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00:00Jamie Silverstone's a New Jersey beauty queen who always gets what she wants.
00:09I always attracted attention.
00:11People think it's so easy being me.
00:14When she marries Charlie Chernowski, the trophy couple are the envy of all their friends.
00:20Inseparable.
00:21We're together all the time.
00:22But the hot young lovebirds have no clue they're about to self-destruct.
00:27This couple is narcissistic to the core.
00:30What are you talking about?
00:32This marriage is a powder keg.
00:34You're my one!
00:36Ready to explode.
00:40Not all fairy tales have happy endings.
00:46When love goes wrong, a woman can do the unthinkable.
00:5722-year-old Jamie Silverstone is beautiful, blonde, and bewitching.
01:06She turns heads wherever she goes.
01:09Woo!
01:10Yes!
01:12People think it's so easy being me.
01:14They look at me now like, oh, you have the world at your feet.
01:17Well, there's a lot of people that don't like you by the way you look.
01:22Even back in high school, Jamie took center stage.
01:29My first boyfriend was the captain of the football team.
01:33And I was the captain of the cheerleading team.
01:36Her looks propel her to win the Miss Teen New Jersey contest.
01:41All the attention feeds her ambitions of fame and glory.
01:48Dr. Casey Jordan studies criminal behavior.
01:52Jamie's psychology is very much a product of her very real, undeniable physical attractiveness.
01:59The problem is that it created a deep insecurity that nobody paid attention to her because she was smart.
02:05So intrinsically, Jamie ends up narcissistic, but also somewhat immature.
02:12After graduating, Jamie's reign as pom-pom princess comes to an end.
02:18What's up, Jamie?
02:20Um, I'm pregnant again.
02:22She unexpectedly gets pregnant twice.
02:25By age 20, she has two young children, Tessa and Matthew.
02:30When her kid's father walks out, Jamie's forced to raise them on her own.
02:35And all her dreams of a glamorous, exciting future are put on hold.
02:40Those years changed me because now it wasn't just myself.
02:43I had to put my kids first.
02:50In 2001, to make ends meet, Jamie gets a job at a trendy health club.
02:55It doesn't take her long to realize it's potential husband territory.
03:00Look at that guy.
03:06It was so hard.
03:08As soon as she lays eyes on handsome and hunky Charlie Chernowski, she's determined to have him.
03:14Hey.
03:15Oh, my God.
03:16Hey.
03:17You, come here.
03:18I actually saw him and I was at the front desk and I told my receptionist that I was going to marry him.
03:24Which I never do.
03:26I have weird psychic sense.
03:29I was working out and she said something and I was like, what?
03:32And she said, come over here.
03:33What do you do?
03:34We talked for a few minutes and basically I was like, you know, why don't we go out?
03:37Come over here sometime.
03:38You want my number?
03:39Yeah.
03:40And she was like, all right.
03:41I was like, really?
03:42All right, Charlie, give me a hand.
03:45And that was it.
03:46After just one date, it's clear that Jamie and Charlie have smoldering chemistry.
03:57Before long, the sizzling young couple is inseparable.
04:01How did I find you?
04:05And was it love at first sight?
04:08Yes, 100%.
04:09I would stay on the phone with him for hours during the day.
04:14I was full steam ahead every day from that day forward.
04:17You know, we were together all the time.
04:19We were young and like to have fun.
04:22Okay, that is disgusting.
04:2826-year-old Charlie is an ambitious guy.
04:31He's already a highly successful furniture dealer.
04:34Woo!
04:35Let's go, baby!
04:36Bring it up!
04:37And part-time party MC and DJ.
04:40With his combined jobs, he easily pulls in six figures.
04:45Charlie prides himself on being the life of the party.
04:48And looking good.
04:50But most of all, he likes showing off Jamie and his bank account.
04:55Did I spoil her?
04:56Absolutely.
04:57Absolutely.
04:58I spoiled the hell out of her.
04:59I wanted to be with him.
05:01I wanted to experience life.
05:03I wanted to have it all.
05:05For Jamie, Charlie is ticking all the right boxes.
05:11Handsome, rich, even paternal.
05:14I come from a good family.
05:16You know, I always wanted the family.
05:19They've changed this stuff since I was a kid.
05:21When Jamie came into my life and brought these two children along,
05:25you know, I just didn't fall in love with Jamie.
05:27I fell in love with the children.
05:29You know, and I just wanted to take care of them.
05:31No.
05:32No.
05:33Seemed like he'd be a good dad to him?
05:35Yes.
05:36Yes.
05:37It says a lot about him that he instantly liked your kids.
05:41I don't want to give 100% credit to that.
05:45I tend to think otherwise.
05:47Charles wanted to feel wanted and needed.
05:51Jamie and Charlie aren't shy about their attraction to each other.
05:58They're madly in love and want everyone to know it.
06:02They have a way of coming together and creating that Barbie and Ken look that really appeals to the outside world.
06:09And they are aware of it.
06:12This couple is narcissistic to the court.
06:15And they're in this relationship for all the wrong reasons.
06:18Charlie and Jamie's relationship is on the fast track.
06:29They move into a house with Jamie's kids in Freehold, a middle-class New Jersey suburb.
06:34We were dating maybe six, seven months before we moved in together.
06:38This is much bigger than I have.
06:39I lived in one with my brothers.
06:41So I put a queen-size bed in there and a set of bunk beds for her and the two children to come live with me.
06:46There is that magnetism, that feeling that they complete each other.
06:50But when things move that quickly in such a short amount of time without really getting to know one another,
06:56things can really only end badly.
07:04But living together isn't enough for Charlie.
07:07When it comes to Jamie, he's hooked and he's ready to go the distance.
07:12What are you so happy about?
07:14Let me see.
07:15No, hey, don't go.
07:16That's good.
07:17You're being very rude.
07:18Oh, I'm being very rude.
07:19Yeah, you're being very rude.
07:20I want to see what you got me.
07:21It's just this.
07:22No.
07:25You want to do this?
07:26It was a simple proposal, you know?
07:28I bought the ring and I couldn't wait.
07:30And it wanted to be in the car in the mall parking lot.
07:33And it wanted to change.
07:34On February 21, 2003, almost a year and a half after their first date, Jamie and Charlie get married.
07:49married. Their wedding is a lavish, over-the-top affair at a local banquet hall. Many of Charlie
08:08and Jamie's friends work in the entertainment business, so the reception turns into a wild
08:13party. I had three different MCs introduce me. My aunts and uncles and stuff got mad because there
08:20was no slow music. It was like a big nightclub. It was great. Everybody's either a dancer or a DJ
08:30or an MC, so they didn't want that night to end. Still, not everyone is happy about Jamie and Charlie's
08:40marriage. Charlie's family has some serious misgivings. My family hated it. Me and my
08:45father got into the biggest fight over it. From the start, Charlie's parents have been warning their
08:50son about moving too fast. They think Jamie is just seeing dollar signs. Me getting into a relationship
08:58with a woman with two children, she was in love with the idea that she found somebody to take care of
09:03her. You have to do this now. I just got married. Please don't, please don't do this. Charlie, look
09:09at me. Everybody can't be wrong. My father's a good judge of character, and when I think about that
09:16now is everybody always said about her who she was. Everybody I know, every one of my friends,
09:23everybody. And I'd always defend her. No, no, you don't know her. No, no, please give her a chance.
09:30Everybody was right. Coming up, the honeymoon is over when Charlie starts acting very unlike a married
09:39man. And he got up on a box, and he just took off his shirt and started dancing for this group of girls.
09:44After a red-hot romance, Charlie and Jamie Ternowski get married and settle down with Jamie's two
10:05children in a New Jersey suburb. They look like the picture-perfect couple, but looks can be deceiving.
10:14It's Jamie. Is Charlie over there right now? His cell phone's off or something. Almost immediately,
10:23the supposedly blissful newlyweds turn on each other. Hi, Charlie. It's funny that you're not picking
10:28up your phone right now. Jamie claims Charlie was deceitful from day one. There was a few things
10:34that struck me as odd. Like? He'd say he's going one place, and he went somewhere else, and I would know
10:42it. But I just thought, he's maybe okay. You know, it's new. He's afraid to tell me.
10:50According to Jamie, Charlie also sometimes has trouble acting like a married man.
10:56We went to a club one time, and he got up on a box, and he just took off his shirt and started dancing
11:01for this group of girls, and I'm like... Then I paid no mind, because I'm like, oh, he's a performer.
11:09But he was with you. I mean, you were together at the time.
11:12Yeah.
11:13But what I heard you say is he's flirting with other girls.
11:15Well, I thought he was, but he told me he wasn't. I don't know.
11:21Where were you?
11:23The couple bickers often. At first, they don't see it as a danger sign.
11:29Everybody argues.
11:31Either it's over the kids, or where you want to eat, or what you want to watch, or whatever it is.
11:37Charles and I fought, and we argued.
11:39Baby, baby, come here.
11:40I didn't deem it to be out of the ordinary, because normal couples, they fight, they argue,
11:47they cry, they laugh.
