Testimony over in Cooper hearing

Judge not expected to rule tonight on custody case

RALEIGH -- Testimony in a custody hearing over the future of Nancy and Bradley Cooper's children is over, but the judge's decision is not expected this evening.

In closing arguments, an attorney for the slain woman's family argued her husband has a volatile temper. "If they go to live with him, they will model him," said Wade Smith. "They will model a man who is angry, and self-indulgent and egocentric and can act out in an aggressive way if his competence is challenged or if he is maligned."

Bradley Cooper's lawyer said assertions by Nancy Cooper's family that he killed his wife are unfounded. "The husband must have done it because we don't have any other suspects," said Deborah Sandlin, characterizing investigators' logic. "Police had a theory, and their theory was that it was Brad Cooper."

A Cary police detective did not testify as expected. Bradley Cooper also did not speak.

Earlier Thursday, a forensic psychologist retained by Nancy Cooper's family testified that Bradley Cooper has underlying anger issues.

Brought to the stand in the fight to keep the couple's young daughters away from their father, who Cooper's family believe murdered her, Dr. James Hilkey said those anger issues have been there a long time.

"He can usually keep that under check, but sometimes, it comes up, and that anger is most obviously directed at family members," Hilkey said in the custody hearing in Wake County District Court.

Hilkey observed Bradley Cooper over the course of a two-day battery of psychological tests and interviews, the psychologist said. Hilkey said that Bradley Cooper also showed signs of being arrogant and narcissistic.

Nancy Cooper was strangled in July, and her body was dumped in an unfinished subdivision near her Cary home. No one has been charged with her murder, though Cary police have scrutinized her husband from the start.

It did not appear that Wake County District Court Judge Debra Sasser would rule tonight whether Nancy Cooper's family may continue to care for her young children: 4-year-old Bella and 2-year-old Katie.

Central to the judge's ruling on who should take care of the girls: Did their father kill their mother?

Days after Nancy Cooper's death, Sasser ruled that the couple's daughters should live with their mother's parents and Lister in Canada.

Bradley Cooper is fighting for their return, however, refuting claims that he had a hand in his wife's death. Cooper insists that although he cheated on her, he loved his wife. He has said he tried to save their marriage and now wants nothing more than to have his daughters returned to him.

Earlier this morning, Nancy Cooper's family and friends told the judge they are sure that Bradley Cooper killed her. One after the other, Nancy Cooper's confidantes insisted no one else could have killed her.

Garry Rentz, Nancy Cooper's father, told the judge: "He's the only person I can think of with the motivation and the access." Asked when Bradley Cooper should get his children back, Nancy Cooper's twin sister Krista Lister said emphatically: "Never."

When her sister's murder is solved, Lister added, Bradley Cooper "will be in jail."

This morning's testimony shed more light on the strains in the couple's marriage in the months before her death. One friend said Nancy Cooper was so concerned, she called Interact, Wake County's crisis shelter for domestic violence. Her sister had begged their parents to rescue Nancy and bring her and the girls home to Canada.

Nancy Cooper had wanted to leave her husband and return to her native Canada with Bella and Katie. The couple had hired lawyers and were negotiating custody and assets. Nancy Cooper also had hired a moving van for her trip to Canada.

But this spring, Bradley Cooper forbade Nancy's departure, friends and family testified. To bar her move, he took the children's passports, essentially blocking her from taking them across the Canadian border.

For months, the investigation has been chugging along in secret, out of the public's view. Cary Police Detective George Daniels had been expected to be called to the witness stand by Nancy Cooper's family. Such a move would have opened him up for tense cross-examination by Bradley Cooper's attorneys, who have been trying to get their hands on the Cary police department's investigative file.

On Wednesday, Sasser denied Bradley Cooper's attorneys' request for the file, saying it could jeopardize the criminal investigation. Sasser told Cooper's attorneys they could get what they needed by questioning the detective on the stand.