CAPE GIRARDEAU, Missouri (Isabelle Zehnder reporting) -- Good friends of Jacque Sue Waller, the 39-year-old mother of triplets who went missing from Jackson, Missouri, share the terror and fear Jacque said she endured for over a year before she went missing, and how her husband's threats to harm her turned to physical violence months before she vanished.
Kristin and Elizabeth recall the horrifying story Jacque told them ... of a time when she and her husband, James "Clay" Waller got into a heated argument at a residence off Snake Hill.
They said Monday that according to Jacque, in December 2010, Clay dragged her by the hair, pointed a gun in her face, and tried to get her to take the gun to kill herself.
Jacque's sister, Cheryl Brenneke, said Jacque told her of another incident in July 2010 when Clay put a gun in her sister's mouth and said, "you're going to commit suicide."
Jacque's friends believe the children were witness to the terrifying event in December. It's not known if they witnessed the July incident.
Some have asked why Jacque didn't protect herself, call police, and leave Clay sooner. Her friends and family attempt to answer those questions. Read:Plans to leave volatile marriage on-again, off-again.
[Help is available for women of domestic violence - for more information scroll to the end of this article.]
Threats turn to violence
December 2010: The couple's argument happened just before Christmas and was so bad that Jacque locked the doors when she thought Clay had left.
"Jacque said Clay was so angry that he busted down the door coming from the garage into the house," Kristin said. "She told me he also knocked pictures off the wall and was throwing knick-knacks at her while the triplets were present."
Elizabeth said, "Jacque told me Clay pushed her up against the wall while they were still in the house, which is when the pictures fell off the wall. He then dragged her outside by the hair. I remember her telling me that she thought he was gone, which is why she locked the door."
Kristin said that once they were back in the garage Clay put a gun to her head. “She told me he threatened to blow her brains out,” Kristin said. Elizabeth says Jacque also told her Clay threatened her with a gun that night.
Jacque said Clay then tried to get her to hold the gun and use it to kill herself.
Jacque told her friends she could hear the triplets yelling and screaming, leading them to believe the children were witness to at least some of this event.
The terrified mom said she managed to get away from Clay and ran down the driveway. She said Clay kept trying to get her to come back into the garage but she wouldn’t. Kristin said Jacque told her she was fearful he would harm the children or harm her.
Jacque said she eventually managed to convince Clay to disassemble the gun and give the gun to her. At that point she returned to the residence.
Jacque told Elizabeth and Kristin that when she took the children to daycare the next day one of the kids told a teacher their dad had broken down the door at their house.
A woman, who cleaned Jacque’s house at the time, commented to Kristin a few weeks ago that she had noticed the door going into the house from the garage looked like someone had kicked it down.
July 2010: This wasn't the first time Jacque was threatened with a gun. Last July Jacque’s sister, Cheryl Brenneke, said Jacque told her that Clay dragged her outside, put a gun in her mouth, and told her she was going to commit suicide.
Sadly, Kristin said, she doesn't think Jacque reported this or Clay's many threats to kill her and the children to police.
Why?
Because, her friends say, she was scared. She didn't think she could protect herself. Susan Murphy-Milano has worked her entire adult life trying to help protect women like Jacque. Unfortunately, the information is often not making it to women in crisis. Susan's website is www.susanmurphymilano.com for those who would like to share it with friends like Jacque, or who themselves are in an abusive relationship that they'd like to get out of.
Jacque Sue Waller, a 39-year-old successful business woman and the mother of three beautiful 5-year-old triplets, lived in fear for her life and for the lives of her kids, her good friends and co-workers said Monday.
Her friends and family say they knew bits and pieces. Putting all of those pieces together paints a very dim picture for what Jacque endured since she started telling her husband she wanted out of the marriage over a year ago.
She was scared to leave and scared to stay, Elizabeth and Kristin said. Scared to call police and scared to say too much to friends and family. Clay made it clear to Jacque that she'd never be able to leave him, Kristin and Elizabeth said Monday.
