Buzz
Breaking up is never straightforward.
One person often finds it hard to let go, and the situation can rapidly spiral into drama and cruelty. Sometimes, you're fortunate enough not to hear from them again. Other times, you might get a tearful, late-night call at 4:00 AM where they blame you for everything and beg for reconciliation.
Although everyone has their own breakup nightmares, none of your past breakups will compare to the extreme examples listed below.
10. Missed Call
In addition to bombarding him with endless texts and emails, she placed an astonishing 178 calls to him every single day. For a whole year. That adds up to nearly 65,000 calls in 12 months. If she’s sleeping eight hours a night, that’s close to two calls every 10 minutes.
The woman was granted bail with the condition that she stop contacting her poor ex. She agreed—at least for a few hours—before succumbing to the urge and starting all over again.
The man involved insists they were never even a couple, while she insists they were an item all along and that the frequency of calls was perfectly normal for any couple. Regardless of the truth, it’s clear she was a little too persistent, and one has to question why he let it drag on for a full year before taking action.
9. David Simmons
The rise of revenge porn has been a topic frequently making the news in recent years. With technology advancing at such a rapid pace, the law has struggled to keep up, and it has become alarmingly easy to secretly record and share intimate images without someone's consent.
Revenge porn today is often shared on social media or platforms created specifically for disgruntled ex-partners. However, sometimes the person responsible goes directly to the source.
After a difficult breakup with his girlfriend, 57-year-old David Simmons from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, decided to get creative with intimate photos of her that he had taken without her consent. Since it was the holiday season, Simmons chose the morally lowest path and sent the photos as Christmas cards to all of her family members.
Some of the cards were opened, but most were intercepted. At first, he claimed that he knew nothing about it and even said he received one too. Eventually, he confessed, pled guilty, and received a suspended sentence in 2009.
8. Tracy Davies
In Newcastle, Tracy Davies and Mark Coghill connected through a lonely hearts column and quickly developed a serious relationship. Things appeared to be going smoothly until the night of Mark’s 45th birthday in October 2008. They had purchased two bottles of vodka before heading out to celebrate at their local pub.
Tracy, a recovering alcoholic, was feeling upset after receiving some bad news: she wasn't pregnant. Given her age and the fact that she had no children, it’s understandable that the news hit her hard. To cheer herself up, she asked Mark for a kiss. When he complied, she bit his tongue.
Mark recalls thinking at first that it was a joke—until the pain became unbearable and Tracy refused to let go after several excruciating seconds. He says Tracy even made sounds of satisfaction, which he described in a distinctly British manner: “like having a cup of tea when you haven’t had one for days.”
Tracy continued biting until the top third of Mark’s tongue was severed, and she spat it out onto the floor. Tracy then called an ambulance herself and confessed to the act. To her surprise, she was arrested.
The severed tongue could not be reattached due to the risk of infection, which left Mark with permanent difficulties in tasting and speaking. Tracy was sentenced to three years in prison.
7. Byron Stokely
Terri Thompson and Byron Stokely are divorced. However, in March 2013, he asked if he could temporarily move in with her, as he was between jobs. She agreed, and he relocated to her apartment.
While many of you may immediately feel that living with an ex is a bad idea, some people have to learn these lessons the hard way. It should come as no surprise that during his stay, Byron attempted to make advances toward Terri. She rejected him, and unfortunately, Byron couldn’t handle the rejection.
One night, while Terri was sleeping in bed, she woke up to Byron pouring boiling oil onto her face and then attacking her with the pot. She sustained third-degree burns on her arm and face and second-degree burns across her body.
That night, Byron fled the scene and went into hiding for several months. He was next seen in June 2013, when his body was discovered in the Passaic River in New Jersey. Terri, a mother of two, lacked insurance and established a fund for those wishing to assist with her recovery. By the end of 2017, she had received less than 10 percent of her goal.
6. Dominique Fisher
Although they weren’t technically a couple, 24-year-old Wayne Robinson and 22-year-old Dominique Fisher met one drunken Friday night in June 2008 and decided to spend the entire weekend together in Blackburn, England. While most people would warn a woman against running off with a man she barely knows from a nightclub, Dominique wasn’t concerned. She probably knew that it was Wayne who should be wary of her.
On the third and final day of their brief affair, Wayne woke up to find Dominique snoring beside him in bed, which was now stained with his own blood. He quickly realized that he had deep gashes all over his arms and back, forming intricate designs, including Dominique’s name.
After combining Valium and alcohol the previous night, Wayne passed out, allowing Dominique to use a Stanley knife to ‘tattoo’ him while he slept. Upon waking and discovering the damage, he fled and contacted the authorities. Dominique, however, insisted that Wayne had requested the strange body art.
The jury took less than thirty minutes to find her guilty, but she was spared jail time. Instead, Dominique was handed a two-year community order.
5. Agustin Garcia
Wedding invitations always bring up the tricky question: Should we invite our exes? There are many valid reasons to exclude them. You might think it’s in poor taste, you might want to avoid reopening old wounds, or perhaps you're concerned about potential drama at the event.
For reasons unknown, 39-year-old Gladys Ricart chose not to invite her ex, 49-year-old Agustin Garcia, to her wedding. Somehow, Garcia found out about it and didn’t take the news well.
On September 26, 1999, the day of Ricart’s wedding, Garcia appeared at her house in Ridgefield, New Jersey, just as the final pre-wedding photos were being taken. He shot his ex-girlfriend dead. Initially, he claimed that he shot her because he was stunned to learn she was marrying someone else. He also stated that they had been intimate in the days leading up to the wedding, including on the day itself.
However, this story quickly unraveled due to the numerous witnesses to the crime and the fact that the entire event was captured on video by the wedding videographer. Garcia’s defense was that he was a normally rational man who had a brief lapse in judgment and was now deeply remorseful for his actions.
Garcia was sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 30 years, at which point he will be 79.
4. Toni Jo Silvey
If you thought the earlier Dutch woman was extreme, you might just want to grab a cup of coffee with her after hearing this. In Houston, 62-year-old Peter Main broke up with his 49-year-old girlfriend, Toni Jo Silvey, who didn’t take the breakup well.
For reasons unknown, Silvey chose to seek revenge two years later, and she spent the next three months tormenting him. In addition to sending 712 emails, she made over 1,000 phone calls (specifically, 1,001).
As if that wasn’t enough, she decided to ram his car and garage door with her truck. After being advised by the police to stay away, she returned to his home armed with more eggs.
3. Jebidiah James Stipe
What you’ve read up to this point might seem like nothing more than personal ads compared to the actions of Jebidiah James Stipe. A former Marine from Casper, Wyoming, Stipe was intent on inflicting as much pain as he could on his ex-girlfriend, Sarah Kostovny.
In 2009, Stipe, at 28 years old, used pictures of Sarah to post five ads on craigslist, pretending to be a woman with a rape fantasy. The ad sought aggressive responses from men who had no regard for women. It attracted 161 responses. Stipe eventually began communication with 26-year-old Ty Oliver McDowell, who genuinely believed he was speaking with the woman in the ad.
McDowell waited for Kostovny to return home, then attacked her at gunpoint, raping her. He later detailed the incident to Stipe, still posing as the ex-girlfriend. Both McDowell and Stipe were sentenced to 60 years to life in prison.
At the time of the attack, McDowell was married with young children. He hopes to get out of prison to be a part of their lives. Interestingly, he says he forgives Stipe for orchestrating the entire event.
The case raised intense debate about whether McDowell should be held responsible for his actions or face the same punishment. Meanwhile, Kostovny now shares her story as an advocate, speaking to other survivors of sexual assault.
2. Catherine Kieu
In Garden Grove, California, in July 2011, Lieutenant Jeff Nightengale responded to a call requesting medical assistance. Upon arriving, he was met by 48-year-old Catherine Kieu, who revealed that she had severed her 51-year-old husband’s penis and disposed of it in the garbage disposal, claiming he “deserved” it.
The police discovered the man, who had been drugged with Ambien-laced food by Kieu, bound to the bed. He was quickly rushed to the hospital along with whatever pieces could be salvaged from the garbage disposal. Unfortunately, despite the doctors' efforts, they were unable to successfully reattach the recovered parts.
During the time of the attack, the couple was in the midst of a divorce, and Kieu was struggling to come to terms with it. She had been resisting his attempts to separate, and just two months after he filed for divorce, she carried out the horrific act.
In 2013, Kieu was sentenced to a term of seven years to life, with eligibility for parole starting in 2020.
1. Erbie Bowser
When Erbie Bowser lost control, the destruction he caused rippled far beyond his exes. A military veteran, special education teacher, and professional dancer, Bowser went on a violent rampage in Texas in August 2013, targeting not just one, but two of his former partners.
Bowser's first stop was the home of his ex-girlfriend, 43-year-old Toya Smith, where he brutally murdered both her and her 17-year-old daughter. In addition, Smith’s 14-year-old son and a 17-year-old friend of the daughter were injured in the attack.
Next, Bowser drove for about 15 minutes to the house of his estranged wife, Zina. After tossing an explosive into the residence, he shot and killed both Zina and her 28-year-old daughter. He also wounded her two sons.
Bowser's trial finally took place in 2017. Despite his defense team attempting to argue that his low sodium levels may have contributed to his actions, the jury was not swayed, and Bowser was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
