Kriti Mehrotra
As a Colleen Rush and David Weaver directorial drama, Lifetime’s ‘A Husband to Die For: The Lisa Aguilar Story’ explores the titular woman’s bravery as well as courage following a brutal attack. It is based on real-life events, so it revisits every aspect of how her once seemingly idyllic life as a new wife and expecting mother was turned upside down at the hands of the man she trusted most. Her journey of uncovering this horrific truth at great personal cost before doing everything in her power to protect herself, her child, and their future by fighting for justice was truly inspirational.
Lisa Aguilar Was Betrayed By Her Husband in More Ways Than One
It was reportedly around the late 1980s/early 1990s when Lisa Aguilar tied the knot with Darren West in a beautifully cozy ceremony, believing with her whole heart that he was the love of her life. While she hailed from San Diego, California, he was the proud heir of a small town called Graeagle in Plumas County, California, yet they chose to happily settle down in Fremont for his career. After all, as per the aforementioned movie, he was not only employed at the local golf club but was also an aspiring professional golfer, leading them to reside in an apartment not far from the course.
Lisa and Darren initially had a picture-perfect traditional marriage, but things changed in early 1992 when she excitedly revealed she was pregnant with their first child. According to the film, he pretended to be thrilled upon hearing the news, but as the realities of what welcoming a new member into their family would mean sank in, he acted out. He allegedly began an affair with a college-aged woman named Michelle Morris from his workplace, juggling the two in tense relationships by lying to his wife about having to work more. He told Lisa he was working as much as possible before the baby’s arrival so that he could take time off later on, per the movie, but he was spending time with his younger girlfriend.
What followed was Michelle asking Darren to leave his wife to commit to her for good after allegedly repeatedly hearing from him how they weren’t even in love, so he decided to kill Lisa. On October 5, 1992, he disguised himself with a gorilla mask and snuck up on his 8½ pregnant wife as she entered their apartment after a doctor’s appointment as well as some chores. According to the Lifetime production, he attacked with a torch before using a knife to stab over 50 times – including slashes to her throat – then, he left her and their unborn baby to die. However, Lisa fought for her life with everything she had, so once she was sure her perpetrator had left, she slowly crawled to the house phone despite all the pain and dialled 911.
Lisa Aguilar Fought for Justice Before Choosing to Lead a Quiet Life
When Lisa eventually regained consciousness in a local hospital, with her baby also safe, she was reportedly sure she had been attacked by a random intruder in a robbery gone wrong. She couldn’t think of anyone who would want to harm her, let alone suspect the man who vowed always to love her, but the police arrested him not long after based on direct evidence. As per the movie, he was unaccounted for at his workplace at the time of the attack, had traces of blood in his vehicle, as well as bank charges indicating he bought a gorilla mask. The fact that he was having an affair didn’t help his situation either. However, the survivor initially didn’t believe he was guilty and went as far as to argue he was possibly being framed.
It was allegedly only when 22-year-old Lisa was presented with the evidence that she realized Darren had been leading a double life, following which she dedicated herself to fighting for justice. In fact, according to the aforementioned film, when he went on trial a couple of years later, her testimony against him was so poignant as well as powerful that he ended up pleading guilty. He pled guilty to one count of premeditated attempted murder with great bodily injury and use of a deadly weapon, for which he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Whenever he was up for parole in the years to follow, his ex-wife always testified, resulting in him being denied 16 times until he was finally released in 2016, after 22 years behind bars.
Lisa reportedly struggled with the entire ordeal to such an extent that she even had trouble caring for her newborn son for a while. However, she thankfully had the unwavering support of her family. With their help, she gradually saw the light at the end of the tunnel, enabling her to realize that giving up on herself or her son would mean letting Darren win, so she fought. She dedicated herself to being a good mother as well as providing for her family to the best of her abilities, all the while also turning her survival into self-advocacy through her testimonies. Since then, though, from what we can tell, Lisa has preferred to lead a quiet life away from the limelight, so all we know is that she has remarried and welcomed two more kids into her life. In other words, now in her mid-50s, it appears as if the California native is a proud family woman in every sense of the term.
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