But the good thing is she did confide in friends and family, she did keep record of the abuse. Susan's sister, Cheryl Brenneke, says she doesn't think Clay knew that Jacque had shared the abuse with her friends or familiy. She said:
“I remember Jacque telling me Clay would ask her: 'You didn’t tell anyone about this, did you?’ And Jacque would respond: ‘Of course not, Clay’.So honestly," Cheryl said, "I don’t think Clay thought this was coming. He didn’t count on this and I don't think he beleived she told anyone.”
"He [Clay] knew she wanted out and that she wanted nothing from him," Kristin and Elizabeth said. They both encouraged Jacque to document the threats and abuse, which Jacque did.
“She was terrified he’d kill her if she called police. Plus he had been trying to get a helicopter license," Kristin said. "Jacque thought if the information got out he’d never get the license. She was also hoping if he got the job he would leave her alone.”
Elizabeth said Jacque had told her she didn't want anything on Clay's permanent record. "She just wanted out, she didn't want to jeopardize his future," Elizabeth said. "Also, she thought it would just make him madder if she filed a restraining order or called police. She felt if she did have a restraining order against Clay, if he did do anything it would be too late by the time police arrived."
Jacque told Kristin at least once, 'If something happens to me, make sure you tell them it was Clay, and the things Clay has done.'
"The last time she said that to me," Kristin said, "was the week before she went missing."
“I was shocked because I thought things were better since she and the kids had moved in with her sister. In my mind, I thought she was finally safe and I wasn’t so worried about her and the kids. Evidently, I was wrong.”
Asked if they believe Clay is responsible for Jacque's disappearance, Elizabeth and Kristin both said, "Absolutely, without a doubt!"
Jacque's father, Stan Rawson, told ABC's Good Morning America Friday, "I know the threats that he's made against her and I know the diaries that she kept outlining those threats. He did it, there's no doubt in my mind."
Jacque's good friends remember all too well a statement Clay repeated to his wife, a statement they say haunts them every day: "Just when you think things are safe and OK, that's when I'm gonna get you."
Elizabeth said, "I wake up thinking this must have been a nightmare, only to realize it's for real - Jacque, my very good friend - is really gone."
Trial separations
Kristin says she's not sure if the couple was living together when the gun incident occurred, or if Clay had moved out. She said they'd had several trial separations. Whenever they were apart Jacque said he'd threaten her life and the lives of the kids. He'd tell her he should kill the kids because that would hurt her more than if he killed her.
Jacque felt that by agreeing to move back in together after trial separations that she could calm him down and on some level have more control over the situation. She told her friends the death threats came when she talked of leaving him and during trial separations.
Kristin said whenever they got back together Jacque said he'd act like nothing happened, often giving her flowers or other gifts, and casually asking, "What's for dinner?"
More on what police, friends, and family have to say
Jacque went missing on June 1, the day Cape Gireardeau County Sheriff's Office reports she and Clay met with lawyers to file their divorce. The couple had been married for 15 years. Clay, the last reported person to see Jacque, is the only person of interest in her disappearance that police say they believe was staged.
Jackson Police Chief James Humphreys said during a phone call Wednesday, "There are no major breaks in the case today, but we have new searches taking place this week. We are still receiving and following up on leads."
Jacque's last communication was with a friend, telling him she was about to pick up her son, Maddox, and would be heading home. She was excited to see how the paint job turned out in the kids' room of her new house. She was scheduled to move in a few days from her sister's home to her own. She'd been living with her sister since she left Clay in March. Jacque's friends and family say she was happy that she could finally start her new life with her kids and away from Clay.
Kristin and Elizabeth said that for more than a year before Jacque went missing Clay bombarded her with threats to her life, and to the children's lives.
At one point during the spring of 2011 Jacque was so fearful of Clay harming her or the kids that she talked to Kristin about printing out a list of threats Clay had made.
She said Jacque had everything documented so that she or Elizabeth would be able to retrieve it easily if something happened to her or the kids.
They both recall Clay telling Jacque he'd agree to a divorce if he could have Maddox, one of the triplets and their only son, and that she could keep the two girls, Avery and Addison. Jacque wouldn't hear of it. Jacque told Kristin that when she told Clay their children "were not puppies you could just split up" he threatened to "take her out of the picture."
