А HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

HELEN NASLUND ENDURED THREE DECADES OF ABUSE BY HER HUSBAND. ONE NIGHT, SHE FINALLY HAD ENOUGH.

- Christina Frangou

HELEN NASLUND SPENT SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2011, at Al Rentals, an equipment-rental company where she worked as a manager. When the 47-year-old grandmother came home after her shift, she found her husband of 27 years, Miles, drunk. With autumn looming, the couple's stress levels were high. They were struggling to cover their debts and at risk of losing the farm where they raised cattle and sheep not far from the village of Holden, Alta. Brandishing his gun, Miles ordered Helen and the youngest of their three sons, Neil, to complete the day's farm work.

Helen ran the hay cutter that evening and again the next day. But the tractor broke down; the work stopped. Miles flew into a rage and threw several wrenches at Helen. Miles began trying to repair the tractor while Helen prepared dinner for the couple and their two adult sons who were still living at home. When her husband returned from the field, he told her that she would pay dearly for damaging the equipment. Then he violently shoved cutlery, plates, glasses and food off the dinner table, saying the meal was not fit for a dog. Later that evening, he passed out drunk.

In the early hours of the next day, Helen retrieved a .22-calibre revolver stored in their farmhouse, where, for decades, she had endured countless violent, alcohol-fuelled fits of rage from her husband, often with a gun in his hand. As Miles slept, she shot him twice, ending his life-and perhaps saving her own. In that moment, one long nightmare ended for her and another began.

Nine years later, in October 2020, after pleading guilty to manslaughter, Helen was sentenced to 18 years in prison. It's one of the longest sentences in Canadian history given to a woman who killed her abusive partner.