VICTIM WAS 'TERRIFIED' OF HUSBAND, RECORDS SHOW

Victim was 'terrified' of husband, records show
Holland Sentinel
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
http://www.hollandsentinel.com/stories/011508/local_20080115002.shtml
Lori DeKleine was aware of the danger signs around her, according to court records.

"I have become increasingly terrified and afraid for my life," she wrote in a personal protection order filed in Ottawa County Circuit Court on Jan. 31, 2007, against her husband, Holland police Officer Ken DeKleine.

Less than one year later, Lori DeKleine, 43, was found strangled Thursday night in the basement of her Holland home.

"Ken has been a sexual and emotional bully throughout our marriage, beginning on our honeymoon," she wrote.

Lori DeKleine indicated she wanted to prohibit her husband from purchasing or possessing a firearm, but noted: "I do not object to his use of a firearm while he is on duty at Holland Police Department."

The final straw that apparently led to the protection order filing was an episode during the weekend of Jan. 27, 2007, while the couple was still living together.

"I believe Ken broke into the locked room I have been sleeping in to stay safe," she said. "I believe he broke in through the window in the room, leaving glass all over the bed and blood stains throughout the room and house."

Lori DeKleine wrote that she found several recording devices in her backpack, on their home phone and under some clothing in their bedroom.

She also wrote in the order that shortly after Ken returned from Iraq in February 2006 where he had been part of a group training Iraqi police, he became even more angry and controlling.

"I was afraid that he might harm himself or return and harm me," she wrote.

Ottawa County records indicate Ken DeKleine filed for divorce on Jan. 8, 2007. Meanwhile, a notice of the protection order was sent to Holland Police Department the day it was filed, court records show.

Terms of the divorce, mostly concerning child custody, kept the case open through the end of the year. The original terms called for joint custody of the children, but Lori did not want to oblige, which sent the case to Friend of the Court for a ruling, according to court records.