Influencer Sara Gilson’s ex-husband, Lyle Landers, allegedly “begged” her to leave her estranged husband Shawn Duffey before the couple’s apparent murder-suicide.
“She had been stuck in a relationship where domestic abuse seemed ‘OK,’” Landers, 46, claimed in an interview with People published on Sunday, July 26, of his ex-wife, with whom he shared two kids, and her recent marriage. “I had begged her for five years to get away from him. I had offered to help her, in any way I could, to get away from him. But, he seemed to have some sort of control over her, and she couldn’t seem to get away.”
Landers explained that he and Gilson divorced seven years ago, and were amicably coparenting their children prior to her shocking death at the alleged hands of her husband.
“It had been the best thing in the world for our kids, but also for us. We coparent as well as anyone, and it has shown in our kids,” Landers told the outlet of their dynamic. “She was a wonderful mother and would die for her children. In fact, her trying to protect children is what ultimately led to her death.”
Gilson and Duffey were found dead inside their Tulsa, Oklahoma, home on Thursday, July 23. She was 43. According to local reports, law enforcement officials interviewed an unidentified family member on the scene who claimed Gilson and Duffey died by murder-suicide.
Two weeks before the pair’s deaths, Gilson publicly accused Duffey of pedophila.
“Preparing for when Netflix drops a documentary about my soon-to-be ex-husband, who I just found out is a pedophile,” Gilson wrote over a July 11 TikTok video of herself sitting in a chair and pretending to get mic’ed up, participating in the viral social media trend.
Duffey, who never addressed the allegations ahead of his death, and Gilson had separated earlier this summer.
“Thank you for the army. Your thoughts, prayers and gift cards have meant more than you know,” Gilson wrote via TikTok last month, addressing her divorce. “While I’m grieving and trying to process the worst thing imaginable, I’m solely focused on my children and their well-being. Their safety and mental health is my only concern at this time.”
She added at the time, “We are not OK and I’m not sure I’ll ever be the same, but God has been so faithful in this process and I feel his presence in everything I do.”
Further details regarding Gilson and Duffey’s deaths have yet to be publicly shared. A police investigation is ongoing.
As for Landers, he says he will forever remember Gilson as “a beautiful person, inside and out.”
“She loved people immensely, and without judgment,” he told People. “Her greatest achievement in life, though, was in our two babies. She was always so worried before we had kids that she wouldn’t know what to do, or that she wouldn’t be a good mom. Turns out, she was a great mom. She went over the top for our kids, and always made sure that they knew she loved them.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support. If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
