In an exclusive extract from her moving book, Helen Cummings talks about the terror of her abusive marriage and the realisation that she too could have ended up dead had she not left her ex-husband.
It started out as an ordinary Newcastle day, one weekend early in March 1984. Something was creating a strange sense of sadness and unease in me. I was crying and couldn’t explain why. My children [Sarah and Brendan] were settled and happy. My parents were living just around the corner. My brother and two sisters were happily married and raising their families. But still the tears flowed. I’d never experienced anything like this.
Meanwhile, in a doctor’s surgery in the Victorian town of Heathcote, the patients were getting restless. It was the Tuesday morning after a long weekend. Many had waited for surgery hours to consult their local GP, Dr Stuart Wynter, but there was no sign of him. Something must be wrong. His lateness was out of character. Dr Wynter’s partner, Dr Jim Casey, was worried.
The two doctors had known each other for about five years, having met in March 1979 on the Micronesian island of Banaba. They’d worked together in the Heathcote practice since February 1982, and their daily routines were well established.
Stuart was due to work at the local hospital at 8.30 on Tuesday morning, but he didn’t turn up. By now, the receptionist had phoned the flat several times, and so had Dr Casey. The receptionist had also established that Binatia [Dr Wynter’s daughter with second wife Raken] wasn’t at her pre-school.
Dr Casey’s concern grew by the hour. He drove to the police station, where he reported his concerns to Senior Constable George Entwistle. He drove back to the flat with Entwistle, who entered the flat through the unlocked back door while Dr Casey waited outside. A few moments later, Constable Entwistle came back and beckoned Dr Casey into the flat. In the bedroom were the bodies of Raken, Stuart and Binatia.
At about four o’clock that afternoon in Newcastle, I received a phone call from a sergeant at Mayfield police station. He had some bad news. “Stuart Wynter is deceased,” he told me. I immediately asked if Raken and Binatia were okay. I held my breath as I waited for his reply, silently saying, “Please, please God — no, please.” After a few seconds, he said quietly, “No — they are all deceased.”
At that instant, my mind began spinning like the wheels of an overturned truck after a crash. I was facing my own past. Later that afternoon, my sister, Margaret, drove me to visit Eve, Stuart’s mum, who lived alone in the family home. Two police officers spoke with my sister while I comforted Eve. The officers were puzzled about how I knew the deaths weren’t accidental. No one had given me any details. Margaret smiled grimly and said, “She knows.”
This is an edited extract from Blood Vows by Helen Cummings, published by The Five Mile Press, $32.95.
Read more of this story in the April issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
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