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A Minnesota father-of-four once threatened to kill his wife and leave their kids “without parents” – years before fatally stabbing her and turning a gun on himself with their baby granddaughter nearby, according to cops and chilling court documents.
Cops responding to a 911 call about an assault instead found Lisa Thigpen, 37, and her husband Gregory Thigpen, 41, dead in an apparent murder-suicide inside their North St. Paul home just before 1 a.m. on Nov. 1, police said.
The couple’s 14-month-old granddaughter was also inside the house but was found unharmed, according to cops.
Police noted that Lisa had suffered visible stab wounds, while Gregory appeared to have died from a gunshot.
Their official causes of death had not been released as of Friday afternoon, though, cops noted, the attack was believed to be an “isolated incident” involving the married couple.
Disturbing court records, however, reveal that the wife had endured a lengthy history of violence at the hands of her future killer.
Gregory’s abuse against Lisa seemingly kicked off after the birth of their first daughter, now 22, when the twisted dad was sentenced to 90 days behind bars on a criminal conviction of domestic assault that caused bodily harm for an incident involving Lisa in 2006, court records obtained by The Post reveal.
Following that incident, Gregory and Lisa still went on to have three more children together – now ages 17, 15 and 13, according to a GoFundMe created to support the kids after their parents’ deaths – and even tied the knot in 2015.
But the violence seemingly ramped up soon into their marriage, with Lisa detailing Gregory’s abuse in a September 2018 petition for a restraining order against him, court records show.
“The verbal and emotional abuse has been throughout our relationship and have escalated over the past year – threatening to kill me, kill me and himself, and leave the kids without parents,” the terrified mom wrote of Gregory.
“He is extremely controlling and keeps me isolated from everyone.
“I am afraid of him and what he might do. I am not sleeping, I am shaky, I am constantly afraid,” she continued.
Lisa also recalled one particularly alarming incident earlier that month, when she and Gregory began arguing about money while two of their children were home.
All of a sudden, the enraged dad yelled, “I am going to snap,” before pouncing on Lisa, according to the petition.
“He was holding me down, restraining me, and attempting to strangle me,” Lisa wrote.
“He told me that he was going to kill me.”
Gregory only let go of her neck after their eldest daughter, then 14, walked into the room and “told him to stop,” according to Lisa, who said that she was left with scratches, bruises and red marks across her neck, chest and chin from the harrowing incident.
“I am scared of what Greg will do the next time he snaps,” she wrote in her request for the restraining order, which was granted by a judge.
Just two months later, however, Lisa requested that a judge remove the order against her husband – a request that was also granted.
“I would like to go to marriage counseling and save [our] family and marriage,” she reportedly wrote in that court filing.
“He has been following the order and I feel no threats to me. Gregory is willing to be more involved with [our] children.”
An online fundraiser created to help support their surviving kids had raised almost $30,000 as of Friday.
“Paige, at just 22 years old, is also facing the overwhelming responsibility of helping care for her younger siblings and handling the many things that come with losing a parent so unexpectedly,” a bio for the webpage read.
“No one this young should ever have to face these kinds of challenges.”
