Tales of swinging and domestic abuse surround a murder-suicide case in Florida that has left friends stunned.
The troubled couple met on the beach in Miami years ago, and eventually married. But their violent marriage ended last week, one month after the wife called police for help.
Police discovered the couple's blood-covered bodies, after breaking into their Naples home.
One month before she was killed, 33-year-old Claudia Isabella Krautwurst Healy told police that her husband's swinging lifestyle led to physical and mental abuse, according to an incident report obtained by the Naples Daily News.
Healy was killed by her husband, William John Healy III, 41, in a murder-suicide, the Collier County Sheriff's Office reported.
It wasn't the first time deputies had been called to the couple's Verona Walk home. On Sept. 18, Claudia Healy called deputies after she and her husband were in a heated argument, according to an incident report. While talking with deputies, Claudia Healy said she and her husband were nudists, but that he was also a swinger, which "causes much of their problems," the report said.
She said William Healy attempted to control her life, took things from her, broke her cell phone and didn't allow her to have friends.
"In all senses of the word, she was a slave," said Marisol Pedersen 42, who described herself as Claudia Healy's best friend.
But a friend of William Healy has a different take on the story.
Julie Garcia, who has known William for nine years, described him as a humble, soft-spoken, gentle and kind person. Garcia described Claudia Healy as a "witch" who tormented her husband and did nothing but smoke, drink and party "until the wee hours of the morning."
Although the sheriff's office says that William Healy killed his wife, Garcia doesn't buy it.
"All I know is that deep in my heart, I know what their relationship was like," Garcia said. "I know she's the aggressor. She did it. I know she did. I know deep in my heart."
Garcia said she called the sheriff's office, after William Healy failed to show up for work for a couple of days. He worked at a local country club as a golf fitness professional.
When deputies responded to the Healy's rented home, they looked through the kitchen window and saw a bloody footprint and streaks of blood on the floor, according to an incident report. They entered the home through a broken window in the garage and found Claudia Healy's body butted up against the door of the front bedroom.
William Healy's body was in the back bedroom partially covered with a tan blanket. The home was covered in blood.
Because of the ongoing investigation, the sheriff's office has not said why they believe William Healy was the killer, what kind of weapon was used, or if there was a suicide note left behind.
Friends and family members said William and Claudia Healy met a few years ago on a Miami beach. Pedersen said it was a nude beach. Claudia Healy, who was from Sweden, was visiting her mother who lives in Florida.
Pedersen said soon after they were married, William Healy brought his new bride to a "swingers club" in Tampa.
"There is a stretch from sunbathing nude to exchanging partners," Pedersen said. "She was miserable. She was completely miserable from that day on."
When Claudia Healy took a job as a snack shop attendant at another local country club, Pedersen said that William Healy took her paychecks. If she wanted to go out with friends to a restaurant, she had to ask her husband for money, Pedersen said.
"She wanted a divorce, but he wouldn't divorce her," Pedersen said.
When reached on the phone Tuesday, William Healy's father, Skip Healy, declined comment but called the allegations against his son "completely garbage."
Garcia said it was Claudia Healy who was "completely out of control" and was the aggressor in the relationship. Yes, William Healy kept tight reins on their finances, but he was the one making all of the money, Garcia said.
On Sept. 18, on the way home from an afternoon of drinking on the beach, William and Claudia Healy began to argue, according to an incident report. The argument continued when they arrived home around 7 p.m.
William began breaking and throwing things, and Claudia left for a neighbor's house, reports said. The verbal altercation continued when he followed her over there, and the neighbors asked him to leave, reports said.
William Healy told the deputies that he and his wife had been in "several physical altercations in the past," reports said. He told the deputies that she had hit him "over 300 times" and that he had hit her on "numerous occasions." He denied trying to control his wife's life, but admitted that the only reason they were still together was so Claudia could obtain U.S. citizenship.
Neither William or Claudia Healy was arrested at the time. A few hours later, however, deputies arrested William Healy after they reported finding him walking on the shoulder of Collier Boulevard drinking a Miller Light.
When asked why his shirt was wet, William Healy told the deputy "it must be from the beer I was drinking." When told he was under arrest, Healy told the deputy "I agree with you," reports said.
Ryan Mills is a reporter for the Naples Daily News in Florida.



Comments