11:48Because it sounded not just like he was perfect, but that your life was perfect.
11:52I mean, everyone thinks you're the perfect couple, Barbie and Ken.
11:56Mm-hmm.
11:58They don't work through their problems.
12:01They're so busy with their outward performance that they never just bare their souls and be honest with one another.
12:06So it's no surprise that the conflict keeps festering and growing.
12:11The arguments get more and more heated.
12:13Despite the fighting, Jamie and Charlie aren't about to give up on their marriage.
12:21It doesn't hurt that Charlie's businesses are taking off in a big way.
12:27Two years after the wedding, his income doubles.
12:30The family moves into a spacious home in the upscale township of Jackson, New Jersey.
12:35I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up.
12:39You've been at the gym this long?
12:41Yep.
12:42Charlie pushes Jamie to quit her job.
12:44When you're bringing in $20,000 a month, it's okay.
12:48Why should you work?
12:49You can still do everything and be a mom?
12:53And he didn't want me to work.
12:55You had worked so hard since your kids were born.
12:57Was it nice to be able to be a stay-at-home mom for a change?
13:00Yeah, but once you're a certain way, it's like going on vacation.
13:03How long can you be on vacation before you're bored?
13:07With so much cash flowing in, Charlie's able to buy Jamie and her two kids anything they want.
13:14It was two years of hardcore.
13:16Like, just, you know, us having fun all the time.
13:19Living the fast life.
13:20Fast cars, fast times, you know, vacations, just partying.
13:26Whatever you wanted.
13:27$100 jeans, no problem.
13:29You want, don't buy one, buy three.
13:31Dude, I'm just living life, man.
13:33I'm on top of the world right now.
13:34You never think it's going to end, you know?
13:36So, all right, so you spent $1,000 today, but you're making $3,000 some more.
13:40It was a crazy life.
13:42But living the high life comes at a price.
13:45Charlie is away working all the time, and Jamie feels neglected.
13:50She's no longer the center of attention.
13:53Charles was a good friend, not a good husband.
13:56A good provider, but not a, not a husband.
14:06Jamie and Charlie do their best to hide their marital problems from friends and family.
14:12They even decide to open a new business together.
14:15When I had told him that I wanted to work, he's like, let's just open a tanning salon,
14:22because he always wanted one.
14:24And I just went along with it, because, you know, I like to tan.
14:28She kept saying to me, I want to open a tanning salon, I want to open a tanning salon.
14:31I said, you really want a tanning salon, Jamie?
14:33She says, yeah.
14:34Beautiful.
14:34That's how the tanning salon came about.
14:36She wanted it, and wanted to make her happy, so I did it.
14:40I figured out a way to do it.
14:41What's going on now?
14:42These screws, they're getting stripped.
14:45The Ternowskis hire Amy Goslin to work reception.
14:48I saw you have time sign out there.
14:50Oh, are you interested in that job?
14:51Yeah.
14:52Pretty soon, Amy starts babysitting for them, too.
14:55When I first met them, I thought they were the happiest couple, nothing could go wrong.
15:00You know, Charlie worked very long days.
15:02Jamie was at the tanning salon in the morning.
15:04Hey.
15:06I'd watch the kids, and that's how I became more involved with the family.
15:11But I didn't think that at any point they were fighting, arguing.
15:16But it doesn't take long for Amy to realize that the perfect family is not so perfect after all.
15:26Charlie?
15:27Yeah.
15:28I didn't know nobody was going to be here.
15:30One night, I had to come back to the tanning salon to get the key.
15:33Charlie was sleeping on the couch because I got into a fight, and he didn't want to go home.
15:37I didn't want to keep fighting for the kids, so I said I could move here.
15:40Oh, man.
15:41Sorry to that.
15:42I didn't ask any questions.
15:43He didn't want to get involved.
15:44I just said, okay, you know, I'll be here in the morning, because Jamie didn't want to go to the salon.
15:50You do this every time.
15:51Jamie says that three years into the marriage, Charlie starts having a hard time controlling his anger.
15:57They're fights are no longer confined to behind closed doors.
16:07They spill out into the public eye, even at their kids' school events.
16:11Just walk away!
16:12Just walk away!
16:13He's yelling, he's screaming.
16:16Not everyone thinks Charlie is the problem.
16:20I'm not going to say Charlie never rose his voice to Jamie.
16:22He had to because she was always yelling at him, so for him to get his word over, he'd have to yell back.
16:26Don't walk away from me!
16:28Jamie!
16:29The fights at home are also getting worse.
16:32You're my wife!
16:33You understand me?
16:34You're my wife!
