Over the Line - Domestic Violence in Sports - Part 2

Episode #47 - Domestic Violence in Sports Part 2

[Shaun]

MMA fighter Jonathan 'War Machine' Koppenhaver had a reputation for violence both inside and outside the ring. But it wasn’t until 2014 that the full extent of his brutality came to light.

[John] 

From his disturbing comments about fellow fighters, to an all-out tantrum over a Slurpee, to a chilling attempt at murder, this story shows the dangerous overlap of domestic violence and athletes. 

(Music - Pause for 8 seconds)

[Shaun] 

Hi and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, where we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence, as well as missing persons and unsolved cases. I’m your host, Shaun, and with me as always, is the one and only John.

[John] 

I am the only John in the room.

[Shaun] 

I am so glad that you suggested we cover this topic. With it being football season, and hockey starting, and the world series, it’s so relevant to what’s going on right now. While we were working on researching this episode, the NFL announced that Buffalo Bills linebacker Von Miller was being suspended for 4 games without pay. You might remember that last November, Miller was arrested for assaulting his pregnant girlfriend. 

[John] 

He assaulted her during the Bills bye week last season. The couple was at their home in Dallas. He was accused of third-degree felony assault of a pregnant woman, which is punishable by two to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine in Texas

ESPN has reported that the allegations include him putting both hands on the woman's neck for three to five seconds. He also is alleged to have pulled her hair and shoved her, as she was trying to get her things together and leave their apartment after he threw her out. 

Police documented injuries on her neck that were consistent with pressure applied to her neck (and remember what we know about strangulation). 

She also had bruising on her arm and abdomen. 

However, it’s being reported that she is declining to participate in the court process.  According to reporting in the AP, no charges have been filed, and Miller is considering the case closed. 

The fact that the league took almost a year to suspend him is raising questions for fans and commentators. The league has not said much regarding the suspension and the Bills head coach has simply said that someone on the team needs to step up without Miller in the game. 

The cases that happen in the NFL or other major league sports get a lot of attention, but this week we have another example of violence in professional sports: MMA fighter War Machine, Jonathan Koppenhaver. 

We originally planned to also cover the murder perpetrated by disabled track and field athlete Oscar Pistorius, but we felt it was a lot for a single episode so we’re moving that one to January.

This case was extreme and widely covered in the mainstream media. Do you want to get us started on Koppenhaver?

[Shaun] 

Yes, I did not remember the details of this case when it happened, but this did happen in Vegas. As you said, we are talking about MMA fighter War Machine. Now, I want to stress from the beginning that Jonathan Koppenhaver legally changed his name to War Machine in 2008, and the court records most often reflected this name. It feels odd and off to me for me to use this name, but legally that is his name.

[John] 

Back in the early to mid-2010s, I followed MMA quite a bit, but over time, I really stopped following it entirely. I have a friend in the industry who I really enjoy hanging out with (ill talk a bit more about that in the Swing Shift episode if you’re curious), but as an industry, I just wasn't feeling it anymore. There were specific… high-level people I just had a strong dislike for, so I was out.

Note, I also I don't want to watch the face-slapping league, which if you’re wondering .. is a real thing. If you arent aware of it you should google that foolishness. Its essentially a TBI fast track.

[Shaun] 

War Machine is originally from Southern California and was born in 1981, making him 43 years old today. He has shared that his family life growing up was not perfect. His mom and dad divorced when he was young, and he chose to live with his father. When he was 13 years old, his dad suffered a heart attack. War Machine tried to save his dad with CPR but it didn’t revive him. His younger brother was also present and the boys witnessed their father die, which had to be traumatic. 

He has stated that he had a terrible relationship with his stepfather. Their relationship was strained right through his high school years. He attended college for a few years at the Citadel, but he left for unknown reasons.  However, he told Joe Rogan QUOTE “I beat my stepdad almost to death” UNQUOTE over unpaid college tuition. 

In the early 2000s, War Machine started competing in mixed martial arts fighting or MMA. 

He had his first fight in 2004, made his UFC debut in 2007, and lost his only pay-per-view bout in 2008. He was then released by the UFC after he made disrespectful comments about another well known and very popular fighter Evan Tanner, who tragically died in a hiking incident in 2008.

He then signed with Bellator but was almost immediately dropped. He claimed that was because he made disparaging comments about Barack Obama on his MySpace page, but then he re-signed with them in 2011. 

[John] 

Just listening to his history, you can tell that his default reaction to conflict seems to include violence, and as much as you might think that's the default for people in MMA, it’s not. Most of the people in MMA, and Jiu Jistu are some of the nicest people you'll meet.. Unless you meet them on the mat of course, but no one really wants to do permanent damage to anyone.

