Fight over Clearasil led to deputies’ death

The Fort Walton Beach Daily News reports that the marital argument that led to the deaths of two Okaloosa County deputies was over a tube of Clearasil.

An offense report filed against Cartwright the day he died outlines an angry husband who threatened his wife, kept guns and knives on hand, was “severely disturbed” that Barack Obama had been elected president, and believed the U.S. government was conspiring against him.

According to the report, events spun out of control Saturday morning.

Cartwright’s 21-year-old wife, Elizabeth, told deputies her husband was not attending anger management counseling — something the court ordered after Cartwright was charged with domestic battery against Elizabeth in late 2008.

On Friday, Elizabeth told lawmen, Cartwright was laid off from his job at a telephone store. He also had worked as a bouncer at a bar at one point, and weighed about 220 pounds.

About 9:30 a.m. Saturday, a frustrated Cartwright woke up Elizabeth in the couple’s Consul Apartments home on Monahan Drive because he couldn’t find the Clearasil in the bathroom.

He insisted it was in Elizabeth’s purse and eventually threw off her covers, picked her up from the bed and threw her back down, pulling her hair with enough force to move her head back and forth, according to the report.

She confronted him and “told him this behavior was not acceptable,” according to the report. But Elizabeth said she still feared for her life. Cartwright took away two phones she tried to use to call for help, she said.

Read more.

Share: