Pepita Ridgeway discusses terrifying moment husband tried to kill her

A woman has opened up about the terrifying moment her husband tried to kill her by asphyxiating her with nitrogen gas.   

Pepita Ridgeway was sleeping inside her caravan on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in July 2016 when she was woken to ‘the sound of a constant little gurgling gas sound’.

She had initially thought it was a water pump next to the caravan, which was metres from the family home, but soon realised the noise was coming from under her pillow.

When she lifted up her mattress, she discovered a series of holes her husband of almost two decades, Robert Ridgeway, had drilled to hide a deadly device in order to kill her after she threatened divorce. 

 

Pepita Ridgeway (pictured) has opened up about the moment her husband tried to kill her as she slept inside her caravan 

‘I thought he was going to blow up the caravan. And I looked and I could see a hose with some black duct tape and I could hear the gas coming from there,’ she told A Current Affair.  

She went around to the back of the caravan and noticed the hose sticking up into the back of the caravan, where she thought ‘Oh my God, Robert’s trying to kill me’.

The hose led to a gas cylinder, which was wrapped in t-shirts. 

After turning off the cylinder, Ms Ridgeway ran barefoot to her brother’s house, located on the same property.

She said that at the time ‘I must have been so full of adrenaline that I just said ‘”That’s it, I’ve got to get out of here”‘.

‘My brain had just turned into flight mode – just get the police here, get this man away from family, from my house,’ she said.  

Pepita Ridgeway was married to Robert Ridgeway for almost two decades. The couple are pictured together 

Pepita Ridgeway was married to Robert Ridgeway for almost two decades. The couple are pictured together 

In a call to triple zero, she said: ‘He’s gassed something up to my caravan. He’s planning to blow it up’.

‘And I’m freaking out because I’m scared he’s got a gun and he’s pretty scary.’

She told A Current Affair how fearful she was of her husband.

‘I was just in a really frightened state. I knew he had a gun up here but I just didn’t know what he was capable of and I wasn’t too sure what his intentions were, so I was absolutely frantic,’ she said. 

She also revealed how while she was ‘scared of him’, ‘I didn’t think it would be a death’. 

Mr Ridgeway, 64, was charged with attempted murder and was found guilty in June following a two-week trial at Brisbane Supreme Court. 

He was jailed for at least eight years by Justice Glenn Martin. 

‘Had Mrs Ridgeway not woken up on that night she may well have died gasping for air,’ Justice Martin said. 

Pepita Ridgeway (pictured) lifted up her mattress inside the caravan where she discovered a series of holes her husband had drilled to hid a deadly device in order to kill her

Pepita Ridgeway (pictured) lifted up her mattress inside the caravan where she discovered a series of holes her husband had drilled to hid a deadly device in order to kill her

Mr Ridgeway planned the attempted murder by reading about the effects of nitrogen gas on the internet.

He also purchased supplies for his deathly crime, a few days before his attempt. 

Ms Ridgeway had told the Supreme Court that she sought assistance from a domestic violence hotline after a physical altercation in June 2016 and moved into the caravan. 

She emailed her husband on July 1, notifying him of her intention to visit a divorce lawyer. Over the next few days, Mr Ridgeway plotted the attempted murder. 

Mr Ridgeway received a maximum sentence of ten years.

Justice Martin declared the crime to be a serious violent offence. This means that Mr Ridgeway will be unable to seek parole until he has served 80 per cent of his sentence.            



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