The suicide of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills husband Russell Armstrong shocked America. Now his sister tells INSIDE EDITION she thinks he was murdered.
Taylor Armstrong's sister-in-law is calling the Real Housewife of Beverly Hills star a liar.
Taylor is coming forward for the first time since her husband's death with startling claims about secret abuse in their marriage. She says Russell Armstrong first became violent when she fed his two children from a previous marriage pizza for dinner.
"He said, 'If you ever make my children a pizza without a vegetable again I'll kill you,' " said Taylor.
Shockingly, Taylor was pregnant with their daughter, Kennedy.
"He grabbed me by the throat and held me up against a wall," continued Taylor.
INSIDE EDITION's Les Trent sat down with Russell's sister, Laurie Kelsoe, who lives outside Dallas. She acknowledges that at one point, her brother admitted to pushing Taylor. But she doesn't believe he ever hit her.
"Enough already. She makes me sick," said Kelsoe.
Trent asked, "Why would she say it?"
"Money. Very clearly money. There is no way that a woman like that would stay in a marriage if that was going on. She's a fool if she thinks this is going to work. Wouldn't you leave marriage and protect yourself and your baby if that was the case? Is there a police report?" said Kelsoe.
Taylor never filed a police report. But she says Russell would sometimes give her injuries that could be covered by her hair.
"He would grab me by one side of the hair in my head and bang the other side of my head against the car. He would say, 'I'm afraid I'm going to kill you one day,' " claimed Taylor.
Kelsoe said, "Why would she say it now? It would be different if Russell were here to defend himself but to say these things that my mom and my dad and my nephews and nieces have to hear, it's wrong."
Kelsoe says Taylor has refused to speak to their family since Russell was found hanged in August. The coroner has ruled it a suicide.
Trent said, "You don't believe your brother committed suicide."
"I think he was murdered," replied Kelsoe.
"By whom and for what purpose?" asked Trent.
Kelsoe responded, "That's what I'm trying to find out. It can be a money business deal gone bad."
She says she's hired lawyers and investigators to find out the full story about his death. Meantime, she's trying to come to terms with what happened to her big brother.
"I will not ever say he was perfect. Nor am I. Nor is anyone. But he was a very loving man," said Kelsoe.
