Ashlee Harmon’s story is one of tragedy and forgiveness. Harmon and her first husband, Emmett Corrigan, met at Utah State University in 2003 and fell in love. They married in March 2004 before welcoming two sons and five daughters. Harmon stayed at home to raise the kids as Emmett established a law firm.
Harmon grew up in a fractured home and didn’t want her children to experience the same. She suspected Emmett of cheating, but she was determined to press on with the marriage.
Ashlee’s hopes of building a solid union with Emmett ended after the husband of a woman he was having an affair with gunned him down. The subsequent investigation featured in Investigation Discovery’s Till Death Us Do Part: Three Pops and a Pause.
Ashlee has forgiven her husband’s killer through her Christian faith
Ashlee’s parents divorced when she was around nine years old, leaving Ashlee and her five siblings to grow up in an unstable home.
She hoped to offer her kids a different experience, but Emmett’s roving eye threatened the couple’s marriage. Harmon suspected Emmett of cheating, but she had no evidence to support her suspicions. Ashlee told Investigation Discovery:
“I started thinking there’s got to be another woman or something, and the kids were starting to say, ‘Does he live here anymore? He’s always at work.’”
On the day of Emmett’s murder, Ashlee had planned a special night for the couple. Emmett arrived home late, started an argument with Ashlee, and left to pick up medicine at a pharmacy. In truth, however, he’d planned a meet-up with his lover and paralegal, Kandi Hall.
Unfortunately, Kandi’s husband, Rob Hall, learned about the meet and took matters into his hands. Rob confronted Emmett and fatally shot him. Ashlee experienced many conflicting emotions after the police broke the news of Emmett’s infidelity and death. She said:
“Just didn’t make sense, and it was a really a mix of emotions, wondering like, ‘Why wasn’t I enough? Why wasn’t I enough for husband who had a moment and a chance?’ I begged him to stay home and fight for me, but instead, he died fighting for someone else’s wife.”
Ashlee looked to the heavens for answers, and as she prayed in her closet, a voice said, “Find forgiveness and peace,” and that’s precisely what she did. She forgave her husband’s killer through prayer, meditation, and writing.
“Other people are not in charge of my pain. I know that now,” Ashlee told author Jason Wright. “Forgiveness is a process and we can’t take a magic pill and think, ‘OK, I finally forgave! It’s a continual journey and we cannot do it alone.”
Harmon forgave and found peace by immersing herself in religion. “It’s a journey to build a relationship with the One who can – and always will – heal us,” she added. “A stronger commitment to trust His plan and believe Him when He promised that He would always be with me.”
Ashlee has written a book titled The Moments We Stand and is the founder of the non-profit A Reason to Stand. “A non-profit conference offering HEALING and HOPE for anyone who has ever felt broken,” the organization’s Instagram page reads.
Ashlee has remarried and has two kids with her husband, Scott Boyson
For years after Emmett’s murder, Ashlee raised her five children as a single mother. At Rob’s sentencing hearing, she stated that by murdering Emmett, Rob had ended her family.
The family became complete again after Ashlee met Scott Boyson and married him. The couple lives in Utah and has welcomed two children.
Ashlee holds motherhood dear and documents her parenting on an Instagram page titled Here Is The Deal. “With a degree in Child Development and 7 kids, I love learning all things parenting – from baby sleep to raising teenagers,” the page’s description reads.
Harmon lives a life surrounded by love, but it’s tough to ignore the tragedy that changed her life. She’s written notes to Robert and Kandi Hall but never sent them. Writing them gives her peace.
She hopes that, like her, Robert and Kandi can find healing in the Christian religion. She told Jason F. Wright:
“Every one of us can have our lives shattered. But with the Lord near us, we’ll be all right. Without Him we’ll break, but with Him, we’ll break through.”