What started as a promising relationship turned into a chilling descent into manipulation, poisoning, and violence.
Kelly Sutliff thought she had found her forever person.
But behind the charming mask of Chris Mackie was a terrifying truth she never expected.
It Began with Mysterious Illnesses—and a Seemingly Devoted Husband
Kelly started feeling off.
The kind of off that doctors couldn’t quite explain—nausea, headaches, extreme fatigue, and angry red hives appearing out of nowhere.
She chalked it up to a lingering virus from a recent trip, but her symptoms only worsened.
All the while, her husband Chris Mackie, whom she married just months earlier, appeared to be the ultimate caregiver.
He brought her food, water, and supported her every step—until the night it all unraveled.
A Romance That Moved Too Fast to Be Real
Kelly, a psychotherapist, met Chris in August 2018 on Bumble.
He was good-looking, called himself an empath, and claimed to be a U.S. Army veteran turned government contractor.
Within weeks, he said “I love you.”
By November, he had moved into her home.
They got engaged a month later and tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in Maui just after the new year.
Despite a gut feeling that something wasn’t quite right, Kelly pushed her doubts aside.
She believed in the dream they were building—traveling the world, growing old together, and building a beautiful life.
Then Her Health Declined—and Her Doubts Returned
Shortly after their honeymoon, Kelly’s body started to betray her.
She felt constantly drained.
Once, her legs gave out, and she collapsed on the stairs.
Despite hospital visits, no clear cause was found.
Meanwhile, Mackie stepped into the caregiver role with ease—always at her side, always “helping.”
But one late night in December 2019, she found him asleep, clutching his phone.
Her curiosity got the better of her. What she found made her stomach turn.
The Betrayal That Shattered Her Illusions
Kelly discovered explicit messages and photos from another woman on Chris’s Instagram.
What made it worse? He had told this woman that Kelly was a drug addict and alcoholic—that he didn’t love her.
“I felt like I didn’t even know the person I married,” she said.
When she confronted him, Mackie refused to leave the house.
He begged, manipulated, and tried to keep control.
But by the next evening, things took a dark, terrifying turn.
The Night of the Attack: Blood, Violence, and Survival
Returning home from her sister’s house, Kelly walked into a scene she could never have imagined.
Chris stood naked in the foyer, soaked in blood, holding a military knife.
His eyes were empty.
He threatened to stage a murder-suicide and accused Kelly of trying to kill him.
Over the next 45 minutes, he attacked her, pinned her down, and destroyed their home.
She tried to call 911, but he wrestled the phone away each time.
Thanks to a determined 911 operator and a concerned neighbor, police finally arrived.
Police Arrive at One of the Worst Crime Scenes They’d Ever Seen
Detective David Littman described the moment he walked into the house.
Blood on the walls.
Furniture smashed. Mackie, still naked, ranting about war and past kills.
It was chaos—and it could have ended so much worse.
Kelly managed to escape when Chris momentarily let his guard down.
She ran for her life and never looked back.
The Evidence Left Behind Was as Disturbing as the Attack Itself
Back at the house later, Kelly discovered Chris’s phone on the floor.
What was on it left her horrified—videos and pictures of him performing sexual acts next to her while she appeared unconscious.
One video even showed him putting something under her nose.
She didn’t look naturally asleep. It was as if she had been drugged.
A cleaning crew later found unfamiliar pills hidden in a cupboard—medications used in cancer treatment that can cause severe fatigue and even muscle failure.
The symptoms matched everything Kelly had experienced.
Justice Denied: How the System Let Her Down
Kelly reported everything to the police, but the investigation quickly hit a wall.
The phone was returned to Mackie before a search warrant could be executed. The disturbing images were gone.
There was no blood test to prove she’d been drugged.
And while police believed her, prosecutors couldn’t pursue sexual assault charges without hard evidence.
In the end, Mackie got a plea deal.
Just three years of probation for aggravated assault by strangulation.
No jail time.
No real consequences.
From Victim to Advocate: Kelly’s New Mission
“I felt like the system failed me,” Kelly said.
“It makes me sick to think he could do what he did and walk free.”
Instead of staying silent, she chose to speak up.
She founded Kelly’s K9s, a nonprofit that provides protection dogs to women who’ve survived domestic abuse.
It’s her way of taking back power—and giving it to others.
Today, she continues to tell her story.
To raise awareness.
To show that surviving something horrific doesn’t mean your life ends.
Her Message: “You Can Go Through Hell and Still Be Okay”
Kelly knows she’ll always carry scars.
She still looks over her shoulder.
But she refuses to be defined by what happened.
“I want people to know you can go through the worst thing imaginable and still come out stronger,” she said.
Her story is now featured in the season premiere of TOXIC on ID, available to stream on Max.
New episodes air weekly.