Earlier this year, Carolyn McCaffrey’s house of horrors was burnt to the ground.
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The house was where she had suffered from alleged physical and mental abuse inflicted on her by her husband Andrew Graham McCaffery of Eden.
Once Carolyn had left McCaffery and escaped the house, she vowed to never return, and now she can’t.
About 5.30am on March 16, 2016, Andrew Graham McCaffery deliberately lit a fire in his Phillips St home.
Police said the fire was “intended to cause maximum damage” with doors and drawers open and wood fuel in the hallway. It’s also reported he left a voice message on Carolyn’s mobile phone at 5.20am the same morning saying “got a hot fire here, beautiful, a hot fire”.
The three-bedroom home had an estimated value of $450,000, with the fire rendering it uninhabitable.
When arrested by police, McCaffery informed them he had also secreted a vehicle with two containers of flammable liquid inside with which he intended to kill himself. But Carolyn, who is suffering from PTSD, thinks his plans may have been more sinister.
“He wanted to scare me, to punish me, he sent me a message saying we would both rot in hell together,” she said.
Carolyn said she met McCaffery through online dating. The two bonded over their shared love for lawn bowls and after 10 months together, tied the knot.
“It was only three days after we got married that the physical assault started,” Carolyn said. “I knew he was an angry man – before we got married he told me I shouldn’t do it, he said he was mad. I didn’t listen, I loved him, but it turns out he was right, he was mad.”
McCaffery is currently serving jail time after pleading guilty to arson, but Carolyn said she is living in fear for the day he is released.
“He was at times very charming, but there is this other person, this other side to him that is very scary.”
Carolyn spoke to the Eden Magnet about the terrifying events because she wanted to show other women that there is a way out.
“I am speaking out because more women need to come forward and know that although it is hard to escape and is very scary it is better than living in a home where you are unsafe. That’s not a home,” she said.
“Women also need to know that there is so much help out there, people do care and you don’t have to suffer in silence anymore.”
Carolyn said that there are a number of organisations that are valuable tools for anyone trying to escape domestic violence.
She encourages everyone to reach out to their family and friends as well as contacting local police.
“The police were instrumental in helping me,” she said.
Other organisations that helped were Church of Christ, Uniting Church in Eden, Vinnies, Salvos, Centrelink, Housing Commission, Staying Home Leaving Violence on 6492 6239, and Kairos Outside for Women, which is a support program for women impacted by the imprisonment of loved ones, on 0416 167 134.