Anyway, in 2009 War Machine announced that he was pursuing a career in the adult film and entertainment industry. He made this announcement in a very NSFW way, and I will mercifully spare you those details.

It’s important to note that War Machine was not just fighting in the octagon. According to our research from several sources, he had frequent instances of violent criminal behavior. 

In 2008, War Machine pleaded guilty to choking a man unconscious while at a gym in San Diego. He was sentenced to 3 years probation. 

The following year, he got into a major altercation at a party. In that instance, he slapped his date because she was talking to another man at the event, and he then dragged her outside. The reporting is that when other people at the party tried to stop him from hurting his date, he then went on a rampage, punching multiple people, and fighting his way to his car. 

There doesn’t seem to be any record of any criminal arrest as a result of this fight. 

In August 2010, he was sentenced to a year in jail and three years' probation for assaulting a female bartender and punching a bouncer in San Diego.

Lastly, he pleaded guilty in 2011 to attacking a patron at Krave, a now closed gay nightclub, where War Machine worked as a shirtless VIP bottle server. He served a year in a Las Vegas jail and was also given probation for an additional 4 years. 

As we mentioned at the top of the episode, there is also a YouTube video that War Machine made that is him going off on a nearly 6-minute unhinged rant about how the clerk at 7-11 upset him when she asked him to lower his hood off of his head. 

His rant is filled with expletives, as he screams that he was so angry about this request that he dumped his Slurpee on the floor of the store before leaving. 

[Shaun] 

I honestly can’t believe I watched that whole video. I agree with the commenters that the clerk probably has no idea how close she came to him getting physical over her simple request. I don’t know if that’s a 7-11 policy or if they had a robbery recently but the level of anger he showed was just off the charts. 

Moving on, as John said, War Machine decided he wanted to work in the adult entertainment industry, and that led to him meeting Christy Mack.

Christy Mack was born on May 9, 1991 and grew up in Indiana. As a teenager, she was a cheerleader and worked at the Nike store in the mall. She married her high school boyfriend at age 18. 

In 2012, at age 21, she decided to leave the midwest and married life behind, moved to Miami, and began a career in the adult entertainment industry as a model and an actress. 

Christy Mack has an incredibly sharp sense of humor, and I want to mention that in a 2015 ESPN article about her, the reporter noted that she had two pitbulls, named Cleo-pit-ra and Pit-rick Swayzee. 

Christy Mack had, and continues to have, a very successful career in adult entertainment. She’s won awards, and immediately when she launched she became known for her very unique look. Her hair was styled in a very distinctive black mohawk that was not common at all for her industry. 

She met War Machine at a photo shoot in the spring of 2013. Christy has said that she was very ill at the time of the shoot. She had pneumonia, and she was moved by War Machine’s kindness. He offered to take care of her due to her illness. The two of them just enjoyed spending time together at her hotel, sharing pizza. 

[John] 

We have mentioned this before but batterers and abusers generally don’t start off being violent. War Machine was no exception with Christy. He won her over with sweetness and caring. It wasn’t until 4-5 months into the relationship that he became violent.  

That violence quickly escalated. He was hitting her at least once a month, lifting her up by her throat, suffocating her, and strangling her. He would take her phone so she couldn’t call her mom to let her know what had happened.  

Their relationship was on again off again. Every time he would hit her, she would think ”'Oh it'll never happen again.' 

And the day after he would abuse her, he would stay home from work or training and spoil her with affection and attention. Christy has said, “those were the best days of our relationship." Thats about the lowest bar I can imagine.

[Shaun] 

His behavior was terrifying and controlling. He told her that he didn’t approve of her performing in adult films any more, which is quite hypocritical of him. Christy agreed to stop making movies, and just stuck to photos and personal appearances, but that didn’t stop him from abusing her. 

I debated even including this in the episode, but I think this illustrates how vulgar, cruel, and deranged War Machine is. He actually tweeted on August 13, 2013, and the tweet is still out there, “just raped Christy Mack, she tried to make me wait until after errands.”

That’s sick, that’s not a joke, that’s not funny. 

According to Christy, the two had broken it off by May of 2014. War Machine moved out of her house and back to San Diego and later that summer, Christy began dating a man named Corey Thomas. Who was notably not an MMA fighter

In August of 2014, there was a tattoo convention happening in Vegas, and Corey had offered to help Christy set up her booth at the expo. The two spent August 7th together and then had dinner at Christy’s house. 

The two of them were asleep, fully clothed, as Christy explained, in Christy’s bed when in the early morning hours, War Machine used his key to enter Christy’s house. He went into her bedroom and turned on the light. 

