In the summer of 2015, Anne-Christine Johnson accused her ex-husband, Shaun Hardy, of pointing a loaded shotgun at her, choking her, striking her with a shotgun barrel, slamming her head into a wall and threatening her with a knife.
He also threatened to use a hypodermic needle to shoot a concoction of drugs into her mouth that would render her unconscious, then drag her into the bathroom and slit her wrists so that it would look like suicide, she alleged in court records.
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Her situation was complicated by the facts that Hardy had won custody of their son, she had a prior drug conviction and authorities never charged Hardy after the alleged abuse in 2015.
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Hardy's arrest two weeks ago on charges of murder and tampering with evidence astounded Meyer (his boss), who likened him to a son.
"Not in our wildest dreams did we think that he was capable of something like this," Meyer said.
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Keller (friend of Anne) noticed a change in Johnson soon after the marriage.
"Right off the bat, he tried to put her friends and family out of her life," she recalled. "She wasn't allowed to hang out with me and her friends."
The few times that Johnson went out with her friend, she kept it a secret from her husband.
"I had to drop her off a block from her house," Keller said.
"I felt uncomfortable texting her," she added, fearing that Hardy would see the text. "I didn't want to be the reason she had to deal with Shaun's ridiculous wrath."
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During mediation, Hardy was given custody of their autistic son, Roland, and she was allowed to see him two hours a week at a McDonald's restaurant in League City. Although unemployed when the divorce was granted, she agreed to pay $224 monthly child support.
Also unusual was her agreement to allow Hardy's father to have custody of her son if Shaun Hardy died or was incapacitated.
Roberts said domestic violence was never mentioned during the proceedings, and Johnson never raised any objections. Even if the domestic abuse issue had been raised, Roberts said, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled that judges must accept mediated agreements.
Johnson's mother believes Hardy intimidated her daughter during mediation.
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Employers and friends said Hardy would stalk her during the periods when she had her own apartment, bombard her with accusatory and threatening texts and demand that she come home even when she was in the middle of a shift.
"He was really big on calling her a *advertiser censored* and you're dirty and no one wants you," Elkins said.
Friends and family say Johnson sought help from a local battered women's shelter in the months before her death but canceled the appointment after Hardy told her he had cancer and needed her help. They doubt that he had cancer.
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The attack drove Johnson to seek help from the Galveston Crisis Center, which provided an attorney to help her seek a protective order, according to court records.
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Hardy also filed for a protective order, attaching a copy of the divorce decree and an affidavit accusing Johnson of hitting him with the shotgun and trying to slash him with a knife.
"It was a joke to know he said that," said Elkins. "Anne-Christine was never that way."
Both requests for protective orders were withdrawn.
