Ex-wife says former husband has 'three demonic spirits'

The parents of a woman who shot her ex-husband last week said they had no idea about her apparent mental troubles that led her to want to destroy the "demonic-filled" father of her two children.

"We were absolutely shocked," Kenneth Jones said Friday after hearing an incriminating excerpt from the diary of his daughter, Tina Marie Loher.

"I know what I have to do now," Hamilton County Sheriff's Office Detective Rodger Brown read from the diary Friday in a packed courtroom. "Terry is filled with three demonic spirits. One is assigned to me, one to each of my children. ... I will have to create three portals of exit, that way the (demonic spirits) can leave ... (and he will) stop making my life a living hell every chance he gets."

The diary entry was read shortly before Hamilton County General Sessions Judge Ronald Durby raised Ms. Loher's bond to $600,000 and said he was "concerned" about her mental state.

Ms. Loher, being held in Silverdale Detention Center, is charged with the attempted first-degree murder of Dr. Terrance "Terry" Loher, a chiropractor on Signal Mountain and the father of her two daughters with whom she had been ensnared in a bitter custody battle.

Despite a written indication that Ms. Loher planned to shoot her ex-husband at least three times, Mr. Loher survived with only one gunshot wound to the leg, a bullet that pierced his femoral artery.

Testifying in court Friday, Mr. Loher sat in a wheelchair and sometimes shed tears with his current, pregnant wife standing by his side. He asked Judge Durby not to allow Ms. Loher to make bail.

"If she makes bond and gets out, she's going to finish the job," Mr. Loher said calmly.

In the diary, Ms. Loher wrote that she would have to "destroy the phones and computer," too, since Mr. Loher had used such "mediums" to communicate with her and their daughters while he was "demonic-filled."

"Now the mediums are contaminated," the diary states.

"We love our daughter very much," Mr. Jones said after the court hearing. "(That diary entry) did not sound like her at all."

The diary entry was dated July 10, the day Ms. Loher drove with her two daughters from her home in Eidson, Tenn., just west of Kingsport to Mr. Loher's office at the Signal Mountain Chiropractic Clinic and shot him while the children waited in the car.

In addition to the attempted murder charge, Ms. Loher also is charged with two counts of reckless endangerment with regard to her children. The judge on Friday bound all three charges over to a Hamilton County grand jury.

On Friday, Mr. Loher told Judge Durby that Ms. Loher, a 41-year-old registered nurse, constantly had prevented him from seeing his daughters. He said she made up stories about the children, ages 7 and 5, not being safe in his home.

A psychologist recently concluded, however, that he posed no danger as a father, he said.

Court documents show a custody hearing had been scheduled for July 13 in Knoxville County Court.

According to testimony Friday, Mr. Loher was in his office the morning of the shooting, working on a patient. The assault seemed to happen quickly, with Mr. Loher explaining how his ex-wife simply "walked in my office, pulled a gun out and shot me."

She never said a word, Mr. Loher said, adding that he wrestled her to the floor after being shot to prevent her from shooting again. The .38-caliber firearm went off a second time amid the struggle, he said, but the bullet did not hit anyone.

Mr. Loher said his ex-wife fell to the floor during the struggle.

"When she started moving, I kicked her in the head with my good leg" to prevent her from escaping, Mr. Loher said.

Ms. Loher stood silently in court in handcuffs throughout the hourlong hearing. A large black bruise covered her face. Defense attorney Myrlene Marsa said she does not expect her client to make bail, although she had asked the court to lower Ms. Loher's bond because she has no prior criminal history.