CARMEL — It was a day inside her own home near 116th Street and Keystone Avenue in Carmel that Marcia Claerbout says she will never forget.
“It just got worse and worse until it exploded,” Marcia said. “Feb. 21 of last year was the worst day of my life.”
On that day, Marcia’s son, Christopher, tortured her.
Court documents say he handcuffed her, shoved her down a flight of stairs, beat her and tied her up with an extension cord. He also threatened her with a knife.
Marcia says she did what she could do to stay alive.
“When somebody isn’t mentally right, anything they say, you just kind of go along with,” Marcia said.
During the attack, Marcia says her son claimed he was Donald Trump and she and her husband were the Clintons.
Marcia recalls Christopher saying he was going to “punish them for war crimes they committed” and that they had “sold him for sex to politicians when he was a child.”
“He made me keep my eyes open while he beat me with brass knuckles. He kicked me in my privates. He stomped on my feet,” Marcia said.
When Marcia’s husband, David, got home, she says he stepped in knowing he could die. But he was trying to safe his wife.
Court documents show the two men went outside.
“I heard a scream — one scream. I knew it was David,” Marcia said.
Marcia was taken to the hospital. David didn’t make it. Police say he was stabbed roughly 20 times.
“When I went out to the driveway, my husband was there. Blood [was] everywhere. I knew he was dead, but I didn’t want him to be,” Marcia said.
But Marcia says this isn’t where the story ends, or even where it begins. It’s rather a cliff note in the bigger picture centering around mental health.
“Only so many knew the extent of what we were going through,” Marcia said.
Marcia says she started noticing her son’s mental health issues at an early age. She and her husband did everything they could to help Christopher.
“There is no way we could even legally find out his mental health records or force him to go get treatment. It was eating at our hearts,” Marcia said.
She says she wants to use her story to shine a light on the lack of resources for mental health issues. She wants to be an advocate for others so they can get the help they need before it’s too late.
“If someone needs mental health treatment, you have to try and have them go get that treatment,” Marcia said.
Christopher was sentenced to more than 80 years in prison for killing his father and injuring his mother.
