On Wednesday, in an utterly heartbreaking press conference, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, 53, broke down in tears, suffering as he spoke of the suicide last Sunday of his wife, Bridgette Marshall, 45. Marshall blamed himself, wondering if his wife, whom he had been married to for more than 20 years, would be alive if he had turned down his appointment as attorney general in 2017. Bridgette Marshall was found in her apartment in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Marshall started by saying, “It’s tough, it’s tough,” then segued to recounting his wife’s courageous struggle with mental and emotional issues, which started with her bravely suffering intense migraines since childhood. He recalled, “She’d come home and spend days in dark rooms trying to get over the pain, but it didn’t go away. Nothing helped.”
His wife’s migraines ultimately led her to using hydrocodone and fentanyl, to which she became addicted. Marshall said she “didn’t completely embrace recovery” after she had spent time in a rehabilitation facility. He spoke of his wife’s early signs of mental illness, and that she had been diagnosed with a “depressive disorder” and anxiety.
Marshall said his wife’s family had gotten her committed for treatment when she refused to go, and that later they successfully urged her to seek further inpatient help. In addition to fighting addiction, Bridgette Marshall was forced to eat through a feeding tube in the months before her death. Marshall said being in the public eye because of her husband’s position heightened his wife’s anxiety because she felt like everyone was watching her. He said, “It’s not a sign of weakness, let’s make that clear. Nobody wants to be mentally ill.”
Trying to spare her husband and their 20-year-old daughter, Mrs. Marshall moved to a different state and rented an apartment, but didn’t tell her family where she was. They only found out in May. Marshall stated, “[She left] not because she didn’t love her family and love her husband, but because of the way she perceived her life, that was her only option.”
But on June 5, when her husband won the primary in Alabama, Bridgette Marshall was with him; her husband said that on that day and the following day, which was her birthday, she seemed filled with “joy,” adding, “She was as happy as I had seen her in a long time.” But, he said, soon after those days, “Something changed, we don’t know what.” His wife complained about her stomach and spoke of suicide.
Last Saturday, Mrs. Marshall alerted her family that she had, inexplicably, blisters on her feet. Steve Marshall said, “Her parents talked to her and I talked to her and we convinced her to go to the hospital the next day. And she said she would go.” He was planning to see her the next day, but she told her parents, “I won’t be alive when you get here.” Marshall recalled, “I got on the phone with her and I was talking to a person who didn’t have any hope.” His wife told him, “I don’t have any purpose and I’m tired. My body’s failing me and I don’t know why. I’ve had pain for a long time and I don’t want to endure it anymore and I’m just a burden.”
Marshall and other relatives called police, but they found his wife dead inside her apartment.
Marshall concluded, “I continued to call her phone and she didn’t answer. And then we learned she had died from a gunshot wound in that apartment. And our lives changed. They changed forever. … For me, I wonder whether or not if I wasn’t attorney general, would she still be alive? Whether I hadn’t chosen public service, would she still be here today? And I’ll be haunted by that for the rest of my life. I hope some day to be able to forget that conversation we had that Sunday morning and remember what she did for others.”
Marshall read a note from his wife she wrote him after his election, which stated, “Steve, I knew you would pull this off. It was a great birthday gift I knew was coming. You are the man for the job in Alabama. I love you more than you will ever know and couldn’t be more proud how you handled it all as you always do with grace. I love you. Love, Bridgette.”
Marshall concluded, “That is the woman I will celebrate this week. That is the life I will share with others. And that is the life I will remember.”
Video below: