Her Air Force husband tried to kill her. Now she’s helping other victims of domestic violence
Kate Ranta survived a shooting by her ex-husband in 2012. (Kate Ranta)
Kate Ranta was in her Florida apartment with her father and son, trying to avoid a confrontation with her estranged husband, who had just pulled into the parking lot.
Then she heard gunshots.
Minutes later, Ranta was on the ground with bullet wounds in her right hand and left breast, thinking her father was already dead. She crawled to the kitchen table, where her then-4-year-old son, William, was standing on the other side, begging: “Don’t do it, Daddy. Don’t shoot Mommy.”
Ranta shared the harrowing account of that day in November 2012 on episode 36 of The Spouse Angle, the second episode in a two-part series on domestic violence in the military. Her now ex-husband, retired Air Force Maj. Thomas Maffei, is serving a 60-year prison sentence for attempted murder of Ranta and her father, who both survived the shooting.
Kate Ranta poses with her son, William, after being released from the hospital in 2012. William, then 4 years old, witnessed his father shoot his mother and grandfather. (Kate Ranta)
Ranta said the abusive behavior began shortly after the couple got married, while Maffei was still serving on active duty. She said she reported him directly to his commanding officer, and that though the Office of Special Investigations found him guilty after an investigation his command decided to settle the issue administratively and allow him to retire rather than pursue a court-martial. (The Spouse Angle was unable to confirm the domestic violence investigation by press time, but an Air Force spokeswoman confirmed Maffei was investigated for fraud in 2011. The Air Force is currently reviewing his case.)
“It’s just interesting to me that it took a civilian court to bring him to justice because the military had opportunities to prevent this from happening,” Ranta said. “The proper people were aware and had been warned.”
The Spouse Angle series comes as risks associated with domestic violence and reports of abuse have gone up globally since the beginning of coronavirus lockdown measures. Additionally, the Military Family Advisory Network recently released the results of its 2019 survey, which included questions about domestic abuse, or intimate partner violence, for the first time in the survey’s history.
“Here, 81 percent of our respondents said that it is an issue in military families, and they shared stories of ... frustrations in getting help, spouses saying that they know people, people in their neighborhoods — that they’ve seen it first hand,” said Shelley Kimball, research director at MFAN, in part 1 of the series in episode 35. “A lot of respondents said they feel like it’s hidden and overlooked and sort of a behind-the-scenes issue with military families.”
Kate Ranta’s ex-hubsand shot her in her right hand and left breast. (Kate Ranta)
The issue has also been getting more attention at the national level as well. Domestic violence became a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice in 2019, and Congress is eyeing the start of a domestic violence task force for the first time since the early 2000s to help keep the military accountable for how these cases are handled.
“The way [cases are] supposed to work in the military is when the Family Advocacy Program, military law enforcement agencies, a commanding officer becomes aware of domestic abuse as well as child abuse, they are supposed to contact everyone else within the military system that has a stake in the case, to include health care, to include base housing, other individuals,” said Brian Clubb, another guest on episode 35, who was a former attorney with the Battered Women’s Justice Project.
It’s then handled either administratively — early retirement, in Maffei’s case, according to Ranta — or through the military justice system, Clubb said.
And even if the abuser or the victim is a member of the military, that doesn’t mean it will be handled exclusively within the military justice system, which can further complicate matters, he said.
Kate Ranta and her son, William, now 11, are still dealing with the emotional effects of the shooting, including post traumatic stress disorder. (Kate Ranta)
Shortly after the shooting, Ranta knew she wanted to share her story. She started a Facebook page to chronicle her recovery — both physically and emotionally.
These days, Ranta is advocate for gun reform and violence against women, sharing her story through her book, “Killing Kate: A Story of Turning Abuse and Tragedy into Transformation and Triumph,” and speaking events to law enforcement, social workers and other groups, including on the steps of the U.S. Capitol and before members of Congress, alongside Clubb and other victims, in 2019.
“These are some of the systems that were set up to protect, but failed me,” Ranta said. “So sharing my story of what had happened I really hope makes an impact on the people listening.”