Breaking Point 01: Pilot

"It was actually a lot worse than that," she said. "Greg went berserk. I had never seen him like that before, and I certainly never heard the language he used before, not from him. He was like a madman, running around, shooting everything with my face on it. He even destroyed a 20th anniversary commemorative plate we had on the wall. The whole time, he called me vile names and kept saying he hated my guts."

"Tell us what happened next," Dan said.

"Well, I heard a thump, and the shooting stopped. I caught my breath and went looking for him. I found him on the floor of our bedroom. He didn't look like he was breathing, and I didn't know what to do, so I called 911 for an ambulance," she said. The scene changes again, and this time, the viewer sees a sheriff wearing a large Stetson. The chyron reads, "Sheriff Donald Foley."

"We received several calls reporting multiple gunshots in the Oak Hills area, so we dispatched several deputies to respond. When our deputies arrived, there was already an ambulance on the scene and paramedics were loading someone into the back. They initially assumed it was a gunshot victim. However, upon entering the house, they found Mrs. Wilson in the living room. She was physically okay, but was quite distraught.

"She informed deputies that her husband lost his temper and began shooting the place up after a disagreement. There were a number of items in the house destroyed by gunshots, mostly pictures. All of them appeared to have been shot at very close range and all of them were pictures of the couple. Our deputies said it appeared that Mr. Wilson deliberately targeted his wife's image in the photos.

"Upon examining the damage to the items in the home, deputies pressed Sharon and finally got her to admit the 'disagreement' was over her infidelity. After speaking with hospital staff, they also learned that Mr. Wilson collapsed from an apparent heart attack after running out of ammunition," he said.

"Was Mr. Wilson charged with anything?" Dan asked.

"After our investigation, he was charged with illegally discharging a firearm within city limits. After he recovered, the judge ordered him to pay a fine, which he did." The scene changes again, and we see Dan looking into the camera.

"The hospital refused to discuss Mr. Wilson's diagnosis and treatment, citing privacy regulations, however, Greg recalled what he learned during his stay in the hospital," he said before the scene changed back to Greg's front room.

"I was told I had a heart attack and I was lucky to be alive," Greg said. "The doctor also asked if I was undergoing a gender transition."

"A gender transition?" Dan asked, surprised.

"Yes," Greg told him. "Of course, I told him no, but I wondered what made him think such a thing." The scene changes again, with Dan facing the camera, alone.

"According to the documents Mr. Wilson gave us access to, the hospital discovered traces of a compound normally used by those undergoing gender transition in his blood work," he said. "We reached out to the Task Force for more information about this development." The scene changes yet again, and we see a man wearing a white lab coat inside what appears to be a working laboratory. The chyron reads, "Dr. John Sullivan, Senior Lab Technician, HomeFront Security Task Force."

"Dr. Sullivan, what do you make of these lab results?" Dan asked.

"The compound found in Mr. Wilson's blood is one frequently used by MMAS and its clients. It actually performs two functions. One is to render the victim extremely susceptible to suggestion. The other is to emasculate the victim. Over time, the victim's muscle mass will deteriorate significantly, his testosterone levels will be extremely low and he will no longer be able to function as a man," John said.

"What are the possible side effects of this compound?" Dan asked.

"Side effects can include heart attack and stroke, leading to death. In some cases, it can lead to rage and violence, followed by amnesia. We have also observed sterility and impotence in a number of men who have been given this drug," John said.

"Can these effects be reversed?"

"If caught early enough, yes," John said.

"What about Mr. Wilson?"

"He is still undergoing treatment, and we believe he will eventually recover, but he still has a long way to go. From what we can tell, he had been exposed to this compound for about seven months or so."

"Thank you, Dr. Sullivan," Dan said before the scene changed to Greg's living room.

"Tell us what happened after your heart attack," Dan said.

"Well, I spent a good five days in the hospital," Greg said. "Sharon came by the first day I was awake and put on a good act, trying to get me to hold off on filing for divorce, but I told her it was over and there was nothing she could say or do to stop me. She apologized for the way she treated me, but as far as I was concerned, it was too little, too late. The damage had already been done. After she left, I told the nursing staff I didn't want to see her there again. She kept coming back and they nearly called the police to have her arrested."

"Did you ask her about the drugs?"

"I did. At first, she claimed ignorance. What she didn't know was the doctors had already reached out to the HomeFront Security Task Force, who got a search warrant. They found a vial of the stuff she had been giving me and pulled her in for questioning."

"We were given a copy of the interview between Sharon and Agent Mike Callahan of the Task Force," Dan said. "Here's that interview." The scene changed again, this time showing a woman -- Sharon sitting at a small table across from a large man in a dark suit. Next to Sharon was another man in a suit -- Lucas Jones, Attorney at Law.

