On the evening of September 6, 2006, Susan Kuhnhausen, a 51-year-old emergency room nurse, was winding down after a typical workday. She had just visited a hair salon and was looking forward to a quiet evening at home in her Southeast Portland house. What she didn’t know was that her life was about to be turned upside down.

Susan’s day had begun like any other. She left work, stopped by a hair salon, and headed home, a modest blue Cape Cod-style house that she shared with her cats. Upon entering, Susan noticed a few things out of place—her husband, Mike, had left a note saying he had gone to the beach because he couldn’t sleep, and the house felt unusually dark and quiet. But what she didn’t expect was that an intruder, armed with a claw hammer, was waiting for her in the shadows of her own bedroom.

Ed Haffey, a 59-year-old with a long criminal record, had been hired to kill her. His employer? Susan’s own estranged husband, Mike Kuhnhausen. What unfolded next is a story of sheer survival, a battle between life and death.

As Haffey attacked, Susan, who had spent nearly 30 years as an emergency room nurse, found herself relying on her medical training and instincts. Her job had prepared her to deal with trauma and violence, but this was different. This was personal. As the man swung the hammer, Susan fought back with everything she had. She knew she had no other choice but to confront her attacker head-on.

At just 5-foot-4, Susan was significantly shorter than her attacker, but she outweighed him. She pushed him, wrestled him, and managed to grab the hammer. She swung it back at him, fought for her life, and in a final act of desperation, strangled him until he stopped moving.

When the police arrived, they found Susan bruised and bloodied but alive. Haffey, on the other hand, was dead. The investigation that followed revealed the shocking truth: Mike Kuhnhausen had hired Haffey, a man who worked for him at Fantasy Adult Video, to kill his wife in exchange for $50,000. The motive? Mike stood to gain the house and what little life insurance money Susan had.

The aftermath was equally harrowing. Susan had survived, but she was left to grapple with the psychological scars of not only being attacked in her own home but also learning that the man she had been married to for nearly two decades wanted her dead. The realization that she had killed another person to save herself was a burden that would weigh on her for years to come.

In the years that followed, Susan changed her last name to Walters and tried to rebuild her life. She moved to a new house, learned to shoot, and took every precaution she could think of to protect herself from the man she once called her husband. Mike, however, never got the chance to confront Susan again. He died of cancer in 2014, just months before he was due to be released from prison.

Susan’s story is one of resilience, survival, and a reminder of the violence that can lurk behind closed doors. It’s a tale that has been told and retold, not just because of the shocking details, but because it serves as a powerful example of the will to survive. Despite the trauma and the scars, Susan continues to share her story, hoping to inspire others to find their inner strength in the face of unimaginable danger.

Today, Susan Walters still carries the memories of that night, but she also carries the knowledge that she fought back and won. As she once said, “I didn’t choose his death. I chose my life.” And that choice, as harrowing as it was, is what makes her a survivor.