[John] 

War Machine jumped on Corey. He started beating him in the face and head. Corey would later testify:

"He bit me there on the cheek, and I could feel the bite. And once it registered I was getting bitten, then I put my hands back up to try to break him off my face and then he hit me on the arm.”

War Machine put Corey in a chokehold. The two fought for more than 10 minutes. Corey said, "I'm looking up at the ceiling thinking to myself 'I'm going to die in Christy's bathroom.' That's not how I'm going out," 

Corey tried to reason with War Machine, and surprisingly it worked. He let him go on the condition that he not call the police. Corey left, and according to the Las Vegas Sun, he called the police before being transported to Sunrise Hospital for a bone fracture and multiple contusions. He had a broken nose, dislocated shoulder, and other scrapes, bruises, and bite marks. 

[Shaun] 

After Corey left, War Machine attacked Christy and nearly beat her to death. He also attempted to rape her. While she was lying on the floor of the bathroom, he went through her phone and became even more enraged when he discovered she was following certain people on Instagram or twitter. Each time he found something he didn’t like on her socials, he would kick or hit her again. 

He also canceled all of her plans for the following week, according to Christy, to make it so no one would wonder about her whereabouts. 

The attack lasted nearly 2 hours. 

He also assaulted her with a knife, pressing it against her head, her hand, and her ear. She was in and out of consciousness. At some point, he saw how horribly injured she was and said “Now I have to kill you.”

He left and went into the kitchen, Christy heard him rummaging around and believes he was looking for a different knife since the first knife had broken. She was then able to escape out her back door and run to a neighbor’s house for help. She was naked and wrapped in one of her dog’s blankets. 

She was taken to the hospital with 18 broken bones, including a fractured rib, fracture of her left orbital bone, multiple nasal fractures, lacerated kidneys, 12 broken and missing teeth, multiple lacerations to her head, and significant bruising to her face, leg, and torso.

He had ruptured her liver from kicking her. The injury was so severe that the doctors would not perform surgery on her face immediately because they were concerned she wouldn’t be able to tolerate the anesthesia. She was unable to walk on her injured leg due to the severity of the bruising. 

According to reporting from ESPN, the damage done to Christy’s face permanently changed her appearance. The broken bones in her eye sockets caused her to need to wear glasses, and the veneers to replace her broken teeth changed the shape of her mouth. 

I mentioned before that he used a knife on her. He used that dull knife to saw off her trademark mohawk hairstyle, in a sense removing her identity, and lacerating her head in the process. 

Christy said, "So when I'd look in the mirror, it's not me -- that person wasn't me. It's so hard to go every day without being you anymore."

A quick note. Christy’s dogs were outside in her backyard during the attack and they were unharmed. 

[John] 

Her mother, Erin, said that on the morning of August 8, War Machine texted her that she needed to check on her daughter. She went to Christy’s home to find the officers there and she was terrified her daughter had been killed. 

She knew that Christy would want her animals cared for, so she secured Christy’s pit bulls from animal control and made sure her ferrets and snakes were okay before she went to the hospital. 

The sight of her daughter in the hospital bed was overwhelming for her and even though Christy asked her not to cry, Erin sobbed at her bedside. She texted War Machine and yelled and him and begged him to turn himself in. 

Meanwhile, War Machine ran and began tweeting nonsense and excuses about what had happened. 

Initially, the public and random people on the internet were skeptical about the claims made against War Machine. They claimed that Christy was exaggerating or the story was made up. We know that victim blaming can be pretty common. It gets worse when the accused is famous, and with Christy being employed in the adult entertainment industry the blaming and speculation about her behavior reached abhorrent levels. 

Christy chose to put photos of her injuries out on Twitter, along with the gruesome details of what War Machine did to her and Corey that night. 

In a later interview, Christy explained what led up to her sharing the graphic photos, "This is not acceptable. I'm not going to sit around in my hospital bed and have people say that I did something wrong. This is what happened, so I decided to put it out there."

[Shaun] 

Similar to what we discussed last week with Janay and Ray Rice, once the visual evidence was out there, there was no denying what had happened. Similar to how the NFL reacted to Ray Rice, Bellator dropped War Machine immediately. 

Their statement read: "We have a zero-tolerance policy here at Bellator when it relates to any form of domestic violence, and after learning of this latest incident involving (Jon Koppenhaver) War Machine, Bellator is releasing him from his promotional contract with the organization."

The president of Bellator, Scott Coker, was new to Bellator at the time, but he stated to ESPN that he wanted to send a message to everyone that abuse wouldn't be tolerated. He said "It was very clear to me that there is no space in our league for somebody like that." 

War Machine managed to evade arrest for nearly a week. At one point, even Dog the Bounty Hunter announced he was joining the search to bring War Machine to justice. US Marshalls arrested him at a hotel in Simi Valley, California on August 15. 