"Mrs. Wilson, you have been read your Miranda rights and you have opted to have legal representation here with you," Mike said. "You have indicated that you are ready to cooperate in our investigation. Is that correct?"

"It is," Sharon said quietly.

"Is it true that you attended a spa retreat with three other women about eight months ago or so, Mrs. Wilson?"

"Yes, it is," she said. Lucas spoke up at this point.

"I don't see the relevance of that," he said.

"You will, Mr. Jones," Mike said before turning back to Sharon. "Mrs. Wilson, who sponsored that retreat?"

"It was a company called the Mutual Marital Assurance Society," she said.

"Also known as MMAS, correct?"

"Yes, that's correct," she said.

"And what did you do on that spa retreat?"

"Well, we enjoyed a massage and a mud bath, and spent some time in the sauna," she said.

"But that's not all you did, is it, Mrs. Wilson?" Sharon looked at Lucas nervously before continuing.

"No, it's not," she said. "We sat in on seminars dealing with marriage issues."

"What kind of marriage issues?"

"We talked about how to spot a cheating spouse, that sort of thing," she said.

"What else?"

"We did one-on-one counseling," she said.

"About what?"

"Ways to punish our spouses if we caught them cheating, some other stuff."

"Did you suspect your husband was cheating on you?"

"Greg? No, not hardly. He'd never cheat on me," she said.

"So what did you discuss if you weren't concerned about him cheating on you?"

"Ways to spice up the marriage. Get more control over him, that sort of thing."

"Control? What did your counselor recommend?"

"She gave me some stuff to give him that would make more compliant, more open to suggestion," she said.

"You mean, a drug?"

"Wait just a minute," Lucas said. "I don't like this particular line of questioning. Sharon, don't say anything more."

"Counselor, we've already conducted a search of the Wilson home and found a vial containing the same substance found in Mr. Wilson's blood," Mike said. "We also found the eyedropper your client used to poison her husband. Her fingerprints were the only ones on those items." He turned back to Sharon. "So, please answer my question."

"Yeah, it was a drug."

"What do you know about this drug?"

"Only that I was just supposed to give him one drop a day and no more," she said.

"And did your counselor tell you what might happen if you gave him more than one drop of this drug?"

"She warned that it could make him have a heart attack if I wasn't careful."

"Did she say anything else?"

"She said to watch him carefully, that some men had actually died from getting too much for too long."

"Did you follow her order?"

"Most of the time, yes."

"Did you ever give your husband more than one drop per day?"

"A few times, yes. I figured as long as it didn't hurt him, it was alright."

"I see," Mike said. "Did your husband know about this drug and did he consent to you giving it to him?"

"No," she said quietly.

"No, as in he didn't know, or no, as in he didn't consent to it?"

"Both," she said. "I was told never to let him know about it."

"And how did you administer it to him?"

"That was easy. I just put a drop in his morning coffee, and sometimes I would put it in his dinner. They said it's odorless and tasteless so he would never know," she said.

"Are you a trained medical professional, Mrs. Wilson?"

"No, I'm not," she said.

"So, you knew what the drug could do to your husband, but chose to give it to him anyway, is that right?" Mike asked. Lucas immediately responded.

"Don't answer that, Mrs. Wilson," he told her before turning to Mike. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to advise my client not to answer any more of your questions at this time."

"Pleading the Fifth? Is that right?"

"I'm afraid so, Agent Callahan," Lucas said. Mike nodded his head and closed his binder.

"Very well. Mrs. Wilson, please stand, turn around and place your hands behind your back. I'm placing you under arrest," Mike said.

"For what?" Lucas asked as Sharon complied.

"Sexual assault, conspiracy, illegal administration of a controlled substance without knowledge or consent with the intention of inflicting great bodily harm, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit rape. There may be more charges as our investigation proceeds," Mike said.

"Attempted murder?" Sharon asked, surprised.

"That's right, Mrs. Wilson," Mike said as he put the cuffs on her. "Your husband nearly died as a direct result of what you gave him."

"Is there any way we can make a deal?" Lucas asked. "Maybe go after the spa."

"You'll have to take that up with the U.S. Attorney handling this case, Mr. Jones," Mike said. "Besides, the spa didn't poison Mr. Wilson. Your client did, with full knowledge of what could happen."

"U.S. Attorney?" Lucas asked.

"That's right. These are federal charges," Mike said. "Your client is looking at a very long sentence." He led Sharon to the door and handed her over to the uniformed federal officers waiting there. "Book her, Dan," he told one of the officers. Lucas followed close behind.

"Don't worry, Sharon, I'll take care of this. I'll talk to the U.S. Attorney and see about arranging bail," he said.

