Deana Kethagee is a domestic abuse survivor who is currently in recovery at a private medical facility in Michigan.

History

Deana Murphy was born in October 1979 in Great Britain.  She grew up in a very religious household and raised by parents Marie and Jim. Deana's father was a pastor at a local church in the small community she resided in, and her mother was a seamstress. Deana herself was also very religious. She was an obedient child and was known as “the good child” amongst adults. She sang at church and always had a smile on her face, even though she felt deadened inside. As she was the pastor's daughter, Deana's parents expected perfection, so Deana could never talk out of turn or express her opinions.

At school, Deana had many friends but never felt they knew the real her, because she felt she needed to exude an aura of perfection. She earned straight As in school, sang in choir, and received a full scholarship to college. In 1998, she applied to a foreign exchange program, since she had always wanted to travel to the USA. Her parents were not thrilled about this but decided to allow it so long as she kept in close contact.

Deana was assigned to a college in Michigan, where she majored in literature. It was there that she met Peter Kethagee, a psychology student.  She was immediately drawn to his charm, and they began to date. After a few blissful months, Deana agreed to marry him, and their daughter, Ophelia, was born a year later.

Deana's parents were extremely disappointed that she decided to live in the United States away from their home, and she began to lose touch with them. Deana's sole goal in life became pleasing Peter. She worked at a local library using her literature degree until Ophelia was born a year after the wedding. Deana became a stay-at-home mother, while Peter worked as a school psychologist. Peter slowly began to change before her eyes as time went on. The man she loved fell deeper and deeper into darkness and despair. Deana took his physical and emotional abuse to try and protect Ophelia. She shielded it from the outside world to protect her family's image, as she had been taught to do.

Deana soon became a shell of herself after enduring Peter's tirades for years. He soon moved onto Ophelia, which Deana initially fought. Peter's threats ultimately kept her silent, however, and so she tried to block out what Peter did to Ophelia while retaining whatever semblance of a normal family she could.

As time went on, Deana grew jealous of Peter's affection for Ophelia. Once Ophelia grew older, Peter rarely showed Deana any semblance of affection, so when Deana witnessed him cuddling and kissing Ophelia, a streak of envy would form in her mind. She soon began to resent Ophelia despite herself, falsely telling herself that if Ophelia hadn't come around, her marriage would be fine.

Summit of the Wolf

On one fateful night in July 2012, Peter Kethagee lured his daughter Ophelia into the basement and sedated her in an attempt to sexually abuse her.  Ophelia, despite feeling woozy, stood up against her father and attempted to attack him in an effort to stave off the abuse.  She fell down from dizziness, however, and bumped her head hard on the furnace.  Peter, panicked, cradled Ophelia's unconscious form and called for an ambulance.  Ophelia was taken to Tristan General Hospital.

While his daughter was a coma, Peter rehearsed a cover story for what happened with Deana.  They told Doctor Dryden Simms and nurse Brianna Auberon that Ophelia fell down the stairs in the middle of the night to get a glass of water.  While the hospital staff had suspicions that this story may not be true, Peter insisted to Deana that they could not prove otherwise.

When Ophelia woke from the coma, she proved to be Peter's downfall.  She confessed everything to Brianna, and the police got involved.  As Ophelia was taken by child protective services, police raided the Kethagee Home and found enough evidence to arrest both Peter and his wife.

After extensive deliberation, it was deemed that Deana was a victim herself, and she was admitted to psychiatric care at a private medical facility in Michigan.

Deana Kethagee