“My brother had anger issues but he was trying to really overcome his resentments,” explains Laurie, 45. “When I was five-years-old and he was six-years-old he accidentally shot me in the leg with my dad’s loaded gun!” Laurie says this childhood mistake has emotionally burdened Russell for years. “He lived with this guilt all of his life and he blamed himself. I was in the hospital for one year, the doctors told me I would never walk again. But I did, I think I started walking again when I was six-years-old. It’s kind of a blur. He was angry at my dad for along time because he should never have left a loaded gun in the house.”
Russell forgave his father for the traumatic incident, and was trying to work on his own temper. “He finally reconciled with my dad, my dad and mom are completely devastated right now,” adds Russell’s distraught sister. “He was trying so hard to make things right and because of the show, dirt from his past was continually being brought up.”
Taylor’s husband was very torn up over his public image, and what was happening with it following RHOBH and his latest marriage troubles with Taylor. “He always cared about his image even when he was in college in Hawaii. It was hard for him that his image was so destroyed because of the show,” reveals Laurie.
If only Russell could have dealt with his problems via intense therapy, rather than turning to such a terribly sad and finite ending to his woes. Hopefully he has now found the peace that eluded him in life.
Reporting by Sandra Clark
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