the face, then when he
was down, shot him eight more times. When it came
time for her very public trial. Colleen wept on the stand.
She put on the performance of a lifetime, the kind
(24:50):
of performance that should be on lifetime. That was that
bad maybe the Hallmark Channel. Anyway, she was trying to
save herself, so who can blame her? And it worked.
Juris are stupid. After two of them hung, Yeah, hung jurys.
She was finally offered a plea deal served seven years
(25:14):
for manslaughter. Rob's family was obviously not satisfied, but they
agreed it was better than nothing, and another trial could
have seen her walk away without serving a single day
because juries are nice to women Comparatively, Colleen McKernan did
(25:36):
her seven years and is now free. She's out and
living her best life right now, probably freely listening to
true crime podcasts like this one. Hi. Colleen. Rob, however,
is debt. His family suffers every single day knowing that
(25:59):
he will never come back. He's gone. Rob's mother, Kathy
has a pain she has to live with forever. And
it's not just the fact that she lost her only child. Now,
the reality, the objective one, is much worse than that.
(26:21):
You see, the bullets that were used to murder her
son Rob were the ones that she purchased for Colleen
on that Christmas. The irony of real life can sometimes
be devastating. If you enjoyed the show, please consider joining
(26:43):
plus at Sword and Scale dot com slash plus, But
if you can't, consider leaving us a positive review on
your preferred listening platform. Sweet Dreams and good Night,
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