‘ I THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO KILL ME ’
W hen Ashley Morgan Smithline first began conversing with Marilyn Manson in July 2010, she thought he was the perfect man. “All we talked about was our favourite movies and our favourite books. We knew the same lines from the same movies,” says the California-born model, who was introduced to the singer (real name: Brian Hugh Warner) by a mutual contact, photographer Tyler Shields.
Then working in Bangkok, Smithline says her relationship with the LA-based Manson, known for heavy metal with shocking lyrics, grew from emails into hours-long phone conversations. Over several months, “he lured me in with this endless intelligence”, says Smithline, 36, who thought she had found a sensitive soul underneath his ghoulish persona. “It felt very safe and secure.”
But soon a monster emerged, according to Smithline, who says their relationship over the next two years turned into a terrifying ordeal of sexual, physical and psychological abuse. He began to bombard her with dozens of messages at a time across email, Facebook and text,