16:35You're mine!
16:36You belong to me!
16:38Open the door, Jamie.
16:43Open the door, Jamie.
16:44He loves Jamie and the kids deeply, so for her putting him down and calling him an idiot and yelling at him and him getting up early, 5, 6 o'clock in the morning, draining him more than he already is drained from working so much, it really made me hurt for Charlie.
17:02The now nearly daily battles begin to douse the flames on their once sizzling hot romance.
17:08You know, once in a while I heard, I love you, come out.
17:10Never did she ever really, like, kiss, like, that I saw, kiss or hug.
17:15It was just a lot of putting him down.
17:18You know, we should be on that show.
17:21Yeah, I'm not joking.
17:22No, we should be on the wife swap.
17:25But Charlie has an idea that might rekindle the spark and capitalize on their love of the limelight.
17:33First on TV for the wife swap thing.
17:34When Charlie sees a casting call for the hit reality series Wife Swap, he jumps at the chance to revive their marriage.
17:41Very far away to a farm, go by the snow.
17:44At the same time, he seems a little too eager to embarrass his wife on national television.
17:51She always wore high heels.
17:53Jamie wore high heels in the middle of the snow.
17:56You know, that didn't matter.
17:57She always wore heels, always.
17:59And I said, I hope they send you to a farm where you got to shovel crap.
18:03All right, my name's Charlie.
18:04My wife, she's beautiful.
18:06She looks great on TV.
18:07Her name's Jamie.
18:08Charlie has no idea that he's just lit the fuse on their floundering marriage.
18:13And I'll save her.
18:16Coming up, the couple's fights turn physical as their lust for attention backfires.
18:23The cops came in.
18:24We were arguing.
18:25We were screaming.
18:25And somebody had a doll.
18:38After three years of marriage and financial success, jealousy and anger are slowly tearing Charlie and Jamie Chernowski apart.
18:50I think that we'd be good candidates for that show.
18:53Oh, my God.
18:53Charlie contacts the casting producers of the reality show Wife Swap, a top-rated series where two dramatically different couples swap homes and spouses.
19:03He fantasizes it will make things better.
19:07Oh!
19:07Hey, hey, y'all, I'm all right.
19:16Hello?
19:18Hey, this is him.
19:19The next day, the producer calls me and says, Charlie, we love your message.
19:25Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
19:27Yeah, you can come in.
19:28We're going to send the camera crew out to do a test shoot.
19:30All right, I am excited.
19:32You both were gung-ho about it, yeah?
19:34I don't want to say I was gung-ho.
19:35I always have that attitude anyway, like, whatever.
19:38Woo!
19:39We're going to be funny, baby!
19:40Any couple that even mutually agrees to be on a reality show like Wife Swap has to go into it with the understanding that they are about to air their dirty laundry in public and that, in the end, there are going to be very real consequences from doing so.
19:55The Tchernowskis spend the next month filming the episode.
20:00The Tchernowskis is great.
20:04Oh, yeah!
20:05That's not even how that went.
20:06Yeah, wait, the camera can only capture what it sees.
20:09No.
20:10But when the show premieres, Jamie is horrified at the way she's been portrayed.
20:15That's not even what happened.
20:16Ooh-wee.
20:18That's all I got to say.
20:19She really came down on me hard on that.
20:22She was like, how could you allow them to make everybody believe that I sleep till noon, that you do all the work around the house?
20:27I'm like, pretty much, that's what's true.
20:30You know, all right, maybe you don't sleep till noon, but 10.30?
20:32Again, I don't care what they perceive me as.
20:42There is more substance to that, and initially, that's how I was approached.
20:46That's the route they were going to go, and they didn't.
20:50They presented you as being completely a bimbo.
20:56You must be doing it wrong, man.
20:58I don't know.
20:59You've got to think like a woman.
21:00While Jamie continues to fume, Charlie is thrilled with his new celebrity status.
21:06What the hell did you do on that show, man?
21:07I don't know.
21:07I was just myself.
21:09They just followed us around with cameras, and, you know, I just did what I normally do.
21:12I had the guys in the neighborhood saying, you know, we hate you.
21:16My wife keeps saying, why aren't you more like him?
21:21People recognize it sometimes, but it's just a religious reality.
21:24Well, at least you looked good on it.
21:26In the end, the couple's vault into the spotlight didn't jumpstart their marriage.
21:31It does just the opposite.
21:33I'm a perfect gentleman.
21:35I am, you know.
21:40Hey, baby, how you doing?
21:41You look beautiful, by the way.
21:42Who was that?
21:43Jamie is irritated by her husband's delight in his 15 minutes of fame.
