"Whenever physicality happened, it was my wife who started it," Olson claimed tearfully. "I just couldn't understand what I was doing wrong."
... here's Jennifer Edward's account of Olson's abuse of Heidi and her family:
Heidi Olson was married to Gemini Racing star Darcy Ewing, who died in an accident five years ago. Mark had been friends with the couple. They married shortly after Ewing's death and Olson moved in with Heidi and her five children. Olson said Heidi talked about divorce in the first week of their marriage.
Many of their arguments centered around the children, in particular, Shaun, Heidi's autistic 12-year old.
"Whenever anything happened with the kids, whatever they said, Heidi always took their part," Olson claimed.
Olson's strongly-held religious belief that as the man, he was head of the household, contributed to disagreements about discipline in the home.
For the most part, the couple got along fairly well through the first six to eight months of the marriage, Olson said. Once the arguing began, things peaked, then started to improve.
Heidi recalled three incidents in which Mark had been abusive to her in her testimony given Wednesday. She also admitted to striking Mark once on the chest and to stabbing holes in the drawer of an antique dresser Mark had given her for a wedding present.
In one case, she said pushed her to the floor in their bedroom and she struck her head. In another incident, he repeatedly threw Bibles at her, bruising her arm. On a third occasion, she told of an argument which led to Mark pulling a bookcase over and a phone line out of the wall.
Sunday After Church
On the incident in question, the couple had some dispute over the children. Heidi had tried for several days to talk about it. Mark avoided her until after church that Sunday, then called to talk to her and asked her out to lunch.
"I felt inspired by the sermon I had just heard to think we could work things out," he said. "Heidi said she had the children and didn't have a babysitter so she couldn't go."
He went out to the house and began measuring for an addition the couple had planned. Heidi came out of the house and asked him to leave. Mark put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her. She ended up on the ground. Mark claims Heidi pushed him and he responded. Heidi testified she did not touch Mark and he pushed her hard enough to knock her over.
Clark presented into evidence a sweater Mark was wearing that was ripped at the time of the incident. Heidi said she grabbed at his sweater as she fell and tore the garment. He became angry.
Her fear was so great after the pushing incidents she feared Mark would kill her, Heidi testified. He said she had taken everything from him and he had nothing to lose and Heidi feared he would kill her and then himself.
She went back into the house and watched as Mark drove down a dead end road into the woods and became afraid he would come back and burn the house down, she testified. She didn't call police after the incident, or any of the other incidents, because, she said, she wanted Mark to get help.
"You hope it's a one-time occurrence. You hope it won't ever happen again," she said.
... then the police got involved:
Heidi called her sister to talk and it was her sister who called police. Sherburne County Investigative Detective Phyles spoke to the couple and said Mark told him he never pushed Heidi without her coming at him with something and she had once thrown a chair at him.
Mark told the detective he had failed in self control in the face of a lot of pressure and he bore the greater responsibility as the man of the house. He denied trying to keep Heidi out of the house. He said he resisted her resistance in any physical altercation. Mark admitted to the detective Heidi did not strike him prior to the incident.
Mark told the jury he got tired of the fighting and feared for his life. He described finding their wedding album with pictures missing and the cover destroyed after the incident with the dresser and felt that it was an attack on him.
He said one of the blisses of his marriage was reading he Bible together every morning.
... reading the Bible escalated to Mark Olson throwing the Bible:
"Heidi would become enraged," he said. "I would just be reading and she called me a false prophet and slammed the Bible down on the table. Once I got angry about it and tried to show her what is felt like. I grabbed the Bible and threw it down, then I picked it up and did it again and again. I threw it at her and it hit her on the shoulder, although she did have time to put her arms up to protect herself a bit. She said, do I have a bruise now? Then she left the house. I was shaken to think she could call the police then. I began doing the very thing I abhorred."
Heidi asked Mark many times to leave the house and twice he came home to find his bags packed, he said. He quoted the Bible and cried often. Several times he was directed by Judge Alan Pendleton to answer questions posed by his attorney.
"We don't want to know what your pastor said," Pendleton told him. "Just answer the question."
"It is ok to just answer the questions," Clark said.
Mark cried when he recalled an incident during which, he said, he was sitting in the master bedroom and Heidi came in and slapped his leg.
"I curled up and held my hand over my legs. I remember thinking where are you and I thought about the footprints in the sand. That is where he was. I don't want to share this stuff It's not ok by my faith. I never reacted, never got upset. It was a principle I used with Shaun and it worked."
Mark claimed Heidi had once pushed him into a computer while he was working. He said the incident with the bookcase occurred after an argument which began in the bedroom.
"It was tippy and stood out from the wall at it I grabbed it when I was on the stairs and Heidi was above me. It fell across the stair rail. Heidi wasn't hurt. She chased me around the house after that," he said.
"After the first incident, whenever I saw something coming, I ran," he said "I shouldn't have. It just made matters worse."
...Mark Olson continued to tearfully accuse his wife of being the aggressor:
Mark's brother, Brian, testified he thought Heidi was truthful when describing the events of Nov. 12. Mark said his wife was a "..wonderful, wonderful woman, faithful and a Christian. I just couldn't understand why she was behaving like that. I didn't know what I had done."
