Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook. Editorâs note: This is the second in a two-part series that examines the impact on criminal defendants, victims, their advocates and the criminal justice system itself of the ongoing hold on state jury trials because of the pandemic. BENNINGTON â The woman says she still has nightmares about that night, three Decembers ago, when she thought her boyfriend would kill her. She told police he repeatedly squeezed her neck, until she almost blacked out. At one point, he apparently tried to strangle her in the bathroom, using a shower curtain rod.