Could you stay in a relationship/be friends with a murderer?

[AlternativePerspective]

Last night I watched a documentary on channel5 about Rachel Reilly who was murdered by her husband because he wanted to be with another woman but didn’t want to end up with only part time access to his kids.

Even during the investigation the woman he was having an affair with stayed with him, but after I’d finished watching I went and read up a bit because I was curious about her. And apparently she stayed in a relationship, and went to prison to see him regularly, for 13 years. And even after the relationship ended, they are apparently still close friends.

And I can’t help wondering, what goes through someone’s head that they would want to stay in a relationship and then friends with such an evil calculating bastard?

I've cared for plenty of murderers, but to be honest they are so fucking boring that I wouldn't choose to be friends with them.

No way, absolutely not.

No, I could never be in a relationship with a Murderer.
I know the damage done to families by Murdering Bastards.

Nope, she is a needy sympathiser who loves the attention and he’s a psychopath.😡

I could never be friends or in a relationship with a murderer. I've seen the devastation caused by murder and couldn't have anything to do with someone who had committed one

No that's freaking crazy. I missed the start of that documentary and watched a few mins of it. I don't remember the case at all (tbf was a child).

How could you one stay with him!!! Just madness. Thought it was interesting that the psychiatrist or who ever it was said he was gas lighting her etc but we didn't have terms to describe that behaviour.

The poor woman

I cant understand it, particularly with that guy. Joe O'Reilly is a nasty peice of work. Rachel's murder was meticulously planned out and was really vicious.

I remember the case well.
Inviting Rachel's parents down when the house after forensics before any crime scene cleaners with splattered blood while he played out different scenarios with actions as to how the burglar might have hit her.

Under them circumstances, no not a hope in hell.
A accident where the murderer could not help it ie accident beyond there control or mercy killing ( which I know is a very divided topic ) then possibly.

Well not in that situation no. But I would take it case by case. It would depend why the murder happened

How come you know so many murderers?

I think people can be more than one thing. I used to work in a prison, people do some awful things, or make terrible mistakes, it's not their entire personality. For me it would entirely depend on the circumstances, people can rationalise some pretty irrational things when emotions are running high.

It depends on the circumstances, in the ones you describe - no!

If my partner had killed his wife to be with me, I’d be hiding the knives every time he said he was working late, or spent too long on his phone. How would you ever relax!

Not that person. In general, quite possibly.

I live in a place where the year before I moved here, a terrorist was living in hiding. They had a false identity and were a huge part of the local community and much loved. Then they were found out and deported. There are some of the community that stayed friends with them and some that didn't, and longstanding disapproval of one group by the other. I have absolutely no idea which group I would have been in (realistically I wouldn't have been close friends with them because I'm not cool enough, they were a glamorous family apparently).

No I could not be. Nor with someone whose actions or inactions led to a large number of deaths, such as Boris Johnson who has probably caused 20,000 deaths that were avoidable.

I'd assume she was involved in planning it tbh

Well she was never going to be sane was she? She stayed in a relationship with him while he was in prison. Definitely going to remain friends even after that.

I couldn't be friends with a murderer though, definitely not in a relationship with one.

a friendship maybe depending on the reason/circumstances

a relationship (partner) no. If they didn’t care well that’s an issue that doesn’t need further explaining, if they did the guilt would always impact their life and those around them

See I would go one further and say that I couldn’t be friends with someone who maintained a friendship with someone like him.

It says something about that person as well, and none of it good.

I agree.

I'd be livid with a friend or family member who continued the relationship.

She is well known for her association I think she enjoys the attention.

It's hard to believe she wasn't aware of his guilt as seen in the documentary he was a show man who liked to hint of his guilt.

AlternativePerspective If you're interested in crime documentaries the Graham Dywer documentary is shocking, he has recently had a law overturned dismissing phone evidence, the evidence that secured the conviction of Joe Reilly.
Who knows how many criminals will have sentences overturned.