21:48She was some girl that I was just talking to.
21:50So you're just going into bars these days and picking up fans?
21:54Now, the marriage's downward spiral starts picking up steam.
21:58I told you, she recognized me from, don't do this.
22:01Jamie said that, you know, I was cheating on her.
22:05Do not talk to other girls, okay?
22:06Do not talk to me like I'm a child.
22:07Do not talk to me like I'm a child.
22:10There was not one thing that ever came out that said that I was cheating on her.
22:14Jamie is a liar.
22:16He's always lying.
22:20He was lying so much that I questioned things that I believed and I was questioning myself.
22:28The love affair between the handsome hunk and the beauty queen is turning into something ugly.
22:35And there's no going back.
22:37They simply don't know how to use their words to communicate their unhappiness with each other
22:42and their unhappiness with the state of their lives.
22:44I can't believe you still want to fight about this.
22:46Why is it every time we go out, this has to happen?
22:49Conversation is replaced by backtalk and bickering.
22:52What have I done?
22:54It's a razor's edge that's about to get even sharper.
22:59Amy Gosselin is babysitting when she hears the couple return home.
23:03I was watching the kids, heard Jamie try to pull up, saw the lights really late, I want
23:09to say 2, 3 o'clock in the morning.
23:11Heard them arguing outside for a while.
23:14I heard the car door shut.
23:16I actually went over and peeked out the window.
23:18They were, I guess, arguing behind the truck because I couldn't see anything.
23:21To Amy, it's not clear who started the fight or what they're fighting about.
23:28She claims that he pushed her up against the trailer and smacked her in the head, but
23:34I didn't see it, so I can't say that it happened.
23:38Jamie!
23:41Jamie!
23:41Then they went up to the bedroom, still arguing.
23:46I know I'm such a big man now, Charlie, aren't you?
23:50Oh, Emerson picked up.
23:51Emerson, what the hell are you doing?
23:55Oops.
23:57I heard a crash upstairs, and there was a draw broken off.
24:04Charlie was leaving the bedroom.
24:06I am calling the police.
24:08You are out of control.
24:09We're calling the police.
24:10Jamie was telling me to call the cops, call the cops.
24:14It was just a lot of yelling, and Jamie had put herself against the door holding it
24:19so we couldn't get in, you know, to talk to her.
24:22Stop pounding on the door!
24:25You know, and she's screaming at me to call the cops.
24:29Me and her were arguing, and the cops came in.
24:32We were arguing, we were screaming, and somebody had to go.
24:34He was, he physically abused him.
24:38I am the victim, Charlie.
24:40Hey, hey, hey, stop that!
24:41You, you, you, I'll take a fight!
24:43Let's go!
24:44Take him away!
24:45Let's go!
24:46And they wound up taking me, and there wasn't a mark on it.
24:50The kids now were up at this point, and so I went in there and said, you know, everything's
24:53OK.
24:53Mom and dad just got into a fight, you know, go back to sleep.
24:56But, of course, they couldn't sleep with the yelling and the arguing.
24:59They took pictures of Jamie to find out, you know, if those marks were our hands.
25:04Can you point to where it was?
25:05I think it was like right here.
25:07Take your hand away from me, ma'am.
25:09Thank you, ma'am.
25:11Jamie files a temporary restraining order against Charlie that night.
25:16Hello?
25:17Is everything OK?
25:18Yeah.
25:19Everything OK.
25:20I'll be back later.
25:21OK.
25:22The next day, when I came to babysit, it was like nothing happened.
25:27Jamie and Charlie's burying of problems is just another poison eating away at their marriage.
25:33The charges eventually get dropped, but unlike other people who sit down and work through
25:38it and maybe even seek out marriage counseling or outside professional help to figure out how
25:43do we stop this cycle, Jamie and Charlie just acted like it never happened, as they seem
25:48to always do with anything unpleasant in their lives.
25:52What are you going to do?
25:53Are you going to hit me with the back?
25:54Can everybody watch me?
25:55Oh, yeah.
25:56Sure enough, ignoring their problems doesn't make them go away.
26:01According to Charlie, Jamie becomes increasingly erratic and violent.
26:05Jamie got pissed off, came in with a baseball bat.
26:09She has a very, very bad temper, a very, very bad temper.
26:13And she's the type that felt like, you know, I'm the girl, I can hit you.
26:17She's the girl, she's the girl, I can hit you.
26:22Coming up, is the worst yet to come?
26:25Just how far is an ex-cheerleader willing to go?
26:30New Jersey couple Jamie and Charlie Trinowski's five-year marriage is on a collision course.
