Back in November, Kurt Busch's ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll accused him of smashing her head into a motorhome wall three times, and filed for a protection order. The first two days of a hearing regarding the order were held in Kent County (Del.) Family Court in December. According to ESPN, Driscoll testified that Busch was "unstable and struggling with alcoholism and depression," among other things. The second two-day portion of the hearing concluded today, and Busch dropped a bombshell with his testimony: he claimed Driscoll is a trained assassin.


According to Busch, Driscoll told him stories about her super secret assassin missions, and he was even with her one night when he thinks she committed a killing. Via AP:

Busch said Driscoll repeatedly asserted her assassin status and claimed the work took her on missions across Central and South America and Africa. He recounted a time they were in El Paso, Texas, when Driscoll left in camouflage gear only to return later wearing a trench coat over an evening gown covered with blood. Busch said that, a day earlier, Driscoll told him she was a mercenary who killed people for a living and had shown him pictures of bodies with gunshot wounds. Busch said Driscoll had claimed that a female character in "Zero Dark Thirty," a film depicting the CIA's hunt for Osama bin Laden, was a composite of her and other women.


Apparently Busch shared his secret with his friends and they were skeptical, but it wasn't enough to dissuade him. Via The News Journal:

Driscoll's alleged background as a trained assassin who had experience killing drug lords via long-range sniper rifles and close combat tactics – including the use of knives and poison – became a major talking point during the latter stages of the hearing. On both Monday and Tuesday, Busch said he still believes Driscoll is a trained assassin, despite some of his doubts and questioning by friends. "Everyone on the outside can tell me I'm crazy, but I lived it on the inside...," Busch testified. "Sorry I'm the last one to the party."

The News Journal reports that "neither Driscoll nor her attorney refuted the claims during the hearing," but afterwards AP talked to her on the phone and she denied the allegations, saying that Busch's own attorney Rusty Hardin (who also represented Adrian Peterson when he faced child abuse charges) doesn't believe them:

"These statements made about being a trained assassin, hired killer, are ludicrous and without basis and are an attempt to destroy my credibility," Driscoll said. "Not even Rusty Hardin believes this." "I find it interesting that some of the outlandish claims come straight from a fictional movie script I've been working on for eight years," Driscoll added.


Driscoll has an interesting background that makes Busch's assassin claims seem at least vaguely plausible. One of her jobs is as the president of the Armed Forces Foundation, a non-profit that seeks to improve the health of military service members. But she's also the owner of a defense contractor called Frontline Defense Systems that provides military equipment to the government and private companies.

There is a kind of insane video on YouTube titled "Pocket Commando," that is a reality TV-style mini-documentary about Driscoll's life—it's unclear if Driscoll commissioned the video or why it was shot. In the video she dresses her kid up head-to-toe in war gear and says she is "commando mommy" as far as he is concerned, she goes to a gun range, an employee of hers (at the AFF) says one of her nicknames is Baby Rambo, and other employees rip her naked out of bed at a NASCAR event.

Back in November TMZ reported that Busch's lawyers were planning to introduce the video as evidence in the protection order hearing, though I haven't read any news stories that confirm they did. TMZ also reported at that time that "Busch's attorneys will argue that Driscoll is a 'trained assassin' who would have no reason to fear Busch." It sounded like an unlikely legal strategy at the time, but I guess Driscoll isn't the worst candidate to be moonlighting as an assassin. Of course, even if Driscoll is an assassin, it doesn't mean Kurt Busch didn't slam her head against the wall.


[AP/ The News Journal]

Photo via Jerry Markland/Getty