Local Woman Opens up about Joshua Fury, the man who killed Maria Pew
Alex Rumsey opened up to CCX News about her abusive relationship with her husband, who later went on to marry and then murder Maria Pew in Maple Grove. This is Alex’s story.
Alex Rumsey is a domestic abuse survivor.
Alex Rumsey says her relationship with her future husband became innocently enough. They went to the same church high school youth group. After four years, they decided to to get married.
But there was soon discontent in the relationship.
“At that point I was still convinced that it was my fault and my problem,” said Rumsey. “It took me several more years before other people started bringing up thoughts that maybe things weren’t as healthy as they should be.”
Alex’s reaction is not uncommon. Victims of abuse often blame themselves.
Rumsey says Joshua’s abuse manifested in being overbearing and controlling in the relationship. Joshua moved the couple away from their Minnesota roots to Virginia.
“He did tell me at one point that he felt like I was too close to my mom and dad. He was really controlling with our finances. Oftentimes I felt like I had to ask for permission. It felt more like a parent child relationship,” said Rumsey.
As Joshua continued in his overbearing dominance, Rumsey began to feel more and more isolated and unsure of herself.
She finally left the relationship and moved back to Minnesota and began to rebuild her life. Joshua came back to Minnesota also, found another girl and remarried. That girl happened to be Maria Pew. The couple took the name “Fury” when they married. Only a few months after they married, Joshua Cox Fury killed Maria and buried her body in the crawl space of their Maple Grove townhome.
“I woke up to a text and a phone call from a couple of my siblings asking if I was ok and I said yeah why? And they had said that they had heard that Maria was missing,” said Rumsey. “I don’t know if I had stayed longer what how our relationship would have changed and developed. It also somewhat served as a confirmation.”
Alex Rumsey says her ex-husband was psychologically abusive, and eventually, the tendencies of Joshua Fury progressed with a horrific outcome. Her advice for women who might be in a similiar situation?
“If things are not good. They’re probably right to trust their instincts,” said Rumsey.