26:51Since they were on the reality show Wife Swap, their fights have become even more frequent
26:57and intense. Good thing they still have plenty of money to ease the pain. Until the 2008 financial
27:07crisis threatens to finish them off.
27:13The economy hit. You need $12,000 a month to pay your bills, just to pay your bills. And
27:20that's just to get by. And you can only survive so long. You're trying to manage the tanning
27:27salon. On the weekends, being an entertainer. And then on Sundays, you're trying to go to
27:32flea market and hustle mattresses. And then on top of it all, be a husband and be a father.
27:37And then you're robbing Peter to pay Paul. And that's when things come crumbling down.
27:43Do you not realize where we live and how many kids we live?
27:46Charlie can no longer supply Jamie with the life of luxury she's used to.
27:54In the same week, Charlie loses his furniture business. And the couple is forced to close
28:00their tanning salon. In desperation, they put their upscale house on the market.
28:05How you acting so quiet? We're moving out of our house, right? It's not a time to be super
28:13excited or anything. You know, the one thing she said was, whatever you do, just don't lose
28:18the house. But when you're not making the money and you can't afford the house anymore, your
28:24cars get repoed in the middle of the night. Oh my God! No one has ever made me the way that
28:29you make me. He's punched holes in walls. He's yelled, he screamed, he's hurt me.
28:36I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
28:42The discord between Charlie and Jamie has been festering since the wife swap episode.
28:48And then when they suffer financial ruin, well, this causes a powder keg of pent up emotions
28:53that really has no option except to explode.
28:59At this point, there's no doubt the Chernowsky marriage is beyond repair. And as if things
29:05aren't bad enough, Charlie starts to suspect that Jamie's keeping secrets from him.
29:11I'm exhausted.
29:12When you walk in and she's on the computer and you see her on the computer, and as you
29:16walk over, she clicks out of it. What was that?
29:21Everything has a passcode on it.
29:24It's asking me for a password. What's your password? Your phone is locked too. What is
29:32with this? Everything's locked up. It's like I'm in Sing Sing.
29:36I can't get in because it has a lock on it. And then you question, why is there a lock
29:41on your phone? Oh, so I don't want the kids going through my phone.
29:44What are they going to do on your phone?
29:45Hello?
29:46Make long distance phone calls?
29:47And when you have two separate Facebooks and two separate MySpaces, and you put locks
29:51on your phones, you have the married life, the family, and then you have your single life.
29:58I thought you were bringing me a drink.
30:01At this point, Jamie is probably done with the marriage, and she simply is unprepared
30:07to deal with a new life, a new world, especially with two children, but with no husband.
30:12So instead of just putting the chips down and saying, Charlie, let's talk about divorce,
30:18she just goes and starts building a separate life, a level of secrecy that can only drive
30:24a wedge further into the disintegrating marriage.
30:27May 28, 2009 would become a fateful day. Jamie has plans for a girls' night out at a Jersey
30:41Shore tiki bar.
30:42Is this like a girls thing? I don't know.
30:44She wanted to go out, and I knew she was cheating at that point in my mind.
30:49I already knew it.
30:50I don't know, you know, maybe I'll come with you. What do you think?
30:54You want to come?
30:55Charlie sees it as an opportunity to catch Jamie red-handed.
31:00They pick up their friend Stephanie and head for the shore.
31:04So I'm like, all right, who else are we getting? Oh, no, no, that's it, just Stephanie.
31:07What happened to all the girls? Oh, we're going to meet everybody there.
31:13But when they get to the tiki bar, there's just one person waiting for them, and he's not a girl.
31:19Hi, guys. I wanted to introduce you to my friend Vince.
31:23This is Stephanie.
31:25Stephanie.
31:26And this is Charlie, my husband.
31:29Hey, Vince.
31:31And when she said husband, his face was like...
31:34What's up?
31:35Nice to meet you.
31:36Man.
31:37I didn't say nothing. Didn't say a word.
31:39Charlie claims Jamie spends the rest of the night getting drunk and flirting with her friend Vince and other men in the bar.
31:47Jamie's all over the place, drinking, shots over here, doing this over there with these people.
31:55A few hours later, the Chernowskis leave. They drop Stephanie off on their way home.
32:00I swear to you, Charlie. Seriously, I'm done.
32:15What happened? Is everything okay?
32:18Yeah.
32:20It's fine.
32:21Okay.
32:22She just ran too much.
32:23After the babysitter leaves, Charlie heads upstairs to bed.
32:29I go in the bathroom. I change.
32:31Like ten minutes goes by, and she's still not upstairs. So I decided to go downstairs.
