If he was a 'by-the-Bible' preacher like the church said, he probably also had firmly-held beliefs about being the head of his house and he probably told his wife that she couldn't do something she wanted to do.
That, of course, is like waving a red cape in front of an angry bull. She knows that in U.S. society today it is the wife who runs the house and the husband whose sole function is to see that she gets what she wants.
Solution? Off the guy and claim abuse. Works like a charm cause everybody knows that guys are always responsible, even if they aren't and women aren't ever responsible even if they are.
She grew up with the same core beliefs that he did. They both attended Freed Hardeman University, a university affiliated with the church of Christ in west Tennessee. There is no hint from his family background that he would be abusive. Anything is possible, but those that know both of them from college and in recent years are stunned.