Henry Daily Herald

Photo by Elaine Rackley: Henry County Superior Court Judge Brian Amero called for a five-minute break after Wanda Stanley broke down on the witness stand. She was testifying about the night she fatally shot her husband.

Wanda Stanley took the witness stand in her own defense during her murder trial in Henry County Superior Court, Thursday, detailing alleged abuse at the hands of her husband, John Stanley, Sr.

Her attorney maintains that she shot and killed her 45-year-old husband in self-defense. John Stanley was found dead in his SUV, in College Park, on Dec. 26, 2008. His wife has admitted to the killing.

Dr. Marti Loring, nationally known as a trauma expert, was scheduled to testify Thursday on Stanley’s behalf, said Henry County Public Defender Gary Bowman, but her appearance was pushed back, after Wanda Stanley was on the witness stand, in Judge Brian Amero’s courtroom, for more than six hours.

The former medical technician cried as she told jurors of her troubled marriage, and her belief that her husband, a truck driver and boxer, sexually abused the couple’s youngest child.

She alleges that her husband was trying to rape her (Stanley) the night she shot him. She testified about their relationship that began in 1992, in Brooklyn, N.Y., and had continued after their marriage on May 7, 1997. She alleged that there was abuse from, New York, to Georgia.

She read from 33 documents, outlining, either Temporary Orders of Protection (TPO’s), or New York Police Reports of alleged domestic abuse dating back to 1994. The last New York case was July 2007. An Order of Protection was issued by the New York City Family Court Child Protection Service.

“He [John Stanley] was allowed to stay in the house, [but] he could not physically, or verbally, abuse me or the children, and not have any reckless behavior,” testified Stanley.

On two occasions, charges were filed against John Stanley. In both incidents, the cases were dismissed, and sealed. “When a child is involved in a domestic incident, or a child is abused, they [authorities] come out,” continued Stanley. “He was charged with harassment, aggravated harassment and endangering the welfare of a child,” she said of her husband.

Stanley testified that in 2001, her husband started sexually abusing the couple’s youngest child. She said she told him she knew about the sexual abuse, but it did not stop.

Jennifer Lewis, an assistant public defender, asked Stanley why she married her husband, if the abuse began prior to the marriage. “Because I loved him, and wanted him to change,” she responded.

Initially, Stanley said, their relationship went smoothly. “Then, he would start back verbally and physically abusing me,” she testified. He was required by law to attend anger management classes, prior to coming to Locust Grove in 2008, Wanda Stanley said.

The family moved to Georgia for a new beginning, “to start all over, to have a better life, and the houses were cheaper down here,” she said.

“He promised me that he wasn’t going to hit me anymore, and things were going to get better.” They were here for only a “short time,” she said, when the abuse started up again.

The night Stanley fatally shot her husband, she said, he asked her to wear a skirt without any underwear, and to go to the Pink Pony adult club. “John wanted to give one of the strippers his business cards, because he wanted to do a threesome,” she testified. She said she told him she did not want to go to the club, nor did she want to engage in sex. Stanley said her husband pulled the car over into a vacant field in Locust Grove.

“He started consuming cocaine, and cursing at me in the process,” she said. “He told me to get on the floor and pull up my skirt,” she testified. “He was about to ... I told him I had to get something. I shot him.”

Stanley said she was “relieved” when her husband’s body was found. “... Nineteen years of being abused ... I am mad at myself, because it allowed him to do these things to me, and the children,” she said.

Under cross examination, Stanley was asked about her difficulty remembering the details of incidents of abuse she contends happened in New York. “As to this particular incident, Feb. 11, 1996, there was no evidence of any injury to you, even though your husband was a trained boxer,” said Sandi Rivers, an assistant district attorney. She questioned why there was a lack of evidence of violence.

“You called police about a verbal altercation over money, but you never called police about being cut with a knife,” said Rivers.

“Sometimes, I called the police, and sometimes, I didn’t call the police,” responded Stanley. Citing another alleged incident, Stanley said: “When he hit me in my head with a trophy, I didn’t call police.”