Custody order for Nancy Cooper's children extended
Updated Fri. Jul. 25 2008 7:29 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080725/nancy_Cooper_080725/20080725?hub=CTVNewsAt11The children of Nancy Cooper, a murdered Edmonton native, will stay with their grandparents on a temporary custody order, a U.S. judge has ruled.
But Cooper's husband, Brad Cooper, was granted supervised visitation rights to his children Friday.
The children's grandparents, Garry and Donna Rentz, are residents of Edmonton, while their father works and lives in North Carolina.
The Coopers had moved to North Carolina eight years ago and had two daughters, four-year-old Bella and two-year-old Katie.
Cooper was last seen by her husband, who told police that she had left for a morning jog. The 34-year-old was found dead on July 14, less than five kilometres from her home in Cary, N.C.
Police have not named any suspects or persons of interest in the case.
Nancy Cooper's parents and twin sister were granted emergency custody of the children after alleging in court documents that Brad Cooper was emotionally unstable and a threat to his children.
Brad Cooper responded in court papers, saying he was best able to take care of the children.
Other conditions of the custody order include;
* The girl's will be allowed to visit their father twice before the agreement expires on Oct. 13
* Both parties will purchase a webcam so Cooper can communicate visually with the children while on the phone up to four times a week
* Neither party will expose the children to media
* The girls will go into counselling sessions
* Neither party will disparage the other in front of the girls
Wake District Court Judge Debra Sasser heard testimony from friends and relatives of both parents on Friday as part of the hearing.
CTV's Janet Dirks in North Carolina told CTV Newsnet said the hearing was emotionally charged and said it was "extraordinary" that the children would go to the grandparents when their father has not been named a suspect.
"He agreed to a temporary order," Dirks added. "The legal argument is that he is now a single dad, with a stressful job, who is still grieving his wife -- perhaps he would want his in laws to look after the little girls while he sorts things out in his own life."
Maria Battaglia, a family lawyer in Montreal, told CTV Newsnet Friday she was not surprised by the decision out of North Carolina.
"There was a status quo, or previous judgment, that basically gave custody judgment to the grandparents, so I was not surprised that it was maintained," she said.
She added that the allegations against the Brad Cooper hurt his case as well.
"One of the reasons that they ended up making this deal must have been that Mr. Cooper must have known his chances for success were probably negligible," Battaglia said.
With files from The Associated Press