Mary Bailey.Photo: Rita HarperMary Elizabeth Bailey describes her upbringing in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, with her mother and abusive stepfather, as anything but idyllic. In fact, she says, it was like living in a “house of horrors.“In early February 1987, her stepfather, Wayne Wyers, then 29, returned from working as a truck driver to their West Virginia home and discovered his wife Priscilla had lent his Jeep to an acquaintance who’d run it off the road.The next few days with an enraged Wyers became a living nightmare, Mary recalls. The life-changing event that followed is the focus of the Monday, June 13 episode ofPeople Magazine Investigates'. Titled “Mother’s Orders,” the episode airs at 9 ET on Investigation Discovery and discovery+. (An exclusive clip is shown below.)Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.The 11-year-old Mary watched Wyers slap her grandmother so hard that he damaged her hearing. Finally, he grabbed a butcher knife, pressed it against her mother’s throat and threatened to kill her before eventually passing out drunk in his chair.Priscilla then went to her bedroom and emerged with a .22-cal. rifle and put it in her daughter’s hands.Mary Bailey and her mother, Priscilla.“She told me, ‘I need you to shoot him in the head,'” Mary says. “‘If you do this,’ she said, ‘it will all be over. You’re not gonna go to jail, you’re too young.'” Mary was terrified.“I pleaded with her, I told her, ‘I can’t. Please don’t make me,'” she says. Still, Priscilla insisted.“My heart was pounding,” Mary says. “It felt like it took forever to get to the living room. I remember thinking, ‘I can’t shoot him in the head,’ so I held it up to his stomach and pulled the trigger.“It would take approximately two hours for Wyers to die. By then, police had arrived.Courtesy Sharon McGrawAt first Priscilla said she shot him. But then “she said it was all my idea,” says Mary.Mother and daughter were both charged with murder. Mary was quickly placed in foster care and her attorney was told charges against her would be dropped if she testified against her mother.Nowadays, Mary lives with her attorney husband in Gastonia, N.C., and owns a medical uniform business. She has written a memoir about her experience, titled,My Mother’s Soldier. “The process of writing the book helped me heal,” Mary says.See more of Mary Bailey’s story (“Mother’s Orders”) and the case onPeople Magazine Investigates, airing Monday, June 13, at 9 p.m. ET on Investigation Discovery and also streaming on discovery+.
Mary Bailey.Photo: Rita Harper
Mary Elizabeth Bailey describes her upbringing in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, with her mother and abusive stepfather, as anything but idyllic. In fact, she says, it was like living in a “house of horrors.“In early February 1987, her stepfather, Wayne Wyers, then 29, returned from working as a truck driver to their West Virginia home and discovered his wife Priscilla had lent his Jeep to an acquaintance who’d run it off the road.The next few days with an enraged Wyers became a living nightmare, Mary recalls. The life-changing event that followed is the focus of the Monday, June 13 episode ofPeople Magazine Investigates’. Titled “Mother’s Orders,” the episode airs at 9 ET on Investigation Discovery and discovery+. (An exclusive clip is shown below.)Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.The 11-year-old Mary watched Wyers slap her grandmother so hard that he damaged her hearing. Finally, he grabbed a butcher knife, pressed it against her mother’s throat and threatened to kill her before eventually passing out drunk in his chair.Priscilla then went to her bedroom and emerged with a .22-cal. rifle and put it in her daughter’s hands.Mary Bailey and her mother, Priscilla.“She told me, ‘I need you to shoot him in the head,'” Mary says. “‘If you do this,’ she said, ‘it will all be over. You’re not gonna go to jail, you’re too young.'” Mary was terrified.“I pleaded with her, I told her, ‘I can’t. Please don’t make me,'” she says. Still, Priscilla insisted.“My heart was pounding,” Mary says. “It felt like it took forever to get to the living room. I remember thinking, ‘I can’t shoot him in the head,’ so I held it up to his stomach and pulled the trigger.“It would take approximately two hours for Wyers to die. By then, police had arrived.Courtesy Sharon McGrawAt first Priscilla said she shot him. But then “she said it was all my idea,” says Mary.Mother and daughter were both charged with murder. Mary was quickly placed in foster care and her attorney was told charges against her would be dropped if she testified against her mother.Nowadays, Mary lives with her attorney husband in Gastonia, N.C., and owns a medical uniform business. She has written a memoir about her experience, titled,My Mother’s Soldier. “The process of writing the book helped me heal,” Mary says.See more of Mary Bailey’s story (“Mother’s Orders”) and the case onPeople Magazine Investigates, airing Monday, June 13, at 9 p.m. ET on Investigation Discovery and also streaming on discovery+.
Mary Elizabeth Bailey describes her upbringing in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, with her mother and abusive stepfather, as anything but idyllic. In fact, she says, it was like living in a “house of horrors.”
In early February 1987, her stepfather, Wayne Wyers, then 29, returned from working as a truck driver to their West Virginia home and discovered his wife Priscilla had lent his Jeep to an acquaintance who’d run it off the road.
The next few days with an enraged Wyers became a living nightmare, Mary recalls. The life-changing event that followed is the focus of the Monday, June 13 episode ofPeople Magazine Investigates’. Titled “Mother’s Orders,” the episode airs at 9 ET on Investigation Discovery and discovery+. (An exclusive clip is shown below.)
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
The 11-year-old Mary watched Wyers slap her grandmother so hard that he damaged her hearing. Finally, he grabbed a butcher knife, pressed it against her mother’s throat and threatened to kill her before eventually passing out drunk in his chair.
Priscilla then went to her bedroom and emerged with a .22-cal. rifle and put it in her daughter’s hands.
Mary Bailey and her mother, Priscilla.
“She told me, ‘I need you to shoot him in the head,'” Mary says. “‘If you do this,’ she said, ‘it will all be over. You’re not gonna go to jail, you’re too young.'” Mary was terrified.
“I pleaded with her, I told her, ‘I can’t. Please don’t make me,'” she says. Still, Priscilla insisted.
“My heart was pounding,” Mary says. “It felt like it took forever to get to the living room. I remember thinking, ‘I can’t shoot him in the head,’ so I held it up to his stomach and pulled the trigger.”
It would take approximately two hours for Wyers to die. By then, police had arrived.
Courtesy Sharon McGraw
At first Priscilla said she shot him. But then “she said it was all my idea,” says Mary.
Mother and daughter were both charged with murder. Mary was quickly placed in foster care and her attorney was told charges against her would be dropped if she testified against her mother.
Nowadays, Mary lives with her attorney husband in Gastonia, N.C., and owns a medical uniform business. She has written a memoir about her experience, titled,My Mother’s Soldier. “The process of writing the book helped me heal,” Mary says.
See more of Mary Bailey’s story (“Mother’s Orders”) and the case onPeople Magazine Investigates, airing Monday, June 13, at 9 p.m. ET on Investigation Discovery and also streaming on discovery+.
source: people.com