When Heidi asked him to leave the property on Nov. 12, Mark testified he told her the property belonged to God and he was a steward of it too.
"She was very aggressive, verbally and actually pushed me," he said. "I escalated and tried to stop her. I put my hand on her shoulders and we ended up going down."
Olson began to cry again.
"I didn't want to hurt her. I just wanted it to stop. There was nothing I could do," he said.
Prosecutor Gretchen Ziehl pointed out Mark could have left in his own vehicle.
....Jennifer Edwards' post-trial report:
Rep. Mark Olson was found guilty of domestic assault with intent to cause fear in his wife and family after a three-day jury trial in Sherburne County Court House last week.
Judge Alan Pendleton presided as Olson's attorney, Jill Clark, declared Olson was a battered spouse who suffered years of abuse at the hands of his wife, Heidi, throughout their marriage.
"It was very devastating,' said Heidi. "Mark was not an abused husband. I felt like I was unofficially on trial. I couldn't defend myself, or even be present to hear the accusations made against me."
Olson, who ran for office on the claim of supporting family values, left court saying he was determined to continue his role as representative for District 16B, which includes Big Lake and Becker. He also said he wanted to reconcile with his wife.
"I would like to say publicly that I forgive Mark for what he has done to my family and me," said Heidi, who married Olson shortly after the death of her husband, Darcy Ewing, in 2002. Heidi and Darcy had five children.
Heidi's sister, Holly Rebney, called police to the family residence in Big Lake Township Sunday, Nov. 12, after Heidi called and told her Mark had pushed her to the ground three times during the course of an argument, leaving her bruised. It wasn't the first time she had made such a call, they said.
Olson was arrested in Blaine later that same evening and spent two nights in the Sherburne Co. Jail. Olson had the trial delayed a number of times because he couldn't be brought into court while the house was in session and because he changed attorneys.
Once on the witness stand, Olson blamed his wife for the entire situation, claiming she asked for a divorce in the first week of their marriage and that she started every argument and physical struggle the couple experienced throughout the marriage.
"That is simply not true," said Heidi. "In the beginning we were in a honeymoon phase. There is a good side to Mark. At the time we married I was very vulnerable. I am very grateful for my supportive sisters and all the help I received from them throughout this whole experience."
Heidi said she realized what Olson's defense would be before the case came to trial. His investigator came to her house and made a comment on her size. In court, Heidi was asked to give her height and weight.
"I had to say what I weighed and that I am 5-foot 101/2 inches tall," she said. "They said Mark was fairly small but that is not true. Mark is a carpenter who makes log furniture. He is really very strong."
Because Olson is a public figure, the trial, which was followed closely by Twin Cities media, drew plenty of attention. Photographers and reporters trespassed on Heidi's property, taking pictures of her home and revealing information, especially about her children, both wish could have been kept private.
"That was wrong. I felt violated," Heidi said. "It was scary. There was no privacy for my children. I worried about my reputation and if I would even be able to keep my job. I was afraid I would have to move away from Big Lake."
Heidi, who works as a public health nurse for Wright County and has a bachelors degree in psychology, raised her children in the Big Lake Township home built for her by Darcy.
Later in the marriage, the Olsons frequently argued over Mark's attempts to discipline Heidi's children, three of whom have already graduated from high school and attend college. The couple also disagreed over Mark's interpretation of scripture.
In her testimony, Heidi described three different incidents when Olson assaulted her. Olson denied assault in each incident and claimed Heidi assaulted him.
For her part, Heidi confessed to striking Olson once on the left shoulder during an argument. She also admitted to stabbing holes in the drawer of an antique dresser which belonged to Mark three years ago.
"I was ashamed of that," she said. "I had a commitment not to get violent with Mark. I didn't want to be angry with him like this. I went to counseling and anger management classes. It helped."
Still, Olson's tirades continued as he tried to establish himself as head of the household and insist on having things his way, she alleged. The household became volatile and Heidi several times asked Mark to leave, even packing his things for him on two occasions as the situation became more disruptive.
"I wasn't surprised by his defense but I wondered how he managed to turn this around from him abusing me to him being abused. It just didn't happen that way," Heidi said.
Still, Heidi insists she will not be bitter. She says Mark has wonderful parents and she enjoys a positive relationship with Olson's brothers. Heidi expects her divorce to be finalized next week.
The young man (motorist) who killed Darcy as he rode his bike home admitted to having a drug problem and has been attending Teen Challenge. He graduates this summer.
Heidi and her children have forgiven him and Heidi recently gave her approval to a number of radio spots he will read to encourage others struggling with drugs and alcohol to seek help.
.... Heidi has her own verdict on Mark Olson:
"Mark painted himself into a corner," said Heidi. "My kids have lost two fathers now. I do forgive Mark but I can't stay married to him. I have to use this as a learning experience for my children. I don't want to punish him."
"He does need to be held accountable for his actions though. The false allegations he has made against me are devastating to us, but we are choosing not to live in bitterness against him," Heidi said. "I hope Mark gets the help he needs for his personal problems."
I'm curious to see how this whining, wimpy, crybaby does in the next election.
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