❤️HER NAME IS: ALISON DOREEN PERFECT!❤️
She wanted to control her own life – for this, he murdered her – in front of her children.
Her name is Alison Doreen Perfect. She was only 39. Stanley Robert Perfect murdered Alison in Auckland, New Zealand on August 23, 1973. He pleaded provocation and served 3.5 years in jail.
Listen to Alison’s story on the She Matters Podcast. The Podcast is proudly sponsored by Verve Super.
“My first memory of my mum was actually when I was quite small,” Alison’s daughter Donna-Leigh says.
“We were at the park collecting flowers and I asked her what her name was and she said, ‘Ali’. And I said: ‘Oh, Ali, what? What kind of name is that, mum?’ And she said to me: ‘Well, it stands for alligator and I’m coming after you. And she chased me around the park and then we started skipping.
“She just she had this lovely sense of humor, very gentle.
Donna-Leigh’s time with her mum was short but she remembers Alison as a vibrant woman who was devoted to her family. She worked hard as a nurse while raising her five children.
“Mum always loved to dress up – she loved to be in the latest fashion,” Donna-Leigh recalls.
“She was an extrovert, very outgoing, a real social person, social butterfly.
“She had a big circle of friends, but her sisters were probably her closest friends.”
Alison had ongoing mental health struggles for which she was treated but she made sure her children were unaffected.
Donna-Legh’s early years were relatively peaceful – filled with playing with her brothers and sisters, camping with extended family members and growing up in a quiet neighbourhood.
Her mother met her father at a business event and they were together for about 17 years.
Donna-Leigh recalls him having violent fights with her uncles. He would often disappear from social gatherings and he consumed a lot of alcohol.
She says he was controlling of her mother and that he did his best to isolate her from her brothers.
“I know that there were times where he was threatening toward her,” Donna-Leigh says.
“He held a knife next to her neck at one point and he also tried to strangle her.
“I believe she was very afraid of him and I wonder if she ever thought to leave or where her mind was at towards the end of the relationship.”
Alison had checked out of the marriage and was pursuing a new life in the months before her death.
Donna-Leigh was only seven years old when she watched her father murder her mum.
“It’s an image that will never erase – it’s something that’s etched in my memory forever,” Donna-Leigh says.
When they took him to jail, Alison’s children were placed in the foster care system.
Donna-Leigh endured deeply traumatic violence while in care.
When her father was released from jail, authorities offered her and the children two choices – remain in foster care or live with him. They chose the latter because the former was unbearable.
Stanley died when Donna-Leigh was 17 years old.
The traumatised teenager grew into a strong warrior, turning her story into one that helps change the world for other children and women.
“I’ve redirected my experiences into something good through my work in both the books I wrote and my Resilient Rockstar show,” she says.
Resilient Rockstar is a high-energy, fun and interactive show combining magic, storytelling and exercise. It uses messages of self-belief and tangible tools to help children cope with bullying.
“I find the show and my writing to be incredibly empowering and it gives me a sense of purpose,” Donna-leigh says.
“It honors my mum.
“I have this this gratitude that her life was not in vain.”
ALISON DOREEN PERFECT MATTERS!❤️
