Official book trailer for the true crime book, To Kill or Be Killed by Joni Ankerson. Learn more and get your copy here: wbp.bz/tkobka
Available in paperback and ebook.
Obviously, I knew better than to take a life — but that was before. Before him.
The day we met in October of 1997, I was working at the District Court in Traverse City, Michigan as a Deputy Clerk. It was like most other days with arraignments, sentencings, civil case hearings and the like. People shuffling in and out, everyone taking care of their important business with court appearances, document filings, paying tickets, fines and bonding loved ones out of jail.
I loved my job. It was extremely satisfying and interesting with constant interaction with all walks of life, including people on either end of the judicial spectrum and many in between. Suddenly, there he was. Tall, handsome, and looking so impressive and important in his Michigan State Police uniform with his hat, gun belt and badge. A powerful man who had chosen a profession to serve and protect. He was extremely friendly and upbeat, smiling profusely. Best of all, he, too, was unattached.
What could go wrong? He was like a dream man. We clicked, immediately, and began dating exclusively. But he was not a dream man. He was a nightmare … as I learned over the next twelve years.
Twelve years of enduring domestic violence at its absolute worse. Constant abuse, control, manipulation, and threats. Sadistic sexual deviance and sexual violence. It was only going to end one way: someone would die in our bed and someone would go to prison for murder.
This is my story about domestic violence, resilience, reckoning and survival.
Learn more about the title and author here.
I understand why Joni did what she did and I loved the book. I have lived a life of pain, I was married for forty years and my husband had affairs through out the forty years. I’ve had a terrible life of surgeries from the age of fifteen and I was always in pain. My husband had one of his affairs with my brothers wife, she became pregnant and had the baby but no one including myself and my brother didn’t find out about the children for twenty eight years later. So I’m in the hospital having major surgery and he’s screwing my brothers wife. When we finally divorced I could have killed him but I started counseling instead. During the marriage my dad died in a horrible fire where his car blew up while being charged, my mom didn’t want to live anymore without my dad, and my son was diagnosed with brain cancer he had a Glioblastoma tumor. I have lived in pain almost my entire life. I now live with anger, depression, and anxiety attacks.