32:42You could see the light on in the bathroom.
32:47As I'm walking to the bathroom, you could hear whispering, but arguing.
32:51So now I just have the most uneasy feeling in my stomach, so I'm pacing in front of the door, pacing.
32:56Like, what should I do? What should I do? I even put my ear up to the door.
33:01According to Jamie, Charlie goes ballistic.
33:06Who are you talking to?
33:07Nobody.
33:08Who are you talking to?
33:09Stop.
33:10Give me your phone.
33:11Give me your phone.
33:12Oh, I'll put you with a damn rose garden.
33:13No.
33:14He started grabbing me, trying to grab my phone. He said, give me your phone.
33:17Um, he started with it. He was going to kill me.
33:19Looks like Vince.
33:21Let's call Vince.
33:22He dragged me out of the bathroom.
33:24Hello?
33:25Hello?
33:26You know, whatever he was saying, I just remember, I'll kill you.
33:32Um, if I can't have you, no one can.
33:35Stop!
33:37Ah!
33:38I finally broke free.
33:40Where are you going?
33:41Where are you going to go?
33:42Where are you going to go?
33:43No!
33:44No one can hear you scream out.
33:45Yes!
33:46Yes!
33:47Then he caught me again.
33:48He started choking me there.
33:49He was choking me so hard that he lifted me off the ground.
33:52I can't have you.
33:53No one can hear you.
33:54No one can hear you.
33:55No one can hear you.
33:56Jamie frantically reaches behind her and finds a weapon.
33:59Let's shoot you.
34:00No!
34:01Get off!
34:02Go!
34:03I knew where the knife block was.
34:05I grabbed it hoping it was going to scare him, and it did scare him for a minute.
34:08Oh my God!
34:09Stay back.
34:10Let's get to it.
34:11I don't know.
34:12I don't know.
34:13I'm sorry.
34:15Come get off, I'm sorry!
34:16I'll give this one to you guys.
34:17That's the whole disturbing.
34:18Don't worry.
34:20Let's just come back.
34:21I'll get that back.
34:22Jamie and Charlie Chernowski are back home after a night of boozing on the Jersey shore.
34:29Jamie claims Charlie goes crazy with jealousy after overhearing her talking on the phone with her friend Vince.
34:38She says he was the aggressor, and she had to defend herself.
34:42Stay away!
34:44No. Get off.
34:46A girl likes to play with knives.
34:48Oh, yeah, come on. Oh, I believe it, baby. Let's go.
34:51You want to kill each other? You want to kill each other?
34:54Come on, baby! Let's go! Let's do this tonight!
34:59I had it in my right hand, and he was on top of me.
35:02I couldn't see, but I could hear.
35:04And then I couldn't hear, but I could see.
35:07I just remember turning my head and...
35:15and right in his, um, left bicep.
35:21Jamie plunges the knife into her husband's arm.
35:25The knife hits an artery, and Charlie's blood starts spraying everywhere.
35:30At least, that's the way she saw it.
35:33Charlie tells the entire story a little differently.
35:41I grab the door. It's not even locked.
35:43Open up the door, and she's standing in front of the mirror.
35:47You know that deer in headlights look? That's the look she gives me.
35:51And I look at her, and I'm like,
35:53Who are you on the phone with, Jamie?
35:55This is why I hate you. I wanted to force you.
35:57Who are you talking to?
35:59I said, you're cheating on me. I said, you're cheating.
36:01I said, who are you on the phone with, Jamie? You're cheating on me.
36:03No! Give it! Give it!
36:05No!
36:06No!
36:07No!
36:08It's...
36:10Hello?
36:12Hello?
36:13So I just take off. I just leave the bathroom.
36:15I leave her in the bathroom.
36:16Charlie!
36:17Now I'm trying to call her back.
36:18I'm like, hello, hello, hello.
36:19And he keeps hanging up. Hello, hello.
36:21He keeps hanging up. Hello, he keeps hanging up.
36:22Hello, he keeps hanging up.
36:23He keeps hanging up.
36:24I'm looking through the messages.
36:25She comes from behind.
36:27And was able to, like, jump on, like, on my back.
36:29And was able to get the phone out of my hand.
36:33Ah!
36:34Get up!
36:35Give me the phone! Stop!
36:36Fight!
36:37She takes a knife and then stabs me this way.
36:39And says, get off my phone.
36:41And then comes back and stabs me this way.
36:44Right here.
36:45Ah!
36:46Ah!
36:47Ah!
36:48I call my god, oh my god, oh my god.
36:49I'm like, you gotta call 911.
