In June last year, Donna and Peter Thornell lost their daughter Kristy at the hands of her estranged husband.
Now, they’ve lost their chance at justice, after her killer Troy Armstrong died by suicide in his prison cell last month.
Left to raise the pair’s three young girls in country NSW, Kristy’s grieving parents, and her closest friends, are using her name to plead for change.
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A loving mum, daughter and community member, Kristy died just a few hundred metres from her Molong home in a head-on crash.
Behind the wheel of the oncoming vehicle was Armstrong, who had been waiting in her path and hit the accelerator when he saw her, reaching speeds of 140 km/h, according to police.
He survived with critical head and spinal injuries, and almost immediately detectives began investigating the crash as a horrific case of domestic violence.
Armstrong was charged with the murder of his wife.
The pair had recently separated after 17 years together.
Tragically, Kristy’s family and friends said warning signs in the lead-up to the crash weren’t taken seriously by authorities.
“He had said to Kristy, ‘If you go, when you come back, the house is going to be burnt down. The cat will be dead and I’ll be dead as well’,” Donna said.
Smashed windows and holes in the walls of the family home pointed to the terror Kristy was confronted with.
A trail of text messages between the pair – and from Kristy to her friends – further exposed the abuse she was facing.
“So what’s the point, it’s either I die or you die,” one text from Armstrong to Kristy read.
“He’s home now, telling me he wishes I would die,” another from Kristy to a friend read.
“He is just going and going, laying in bed next to me telling me how much he hates me.”
Sadly, a visit from the local police did nothing to protect the mum of three.
“The police officer that did come out, when Kristy opened the door, he said, ‘This is Troy Armstrong’s house, he wouldn’t do anything like that… this must be a mistake’, and he left,” Kristy’s friend Naomi said.
Seven months before her death, Kristy took out an apprehended violence order against Armstrong.
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“All these programs out there warning signs for women and how you can support them – and that’s awesome – but there needs to be men who step up and go, ‘What are you doing, pull your head in’,” her friend Pene said.
In May, Armstrong was ordered to appear in court for the first time since the crash, charged with Kristy’s murder.
He was also accused of breaching an AVO.
But before a committal hearing could get underway, and almost a year to the day that Kristy was killed, Armstrong ended his life in a jail cell.
“Selfish to the end, yeah, yeah. Five days before the anniversary, once again, he controlled what he wanted to do,” Donna said.
“To some extent, it was initial relief … now it’s, we’ve sort of been cheated,” Peter said.
“We won’t have the opportunity to see him found guilty.
“It’s just now sort of trying to keep her memory alive and try to do our little bit to raise the awareness of domestic violence.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT or 1800 737 732.
Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.
In an emergency, phone triple zero (000).