Murder or manslaughter

That's my take on it too, and the op didn't say that only abused women could give an opinion.
It's not judging to opine.

Maybe it's not our place to judge her. I'm sure there's a lot we haven't heard.

She had lived a life sentence just living with that man and had already been punished before the crime regardless whether it was murder or manslaughter

Why would she want such an obnoxious man back after he raped her twice ?

NanKate, I hope you aren’t offended because I don’t mean to offend. Ask anyone in the police, criminal justice, probation, psychiatry, women’s aid, etc etc, that is those who spend their working lives involved with women (and some men) why the victims return to the perpetrator again and again. The last research I looked at estimated twenty separations before final separation. Also, that women are at highest risk from their partner when they leave. There just isn’t a simple explanation to your question.

I watched the documentary and I could understand why she did it.
I can't explain it all in a few words but I would say that you need to understand how these controlling men work and also that she was with him from the age of 16.
She couldn't face life without him and he was still playing her.
He still lead her onto believe that they were going to get back together while he was still seeing other women.

I would never let a man like that near me not even when I was very young, but some women do get sucked into toxic relationships and then become demoralised and broken by the man until they can't leave.
No-one can judge Sally Challon without knowing all the facts.
she had a lot of support from friends and neighbours in their village who liked her and not him.
he did a lot of really sleazy nasty behaviour like sending out Christmas Cards where he posed with 2 near naked women......who does that?
As well as raping her anally and repressing her in many many ways.
He was a horrible man and I think he was about 8 years older than her? So he was in control from the start.
Of course it would have been better if she had just stayed away from him but their lives were very messed up and complex.

One of her sons appeared in the documentary and he appeared to be a very caring and intelligent man. I think the other son didn't want to be in it.

Smileless2012 - just seen your post. What a thoughtful response, thank you.