"Good luck with that," Mike said. "Bail is generally denied in cases involving MMAS."

"We'll see about that," Lucas said. Mike smiled.

"Yeah, we will, won't we?" he said before the video ended. The scene changed back to Greg's living room.

"So, how did you feel when you learned Sharon had been poisoning you for seven months?" Dan asked.

"Shocked," Greg said. "I never would've imagined that she'd actually do something like that to me. If she had only talked to me before all this began, we could've done something."

"Would you have consented to letting her have sex with another man?"

"No, never," Greg said emphatically. "But I like to think we could've worked it out. There are alternatives we could have explored. She didn't have to resort to... that."

"What do you think was her true intent?"

"She obviously wanted to be 100 percent in charge of our relationship. She wanted to be the 'boss.' But with that comes 100 percent of the responsibility for the outcome," Greg said. "Marriage, at least to me, is supposed to be an equal partnership. She obviously didn't want that."

"What happened to you after her arrest?"

"Agent Callahan came by my room and said he could take me someplace where I would be safe and get treatment," Greg said. "After he told me what she had done, I knew I would need help. I got a paid leave of absence from my work and took him up on his offer. They took me to a hospital at some base in the Midwest and began my rehab. They even had attorneys there who drew up divorce papers. The hardest part of the whole thing was telling my daughters what was going on."

"How did they take it?"

"Not well," Greg said. "They were furious at their mother. They still are. They won't even talk to her anymore."

"I understand you testified against your wife," Dan said.

"I did -- happily, I might add," Greg said. The scene changes again, and the viewer sees Dan by himself. He looked in the camera as he spoke.

"Sharon Wilson was found guilty of all charges leveled against her," he said. "The jury deliberated for just two hours before coming back with their verdicts. When she appeared for her sentencing, the judge threw the book at her, giving her a total of 50 years behind bars, with her sentences to be served consecutively. Since there is no parole in the federal court system, she will be 93 when she finishes serving all of her sentences. For all practical purposes, she is serving a life sentence." He turned to look at another camera.

"Greg filed his divorce after her conviction," he added. "When the judge considered all the factors, including Sharon's conviction, he happily awarded Greg 100 percent of the marital assets, but let Sharon keep her personal items. Greg, now a free man, thoughtfully sent her the remains of the photos he shot on that fateful day.

"The lawyers also filed a lawsuit against Theo and the company he and Sharon worked for. They settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. A few months later, Theo was mugged outside a local bar and spent some time in the hospital after suffering severe injuries to his testicles. The assailant was never caught. Greg was ruled out as a suspect since he was in the Midwest at the time of the assault. The spa Sharon attended had already been shut down and abandoned. The counselor who recruited her and gave her the drug is still on the loose." The scene changes to Greg's living room.

"And how have you fared since the divorce?" Dan asked.

"I'm doing better," Greg said with a slight smile. "I'm back to work, and I'm recovering from what she did to me. I've dated a few times. I've even had sex a couple times, but I still have some serious trust issues. I'm not looking to get married again, but who knows what the future holds." Dan smiled at that comment. The scene changes again, and this time, the viewer sees Sharon sitting in her chair at the prison.

"Just one thing, Sharon," Dan began. "Can you tell our viewers why you did what you did?"

"I know it sounds silly, but I just wanted to spice up our marriage," she said.

"What do you mean, 'spice up your marriage?'"

"I was unhappy with the way things were going. The kids were gone and it seemed like we were in a rut. I was desperate for change and honestly, I kinda liked the idea of taking control and it all sounded so exciting."

"Do you still love your husband?"

"You probably won't believe me, but yes, I do. Very much. Even though I know he probably still hates my guts. I can't say that I blame him, though. Looking back on it, I guess hindsight is 20/20, right?" she asked, wiping a tear from her face.

"And your daughters?" he asked.

"I love them too, even though they've disowned me," she said, wiping another tear from her eye. "They won't even send me a card for Christmas and they said I'll never get to see any grandchildren. They think I'm a bad influence or something."

"What about your family? Your parents?"

"They've all abandoned me," she said sadly. "My parents have disowned me as well."

"What would you say to women who might be considering doing what you did?" She looked directly into the camera before speaking.

"Don't do it," she said. "It's not worth losing everything you love." Dan nodded his head as she spoke.

"Thank you for taking time to speak with us, Sharon," he said. "I know it was difficult for you." He looked into the camera before speaking again.

"And that wraps up this premier episode of 'Breaking Point.' For all of us at the Saddletramp Information and News Service, I'm Dan Wilson. Good night."

Fade to black...

Note: The incident involving President Skaggs was covered in "Revenge in Advance -- Mona."