PHOENIX — It's a story of bravery, courage and surviving abuse.
Four years ago, Sara Pitcher was nearly killed by her ex-husband. Now that his trial is over and has been found guilty, she's sharing her story hoping to reach others in domestic violence situations to let them know they are not alone and there is a way out.
“Sometimes all of this still seems so surreal," said Sara Pitcher. "Sometimes I feel like it's a movie that I'm watching.”
It's a miracle that Sara is alive.
“I really thought oh my gosh. This is it, you know? I'm gonna die," Sara said.
Sara is an Arizona native and moved to Indiana. There, she met the man she would marry - Shawn Spink.
"When I first met him, he was very charming and just very sweet. And later, I learned that those are big characteristics of a narcissist," Sara said.
She said that changed when they got married.
"Once we got married was really when the possessiveness started," she explained. "Really didn't want me see my friends, didn't want me doing things without him. Didn't want me talking to my family. So it was a very weird situation that I was in."
Sara said Spink was isolating her from her family and friends and became controlling and manipulative. It's ultimately what caused her to make the difficult decision of leaving him. She moved back to Arizona and never thought he would follow her there.
But then she received a message from Spink.
"It just kind of said, 'Hey, I'm so excited. I'm coming to Phoenix. We're gonna start over fresh like this was the chance we need,'" Sara explained.
She didn't believe him. Then, she started to see signs of him near her north Phoenix apartment.
“I thought I saw a vehicle that was ours that was stolen in Indianapolis. But it wasn't exactly the same," she described. "And I thought I had seen him. But I kind of convinced myself that I was making up things because I was just nervous.”
She would later learn it was Spink. He was using binoculars to spy on her at home, telling her neighbors who noticed him that he was bird watching.
He had been stalking her every move waiting to make his which he did on September 15, 2018, when Sara went to take her dog out.
“I opened my front door and he was kind of standing around the corner. He had Raid in his hand and he sprayed me with Raid, pushed me back into the apartment. I fell back on my back and he just got on top of me," Sara described.
Shawn zip-tied her wrists, sexually assaulted her and tried suffocating her. A three-and-a-half-hour fight for her life began.
“He stabbed me with the knife that I bought for his wedding gift. It said 'Hubby Shawn' on it. And I didn't even see it coming because he had a bag over my face and was trying to suffocate me and was straddling me and was able to put the knife in my eye," Sara described.
Shawn told Sara his twisted plan to kill her then drive off of a cliff and end his own life with her body in his car.
“He said that if he couldn't have me, nobody could have me," Sara recalled.
Sara said as he was trying to suffocate her, she felt her breathing get shallow and she didn't think she could continue fighting him off. His size was nearly double hers. But at that moment, she thought of her mom and she found the strength to keep fighting.
"I was able to convince him that I was miserable. That I wanted to be with him and that I wanted to go die with him. And so that's really how I was able to kind of get away," Sara said.
They left in Spink's car and Sara reminded him of something they used to do when they were a couple - eat ice cream. She convinced him to drive through McDonald's for ice cream before they would die.
Covered in blood in her ex-husband's front seat, she spotted a large group of people gathering in the parking lot.
This was her moment.
“I remember reaching for the door handle. He grabbed my wrist and said, 'I thought you would try something' and I was able to get my wrist out and I just ran as he was driving towards the people. And I just screamed, 'Help! I was raped!' And so he took off really quick," Sara said.
Police then caught and arrested Spink.
“I knew that my life wasn't over. And I just kept praying that there was going to be, you know, a way for me out," Sara said.
Now, four years later, Spink was finally found guilty on a number of charges including attempt to commit first-degree murder, sexual assault, kidnapping, aggravated assault and unlawful use of means for transportation.
“I think a lot of my recovery is, now that I can tell my story, being able to tell my story," Sara said.
"And I remember just after it happened, I remember so many people saying, 'Me too.'"
Sara was left blind in her right eye and continues her physical and mental recovery.
But Sara is not letting this attack define her. Instead, she's opening up about it and devoting part of her life to domestic violence awareness.
“I feel like there's too much silence around it. And I feel like we need to stop that silence," Sara said.
Sara is hoping to create a support system for others in abusive situations to let them know they are not alone and that there is a way out.
“The more we tell our stories and the more we come out and say, 'Me too', the more it won't be so present," Sara said.
Sara is now organizing an event called "Stop the Violence - End the Silence." It's a domestic violence awareness walk hosted in conjunction with the Pinal County Attorney's Office.
It will be held on Saturday, October 15th at 8 a.m. at Prospector Park in Apache Junction.
Spink is scheduled to be sentenced on August 26 at 11 a.m. Sara encourages anyone who wants to be there to come and show support.
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