Abuser who promised to kill ex-wife gets released

MONROE, N.C. — A North Carolina woman whose then-husband attacked her with pliers, a broom handle, belt and his feet 15 years ago is living in fear again now that he’s been released from federal prison.

Thirty-eight-year-old Heather Thompson of Monroe says she fears that her ex-husband, Thomas Howard Price Jr., will attack her again, as he did in 1994.

Price served 10 years of a 24-year sentence in state prison for the attack, then served most of a five-year sentence in federal prison for sending a death threat.

But Price was released from prison Friday. His attorney says Price won’t go near Thompson, and he must wear an electronic monitoring device for six months as a term of his release.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)