Disneyland death: Man saw suicide as only way out of 'toxic' marriage, daughter ... trends now
The daughter of the California man who killed himself at Disneyland last weekend says her father saw suicide as the only way out of his 'toxic' relationship with his 'abusive' wife.
Chris Christensen, a Huntington Beach elementary school principal and musician, jumped to his death from a parking garage at Disneyland on Saturday night.
The 51-year-old was facing charges of child abuse and endangerment and battery, according to Orange County court records.
In a letter he posted on Facebook before he died, he laid the blame at the feet of his wife and mother of his stepchildren, Marlena, claiming that during an altercation last month her 'anger got the best of her' and she called the cops with allegedly false claims of abuse.
Brittany Christensen, 26, revealed her father Chris, 51, had been trying to 'figure out how to leave' his allegedly 'abusive' wife in the weeks before his suicide
Christensen, an elementary school principal and musician from Huntington Beach, California, on Saturday left a suicide note on Facebook in which he revealed his secret marriage to second wife Marlena (pictured) and blamed her for endangering his career by calling 911 during a heated altercation last month
However, law enforcement believed her enough to put him in jail for two nights, charge him with the two domestic violence-related offenses, and set his bail at $10,000.
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, his daughter claimed that it was actually Marlena who was abusive, and accused the divorced mother of tearing apart her family.
Brittany Christensen, 26, is one of the late principal's three children from his first marriage, which ended in divorce in 1999.
'The charges were inaccurate. [Marlena] has been very difficult in our family for about the last year, and we haven't had any contact with her,' the daughter said.
'I'd just now started regaining contact with him over the last two weeks, and it's been really great. He'd been trying to figure out how to leave her.
'In my opinion, it seems like this, in his mind, was his way out of his relationship.
'She's been abusive to our entire family for five years. That's why we don't have any contact with her any more,' Brittany added, claiming Marlena's story to cops was 'riddled with lies'.
He wrote that he was 'on the brink of losing my job' over the charges, and claimed he was 'a gentle, kind, loving and sincerely good man has been destroyed by one unfortunate night'
In his final message, Christensen said he planned to spend his last day reaching out to loved ones to tell them how much they mean to him
Speaking to DailyMail.com, daughter Brittany, pictured with her dad in 2018, claimed Marlena' was actually the 'abusive' spouse in the marriage and that she had driven a wedge between Chris and his family
Brittany is one of the late principal's three children from his first marriage, which ended in divorce in 1999
Brittany accused Marlena of being 'abusive' towards her family 'for five years' and claimed she even keyed her black Ford (pictured) a few months ago
She shared a text exchange from April in which Marlena branded her a 'horrible disgusting excuse for a daughter'
Brittany also shared vicious texts Marlena sent her after they had an argument in April.
'You're a horrible disgusting excuse for a daughter and sister. Go find your Dad, play the hero. But it's me he will be missing I the morning,' the mother-of-two wrote in the April 24 text.
She also claimed that Marlena keyed her car at Brittany's apartment in Costa Mesa after the argument, in which her father 'tried to break up' with his wife.
Brittany filed a police report on the incident, alleging it caused $6,000 of damage, and shared photos of the scratches with DailyMail.com.
'It was unresolved because she didn't admit to anything, but we had footage from her doorbell camera leaving the house in the middle of the night and then coming to my apartment (where my dad was staying for the night) and taking his car,' she claimed.
'So when we woke up, my dad's car was gone (parked at Marlena's house) and my car had been keyed on every panel.
'Marlena has shown a consistent pattern of manipulation and inappropriate behavior towards my family for some time now.
'Although my dad mentions in his post that their relationship was 'great' up until two weeks ago, their relationship in actuality has been toxic and wearing on both of them,' she said.
'The night my car was keyed, my dad tried to break up with Marlena and I was sent messages from her saying I was 'a horrible and disgusting excuse for a daughter and sister'.
'To be honest, I never thought I did anything to her but she refused to ever apologize for her words or actions, even when she reacted extremely towards my family.
Chris's mother Karen, 85, told DailyMail.com she thought it was odd her son did not bring his wife to spend Thanksgiving with them last month and said he had seemed 'very depressed' during his visit
Christensen said it was his wife's choice to call the police during a heated argument that led to him being placed on administrative leave over charges of battery and child endangerment
'In my opinion, it was a slow chipping away at my dad's soul for much longer than just two weeks and I wish at this stage she could have left my family alone.'
'She's done a lot, personally to my family recently, to myself, to my husband. So there's a lot going on in this that is very complicated.'
The bereaved daughter added that she believed Marlena's claims of domestic violence by Chris to police last month were 'inaccurate'.
'She put him in a really horrible position that night and painted a picture of him that is inaccurate of his character, and I think it got too much for him,' Brittany said.
Marlena did not respond to DailyMail.com's requests for comment.
In a comment posted on Facebook after her husband's death, Marlena said she was 'living in a nightmare' and that he was 'the love of my
