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Left inset: Christopher Collins. Right inset: Jesserae Beck (Lincoln Police Department). Background: Law enforcement outside a Nebraska property where Christopher Collins allegedly took Jesserae Beck after attacking her (KOLN).
A Nebraska woman has bravely shared her harrowing experience of allegedly being beaten, strangled, and kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend, who she claims also attempted to blow up his house with both of them inside.
“It was like he snapped into a completely different realm,” recounted Jesserae Beck, 42, in an interview with local TV station KOLN. She spoke of her ex-partner, Christopher Collins, 36, who currently faces multiple charges in connection with the September incident.
According to Beck, after allegedly assaulting and abducting her, Collins told her, “I don’t want you to look at your face,” highlighting the severity of her injuries compared to previous attacks. The mother of three revealed that she had endured several assaults by Collins in the past.
“I couldn’t fathom what was going through his head, nor did I want to ask,” Beck recalled. “I just knew that I needed to buy as much time as I could so that nothing bad happened to me.”
The tumultuous relationship had been marked by domestic issues, with Collins allegedly attacking Beck on multiple occasions. The recent assault has led to charges against him, including kidnapping, making terroristic threats, and using a weapon to commit a felony.
At the time of the attack, Collins was reportedly out on bond for an earlier incident in August, which resulted in charges of assault by strangulation. Notably, a protection order against him was lifted on September 24 at Beck’s request, reportedly to allow her to bring him a home-cooked meal that evening.
Collins is accused of attacking her while she was at his residence.
After being knocked unconscious, she told KOLN that she woke up on Sept. 25 in a rental property that Collins owns with no memory of what happened. “He actually thought I was dead, essentially, and he didn’t know what to do,” Beck remembered. “I’m waking up in a completely different house, but he wasn’t expecting me to wake up, I think was the thing.”
The former couple allegedly sat together in bed for hours, with Collins asking her to slit his throat at one point, to which she refused.
“I said, ‘I will not watch somebody I love bleed out by the hands of myself,” Beck recounted. “And he said, ‘Well, then I’ll kill you and then I’ll kill myself.’”
Some time passed and Collins allegedly told Beck that he was thankful that she didn’t kill him, and that he would turn himself in the following day. Beck had injuries to her head, face, ribs and back that she says were caused by Collins attacking her.
“How did the person that I love so much bring us both here?” Beck said. “Not only is he ruining my life, but he’s ruining his own.”
Later that day on Sept. 25, authorities and SWAT busted into the property and found Beck inside with Collins. She told KOLN that Collins was using a natural gas line to try and blow up their home. He also allegedly tried strangling her as law enforcement attempted to make their way inside.
“He had zero intention of both of us making it out,” Beck alleged. “I remember Chris getting up after me and grabbing a glass bottle of Tito’s, and he slammed it on my head. Then, he got on top of me, trying to strangle me.”
Describing the gas-filled home, Beck said, “I don’t know how much longer it would have lasted before we blew up. But he would have blown up, not just us, but he would have blown up a couple more houses on top of us. So, not only would my life have been gone, but somebody else’s innocent lives would have been gone as well.”
SWAT members allegedly took Collins down as he was strangling Beck and arrested him, she says. Beck was taken to a local hospital with numerous injuries including left rib fractures, a brain bleed and fractured nose. Police allegedly found blood splattered around the home and chunks of human hair.
“It could be worse, you know. I could be dead,” she told KOLN. “I’m thankful every day I’m not.”
Collins reportedly faces life in prison, if convicted. He is due in court on Nov. 6.