Jacque said Clay repeatedly threatened to kill the triplets because that would hurt her more than anything else. "That’s what prompted her to finally move to her sister’s house in Farmington in March 2011,” she said. For more details, read: Co-workers, friends share Jacque Waller's concerns about her triplets
Since her disappearance the triplets have been in the custody of Jacque's sister.
Police suspect foul play and believe the scene, where Jacque's blue Honda Pilot was found abandoned alongside nearby Interstate 55, was staged to look like an abduction.
Jacque's business cards were found along another state highway on July 13 about eight miles from where her car was recovered.
Reports show Jacque's purse, cell phone, and keys were not found in her abandoned car. There has been no activity on her credit cards or phone since she vanished. According to Stan Rawson it's been confirmed blood evidence was found at Clay's Jackson residence and the hole in the tire of her abandoned vehicle was made with a knife.
As for the blood evidence - Stan told FoxNews.com, "I've seen it," he said. "But that's all I'm going to confirm. There's a ton of evidence ... just suffice it to say there is blood evidence. I saw the evidence bags." Stan is a retired deputy sheriff and cop.
Searchers, friends, family, and even police say Clay was seen flipping searchers off and mocking them as they looked for his wife in the blazing heat. "He would blow kisses, laugh, and flip us off when he drove by in his car during searchers," family friend and volunteer, Laura Helbig, told FoxNews.com Wednesday.
Clay's attorney, Scott Reynolds, said Friday that just because Clay made those threats doesn't mean he'd follow through with them. But as you've read, in Dec. 2010 things took a turn for the worst when Clay's threats, according to Jacque, turned to physical violence.
Chief of Police James Humphreys said in a Friday GMA report, "Right now, it doesn't look good. Something terrible happened I feel in my heart to her, yes."
Humphreys told FoxNews.com Tuesday that Clay is "not cooperating the way we hope he would."
Clay says he's innocent, he wants his wife back, and he feels police and the community are on a witch hunt.
Jacque's parents say they want her found and they want “J4J” - Justice for Jacque.
Missouri court records show that in June 1993, Clay pleaded guilty on a charge of Assault, Third-Degree with Injuryin State v. James Clay Waller II. He was sentenced to 730 days of probation, ordered to 40 hours of community service, and was ordered to complete a program. He was released from probation in July 1995. (www.courts.mo.gov.)
Jacque Waller's plans to leave husband on-again, off-again
Ex claims innocence in disappearance of Jacque Waller: Who's buying it?
Jacque Waller: Family, community aggressively search for missing mom of triplets
Jacque Waller: Mom of triplets missing, ex hires lawyer with troubles of his own
Follow Jacque’s story on Twitter:
@FindJacqueWalle
Follow Jacque’s story on Facebook:
Jacque Waller Search Party Page
Justice for Jacque Fund Raiser Committee
Contact police:
Police ask if you see Jacque or have any information to call Jackson Police (573) 243-3151.
Police are interested in a Red 2009 GMC Sierra pickup truck with 4 doors during this same time frame. The truck may have been pulling an aluminum V-bottom boat with an 8-horse Johnson motor on the black trailer. Jacque’s car, a blue 2006 Honda Pilot, MO Plates HA5-D5J was found in I-55 near the 105-mile marker (near Jackson/Fruitland) abandoned and with a flat tire.
Would you like to donate to the triplets or the reward fund?
Two funds have been set up with US Bank:
The “Jacque Waller Family Fund” for care of the triplets; and
The “Justice for Jacque Fund” which offers a reward for the information leading to Jacque
Find a US Bank location here: www.usbank.com.
Help for women of domestic violence
There is help for women in crisis who are victims of domestic abuse.
In the Cape Girardeau / SE Missouri area - Safe House for Women - Local Hotline Number 1-800-341-1830.
Outside the SE Missouri area - National Domestic Violence Hotline - 1-800-799-SAFE (7233.)
Website: www.susanmurphymilano.com - Valuable information on steps women can take to protect themselves.
"Time's Up" explains what women who are in an abusive relationship should do before they plan to leave.
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