36:50She's just like, F you die.
36:52I hope you die.
36:53F you, F you.
36:54After you, I die.
36:55I didn't get to a hospital.
36:56I didn't get to a hospital.
36:57I didn't get to a hospital.
36:58I didn't get to a hospital.
36:59I didn't get to a hospital.
37:00No!
37:01So I was like, oh my gosh.
37:02I see the keys to the truck.
37:03I see the keys.
37:04So now I grab the keys and I run out the door.
37:07Get screwed.
37:08Charlie, you deserve it.
37:15Stay away from me.
37:16No.
37:17Hey!
37:18Hey!
37:19Hey!
37:20Put the key in the ignition.
37:21No!
37:22No!
37:23Then I get to a hospital opens up on the truck, and she's coming in.
37:24And I'm like, maybe she's coming to help me.
37:25Or maybe she's coming to stand me again.
37:27I'm really not sure.
37:28Then, according to Charlie, Jamie does something unthinkable.
37:33She removes his keys from the ignition, runs back into the house, and locks the front
37:40door.
37:41Now I'm like, like, what that, like, did she really do that?
37:50Open the door!
37:51I'm banging on the door, pleading for her to let me in.
37:54Get away from me!
37:56So at this point, I'm starting to feel sick and a little wheezy.
37:58So I take my shirt off to try to stop the bleeding.
38:01And I'm banging on the door, begging her.
38:03Please, please, I'm gonna die out here.
38:05I'm gonna die out here.
38:07And she's standing behind the door, and she's like, F you.
38:10I hope you die, F you.
38:13Open the door!
38:16And then what felt like a lifetime, for whatever reason, she decides to open up the door.
38:23You take your own damn car.
38:26As for Jamie, she says she had a very good reason for locking her bleeding husband out of the house.
38:32And he came back inside, and every time he would come, I thought he was coming.
38:36Like, for me.
38:39He thought he was coming back at you.
38:40Yes, 100%.
38:42By now, Charlie's lost a lot of blood.
38:46I grabbed the keys to my truck, which was a 96 Ford Ranger manual steering stick, and I drive myself to the hospital.
38:53Somehow, he makes it to the hospital before going into shock.
39:00I lost four and a half pints of blood.
39:04Your body holds seven.
39:06Your body holds seven.
39:07I basically died.
39:09I bled out.
39:13So you stayed in the house?
39:15My children were in there.
39:16I had to.
39:17I'm not leaving my kids.
39:21Was there blood?
39:24A little bit.
39:25Just a little.
39:26A little bit.
39:27Just a little.
39:33A neighbor hears the fighting and calls police.
39:36When officers arrive, Jamie Chernowski is mopping up Charlie's blood.
39:41She tells them her husband cut himself while working on his truck.
39:46Um, I lied to them at first.
39:48Why?
39:49I wasn't thinking straight.
39:50I didn't want to get him in trouble.
39:51I don't want to necessarily say I was protecting him as protecting my family.
39:56Then, police get a call that a nearby hospital has just admitted someone with life-threatening stab wounds.
40:05It's Charlie.
40:10Jamie Chernowski is arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
40:16When questioned by police down at the station, Jamie changes her story.
40:21Now, she says, she stabbed her husband in self-defense.
40:26According to the police and Charlie and medical records, Jamie is lying.
40:31When a person stabs another person, even if it's in self-defense, especially if it's in self-defense,
40:37the first thing that is on your mind is to call 911.
40:40To get police there to protect you so that there is proof that you had to use that level of force in self-defense.
40:48But, according to Charlie, Jamie wouldn't even drive him to the hospital.
40:53She wouldn't call 911.
40:55This is not typical variables that we would see in a true situation of self-defense.
41:01Charlie's left with permanent nerve damage in his arm.
41:04I have no use of my hand anymore.
41:06You know, I have no feeling from here up all the way.
41:10It's just unbelievable.
41:12Unbelievable that somebody could do that to somebody.
41:16I'll never forget her.
41:18Never.
41:19Never.
41:20Charlie still lives in New Jersey.
41:26He has a new girlfriend and has moved on with his life.
41:34No criminal charges were brought against Jamie.
41:40Today, she lives in New York City.
41:42She has put the past behind her and now leads a happy and healthy life.
41:59In the end, the former cheerleader and beauty queen got her time in the spotlight, but probably not the kind she dreamed of.
42:08If Jamie and Charlie made a big mistake, it was that they played at marriage like other people play house.
42:16They never really got it together in a deep, trusting, loving relationship.
42:22It was all about how others perceived them.
42:26And that was really destined for failure from the first day.
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