Leaving an abusive relationship is easier said than done. Not only is it incredibly dangerous, but victims often believe their abusers when they promise to change their ways.
According to a 27-year-old Irish woman, she tried countless times to get away from her abusive fiancé over the course of their relationship. Unfortunately, she never managed to get away and was forced to take extreme action one night in 2017. Now, she’s facing decades behind bars.
A New Adventure
After meeting and dating in Ireland, Cathrina Ann Cahill and her then-boyfriend David Walsh decided to take an adventure together and move to Australia. After they both secured working holiday visas, the pair made the journey to Australia and decided to settle in Sydney.
A Fresh Start
At the time, Cahill had hoped the change of location would be a fresh start for the relationship with Walsh. While Cahill loved Walsh, he had started becoming controlling, extremely jealous, and had problems controlling his temper. Cahill believed that things would be better with a fresh start.
No Support
Sadly, however, the move failed to fix the increasingly abusive relationship. Not long after settling down together in southwest Sydney suburb of Padstow, Walsh’s violent and jealous behavior was back. Unfortunately, Cahill no longer had her family or a support system since she was so far from home.
Packing Her Bags
According to Cahill, she loved Walsh, but when the physical and emotional abuse became too much to bear, she tried to leave. Multiple times Cahill packed her bags and made arrangements to move out of the home she shared with Walsh and two other people from Ireland.
The Promises
Yet before she got the chance to escape the abusive relationship, Walsh would beg her to forgive him and would promise that he would change. According to Cahill, Walsh would actually change. He would be extra loving and make sweet gestures. But, of course, it would never last.
A Repeating Cycle
After just a few weeks of good behavior, Walsh would revert back to his old, abusive ways. That patterns of abuse and coercion went on for years. To anyone else, it would have been obvious that Walsh would never change and that Cahill needed to get out of the relationship.
A False Belief
Sadly, however, she wanted to believe things could actually change for the better. According to Cahill, Walsh also had qualities that she loved about him and those good qualities and the good days they shared over the years made her stay in the relationship.
The Proposal
Then on New Year’s Eve in 2016, Walsh proposed. Despite everything that she had endured throughout the relationship, Cahill accepted the proposal. But within a few weeks, the bliss of their engagement had already worn off.
The Boiling Point
In the early hours of February 18, 2017, Cahill had come home from a night out and found Walsh asleep on the couch. When he woke up, Walsh saw Cahill and some of her girlfriends but lost it when he saw a man with them. Within seconds, Walsh lunged off the couch and started attacking Matthew Hyde, who had met the girls that night.
The Final Attack
“Stop it, Davey, get off, get off … he’s with Grace,” Cahill screamed before trying to hold Walsh’s arm back to stop him from hitting Hyde. At that point, Walsh swung his arm back and pushed Cahill to the ground. She then tried punching him to make him stop, but Walsh only got more aggressive.
The Fight Escalates
Walsh then pushed Cahill to the ground and tried to punch her in the face. When she escaped his punches, Cahill ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife from the drawer. What Cahill did next, however, has been hotly debated in court. According to a witness, they told Cahill to put the knife back, but she refused.
The Stabbing
“No, he needs to be taught a lesson. It’s not fair. Look at poor Matthew,” a witness claim Cahill said. According to Cahill’s former roommate, Isobel Jennings, Cahill ran up to Walsh and then stabbed him a few times in the back of the head with the knife.
Cahill’s Side
Cahill, however, claims she and Walsh had gone into their bedroom and were arguing. At that point, Walsh had the knife in hand and blocked the door when she tried to leave the room. Cahill then grabbed the knife from Walsh, and she cut the back of his head as he turned and ran out of the room.
The Charges
Police arrived at the scene of the crime shortly after and arrested Cahill and charged her for Walsh’s murder. While in court, Cahill explained the extent of the abuse she had endured for years. According to Cahill, Walsh would forcefully bite her all over her body, accuse her of cheating on him and sleeping with other men, and even told her she wasn’t allowed to look at other men.
A Long History of Abuse
Walsh also prohibited Cahill from looking in the mirror of the car as she drove in case a male driver was behind her. “I hope you got a good look slut,” Walsh would say if she looked in the rearview mirror. During her time in court, Cahill also explained that Walsh would often punch men if she had any contact with them. “David came in and hit the guy so hard he landed on the floor,” Cahill said about one incident where a man started talking to a friend she was standing next to at a hotel. “He said ‘he won’t look at my missus again.'”
No One Was Safe
On another occasion, Walsh even attacked his own friend after he moved into a room in their house. “I was in my bedroom and David came and out of nowhere started accusing me of being with Paul Mulligan which was totally untrue,” Cahill told the court. “David came out and just hit Paul.”
Physical And Emotional Abuse
Each night, Walsh would go through Cahill’s phone checking her messages and social media accounts. “He’d get mad and accuse me of doing other things wrong if he didn’t know my password,” Cahill said. Walsh also accused Cahill of having an affair with her boss and would show up at her office. Once at home, he would punch holes in the walls and throw glass bottles. One night, he even attacked Cahill with an iPhone charger, which left a permanent scar on her face.
A Wanted Man
Cahill’s lawyer also argued that Walsh had a history of violence and was actually wanted in Ireland for assaulting a police officer, assaulting his former partner, and biting part of a man’s ear off. At one point, Cahill took out an Apprehended Violence Order against Walsh while in Australia, but told the police that she wasn’t in danger out of fear that Walsh would attack her for it. “He told me no matter what I did I would never get away from him and if I ever got with anybody else he would make my life hell,” Cahill said.
Blinded By Love
When asked why she never left, Cahill explained that she tried, but Walsh would always convince her he would change. “I think because I loved him I did believe that David would change, but every time he said he would change, it would just go back to the very way it was,” Cahill told the court. “I loved him very dearly. He had good features. Davey had good days. But when he had bad days he had bad, bad days.”
Awaiting Her Sentence
Ultimately, Cahill pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a lesser charge than murder, and claimed that she was substantially impaired because of an underlying mental condition at the time. Cahill is scheduled to be sentenced on December 12, 2018. In New South Wales, the state in which Cahill is being prosecuted, the maximum sentence for manslaughter is 25 years.
