Blevins resumes her life following horrific assault
“For the first time in over two years, I slept the night through. I’m reclaiming my life.” –Pam Blevins
BY RACHEL DOVE
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
TOMAHAWK — After living the last two years in a state of fear, Pamela Blevins of Tomahawk can sleep through the night and resume her life. A jury recommended 35 years in prison last week after finding her ex-husband, Mardy Mollett Jr., 52, of Tomahawk, guilty of breaking into her home, brutally beating her, and killing her dog in March 2020.
“He did not destroy me,” Blevins said. “He did not win. He’s in jail, and I’m free. Yes, I can finally say those words. I’m truly free.”
“I’ve often heard an old saying that we never really know someone, and there’s not a truer statement on the face of this earth,” Blevins said in an interview with The Mountain Citizen. “I was with my ex for approximately 25 years altogether, and although we had some rough times and he had a temper, I never would have expected the nightmare that occurred on March 13, 2020 – a date I will remember as long as I live.”
“No one I know would ever jump into a relationship with someone they know to be a bad person straight out of the gate,” said Blevins.
“When Mardy and I first started dating at the end of 1995, he was an intelligent, helpful, hardworking man that was never without a job. He could do anything he set his mind to, and he did it well. He was good to my children and we got along.”
Blevins said Mollett’s life took an unexpected turn when he was diagnosed with only having 40 percent of his lung capacity and had to file for disability. Mollett began showing signs of depression, according to Blevins. “His demeanor began changing and he became an unhappy and hateful person.”
The couple argued more and more frequently.
Blevins and Mollett legally divorced in 2002, but after being apart for a while, rekindled their relationship and lived together once again. However, they never remarried.
In 2012, in response to an affair that Blevins said Mollett admitted to having, Blevins left Mollett again, moving back home to Pike County with her daughters. Blevins stayed in that area until 2015, when she decided to move back to Martin County with plans to build a tiny house on property she owned on Rockcastle.
“By that time, Mardy and I were back to being, I guess, what could be considered as friends,” said Blevins. “He drew up a blueprint for my tiny house and helped work on it when he could. In late 2016, it was completed and my daughters and I moved in. Things were fairly calm with no major blowups until late 2018, early 2019 when I began noticing some major changes in Mardy’s moods and behavior. He started talking about crazy stuff, acting paranoid all the time, saying people were watching him or spying on him. He was so hateful you couldn’t stand to be in the same room with him.”
Blevins began to suspect Mardy was abusing hard drugs, such as methamphetamine.
“That was it for me. I was done, especially when he also admitted to snorting cocaine,” said Blevins. “Shortly after that point in our lives, Mardy’s family discovered what was going on, and they also cut him out of their lives. No one could trust him to be around their homes. He became a completely different person. He was no longer the Mardy we knew.”
The next year was a struggle for all involved. Living in close proximity to Mollett was not an ideal situation, but Blevins was not going to walk away from her home and what she had worked for. She became uneasy, more cautious of her surroundings, and made a conscious decision to stay away from Mollett as much as possible.
Blaming Blevins for a disagreement with his own nephew, “Mardy came to my house with a gas can, intending to burn me out had I not been there. I pulled a gun on him as he advanced toward me.”
“He yelled, ‘B—-, if you pull that gun, you better pull that trigger.’”
Blevins said she hesitated, and Mollett struck her in the face, knocking her to the ground. According to Blevins, Mollett jumped on her and began trying to wrestle her gun, a .38 revolver, out from under her body and commenced striking her in the head and torso. Blevins said she lost consciousness for a brief moment, and Mollett gained possession of the gun and began beating her with it.
“At that time, I truly believed I was living in my last moments on this earth, and all I could think about was that Mardy would also kill my daughter and son-in-law who were in the bedroom of my home,” said Blevins. “But my daughter had other ideas and ran into the living room where we were, grabbed a wooden chair, and started hitting Mardy with it across his back. She saved my life because he was choking me out. I wouldn’t have lasted long.”
While kicking Blevins repeatedly, Mollett turned the revolver on Blevins’ daughter and son-in-law “and told them to get back in the bedroom,” stated Blevins. “He then force-dragged me throughout the house, making me show him where all my guns were. He removed them and slid them into the waistband and pockets of his coveralls and then proceeded to take the 22 mm and shoot the windows out of my house. He shot the gas stove, refrigerator, television and other things. And that wasn’t enough for him. He was determined to hurt me as much as he possibly could. He went into the bathroom where my sweet dog, Huey, was cowering and hiding and shot him three times. He also shot at my cat but missed.
“He finally walked out the door,” said Blevins. “He then walked up to the front of my truck and fired two shots into the front of it, hitting the radiator, then fired into the hood, hitting the engine block. As he was getting in his truck, his parting words were, ‘Pam. If there’s any repercussions for this, they’ll never find you.’”
Blevins was barely able to make it to the Zip Zone on New Route 3 to call 911 before her truck overheated.
As soon as deputies arrived and took her statement, she was transported by private vehicle to Pikeville Medical Center, where she was admitted and remained two days recovering from seven fractured ribs, multiple contusions, lacerations, and a head wound.
According to Blevins, Mollett was eventually caught in Logan County after being pulled over for an equipment violation. “While running his license, they discovered the warrants from here, and Sheriff John Kirk was notified.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and delayed trials, Mollett did not stand trial until last week.
Following the three-day trial, the jury found Mollett guilty of first-degree burglary, second-degree assault, first-degree criminal mischief and second-degree cruelty to animals. The jury recommended 20 years for burglary, 10 years for assault, five years for criminal mischief and 12 months in the county jail and a $500 fine for cruelty to animals.
“I cannot begin to explain the relief that washed over me when I heard the word ‘guilty,’” said Blevins. “He will not be free to stalk, torment, threaten, abuse or try to control me. He can’t call all hours of the night. He can’t pull in my driveway and shine his bright lights through my house. He can’t follow me when I drive down the road. And he will never again walk up on my porch or come in my house. His reign is over. … My life is mine.”
Blevins said she is taking back everything Mollett took from her, one day at a time.
“The day of the verdict, I went home that evening and only then did it really sink in: I can go to sleep without my gun under my pillow. I don’t have to listen for every little sound. And you know what? That’s exactly what I did. I went to bed with a peace I hadn’t felt in years, and I slept.”