According to Rolling Stone Magazine, he was caught after someone at the hotel called the police after he assaulted a woman at the hotel. 

He was charged with 34 felonies, including attempted murder and sexual assault. Included in these charges were incidents that Christy had not previously reported to the police but had occurred in the months leading up to the August assault. 

He was extradited back to Las Vegas, and his trial began in March of 2017. While it is common for the names of sexual assault survivors to be shielded from the media, Christy permitted the press to use her actual name. During the trial, she testified for 8 hours. She described in detail the assault on August 8, but also all of the abuse that had occurred during the course of their relationship.

When she described the sexual assaults War Machine had committed against her, War Machine laughed. He was laughing, in open court, and the prosecutor asked that it be noted in the record that War Machine was laughing. His attorneys tried to object but the judge said, "I watched him laugh. It's noted."

War Machine did not testify during the trial but on social media and through his attorneys, he blamed everything and everyone but himself: steroids, lexapro, his upbringing, head injuries from flighting, and Christy herself. 

When Christy was interviewed by HBO, he sent a letter saying that he was ambushed when he walked into Christy’s house, and that he was sad that Christy had taken Corey’s side during the assault and had tried to protect him. 

Just a stark contrast to Ray Rice and all we talked about last week. 

[John] 

In June of 2017, War Machine was convicted on 29 of the 34 felony  counts; the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the charges of attempted murder. His sentence was life with the possibility of parole in 36 years. Hell be 71 when hes first eligible.

After the verdict, prosecutor Jacqueline Bluth noted that it was important to Christy that the jury believed her about the abuse that she hadn’t previously reported. She told the AP, "What that says to domestic violence victims is that even if you don't report it right away, a jury can still believe you."

I want to go back for a second to talk about how Bellator rightfully dropped War Machine right away. In contrast, Dana White, president of the UFC, was focused on the wrong thing completely. He was more concerned about the media calling War Machine ‘a former UFC fighter’ than about what happened to Christy. War Machine did fight in the UFC briefly, and he was more disgusted that War Machine was being connected to his brand than about the crimes themselves.

I want to mention that in August of 2014 GQ magazine had an article ranking the “25 Biggest Sleazebags in Sports.” War Machine was ranked 7th, and Dana White was ranked 8th. [Lance Armstrong was 9th.]

[Shaun] 

Christy has shared in great detail the trauma she experienced as a result of War Machine’s abuse. During her impact statement during the trial, she detailed how she received a barrage of threats and insults. She said, “I was met with messages and emails detailing what he should have done to me. I was told he should have finished the job and killed me. I was told I was nothing but a whore, and I got what I deserved….The tweets came in droves of how he should beat and rape me since he hadn’t completed his task. I live in constant fear of these things coming to fruition, and others acting on this belief that he’s done nothing wrong.”

She has become an advocate for domestic violence victims and a person people look to for strength and courage. A few years ago, she worked with the company Pornhub to design a clothing line to raise money for domestic violence agencies. 

Christy told Bryant Gumbel in an interview on HBO Real Sports that she hopes to once again be known as a "strong, beautiful woman," rather than "the girl who got her ass beat."

She also said that she thinks that if War Machine ever gets out QUOTE “he will kill me.” 

She told ESPN, "It hurt so much to know he was so separated from the situation. He still hasn't taken responsibility to this day. He blames his childhood, he blames me, he blames fighting. He claims he found God now -- he's looking for any kind of way not to take responsibility for what happened."

As I mentioned, Christy has become an advocate and she has offered this to survivors:  

“You know, when you’re in this kind of situation, you feel very helpless. You feel that you can’t go anywhere. But I want to let them know that life does go on, no matter what. If you choose to leave your abuser, life will go on, and you will be OK, and you can make it.”

[John] 

I am sure we could do a part 3, 4, 5, or an entire season just on the incidents of domestic violence in sports. As I mentioned we will have an episode on Oscar Pistorius later this season, and if any of you have a case that you’d like to hear us discuss, please email me at john@sinsandsurvivors.com

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and we have an exciting collaboration with Alleged Actually coming up later this month, where we are going to discuss the murder-suicide of the ghost investigator couple Mark and Debra Constantino from Ghost Adventures. We’re also planning a collab with Jake from Strictly Stalking and Love Lust Fear coming up soon so watch for that!

Be sure you are subscribed to the show on whatever platform you are listing on so you don’t miss an episode.  Also, a quick reminder that we now have a $1 a month tier on Patreon that gives you all of our regular feed episodes ad-free. We appreciate everyone who subscribes and helps support the show so we can cover our expenses with researching and producing the podcast. 

[Shaun] 

Thanks again for listening and remember what happens here happens everywhere.