December 12, 2003
Thomasville - Kimberly Bliss was young and in love. She says, "I was just enthralled because he was sophisticated and smart and charming."
But the charm of her new husband didn't last for long. "Very soon, he became very abusive," says Bliss, "And that abuse increased over three years and it actually got worse while I was pregnant and as our daughter started to get older."
One day she discovered he was sexually molesting their 2 year old daughter. Bliss says, "After all of the abuse, and after everything that had happened to me, when he hurt my daughter, I think I just snapped."
One day during a fight with her husband, she thought she was going to die. She says, "We ended up fighting over a gun and I ended up beat up and he ended up shot and he died."
So Bliss went to prison, sentenced to 15 years for second degree murder. Five years later, Florida Governor Lawton Chiles pardoned her.
On Friday, the Oprah Winfrey show will air a program talking to Bliss and other women who have killed.
About her time in prison Bliss says, "Everyday I did was worth it, because not only was she safe, but I saw this beautiful, blond little girl that was happy and had friends and played soccer and was doing well in school, and she never would of had that life."
Unless Bliss had taken the life of another. Kimberly Bliss is now the chair of the Social Work department of Thomas University in Thomasville. The Oprah Winfrey show she appears on will air Friday at 4 PM on WALB-TV.
posted at 10:19 AM by karen.collier@walb.com
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