RALEIGH - A public wrangling over the care of the two young Cooper girls was settled quietly behind closed doors Friday, shielded from the scrutiny of dozens of reporters awaiting some resolution in a messy custody battle.

Nancy Cooper died two weeks ago at the hand of a killer police have yet to name or catch. Last week, Nancy Cooper's family launched a battle to keep Bella, 4, and Katie, 2, out of reach of their father, Bradley Cooper, whom they insist poses a danger to the children.

Bradley Cooper folded Friday, agreeing to nearly 75 more days without his daughters. Bella and Katie will stay with their grandparents and aunt in the Coopers' native Canada until another hearing in October.

Until then, Bradley Cooper can spend only 16 hours with the girls, under the watch of the staff at a visitation center in Wake County for parents that courts deem unable to be alone with their children.

"While [Bradley Cooper] will miss the daily joys of fatherhood, he fully intends to remain a vital force in his children's lives," Bradley Cooper's attorneys, Howard Kurtz and Seth Blum, said in a statement. "Though it is painful to contemplate any additional days without his girls, [Bradley Cooper] accepts this as a heartrending, but necessary step toward achieving justice."

Attorneys for Nancy Cooper's family said the agreement was a victory for Bella and Katie.

"Both sides worked hard to reach a resolution that was in the children's best interest," said Alice Stubbs, attorney for Nancy Cooper's parents and sister. "They will go home to Canada with their mother's family, where they will be very well cared for, loved and nurtured. We are thankful the children will be in a peaceful environment for the next 75 days."

Family tension exposed

The filings in the Cooper children's custody case disclosed tremendous strife between Nancy Cooper's family and her husband.

In dozens of affidavits filed with the court, friends accused Bradley Cooper of essentially starving his family by withholding money for groceries.

His allies fired back, saying that Nancy Cooper often exaggerated the details of her troubled marriage and drove the family into debt with her spending sprees.

The custody agreement, however, demands civility from the severed family: no ugly talk about the opposing side in front of the children.

They're also forbidden to discuss Nancy Cooper's death with the girls. Professional counseling for the girls must start immediately.

It took little more than an hour for the parties to settle. While they met in private, dozens of their friends squeezed into two courtroom benches. More than two dozen reporters had filed in behind them. Reporters from the Coopers' native Canada traveled to Raleigh for the hearing; several national network reporters joined the mass, too.

Neither Bradley Cooper, his wife's father, Garry Rentz, nor her sister, Krista Lister, ever set foot in the courtroom. They slipped in and out of the Wake County Courthouse with little more than a word.

For Bradley Cooper, a full-blown custody hearing could have been risky. He had shared much in affidavits filed this week, detailing his travel schedules and the amount of money he paid to fill up the gas tank of his wife's SUV. He admitted infidelity and talked of his unraveling marriage.

Throughout the custody battle, his attorneys have requested information from police about his wife's death in an attempt to dispute speculation that he was somehow involved.

Taking the stand Friday would have put him in a firing line of questions from lawyers for his wife's family.

And if he had declined to answer certain questions about his wife's death, it could have reflected poorly.

In civil cases, if a witness invokes his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, a judge is allowed to infer that he might have been involved in the crime raised by the question, said Cheryl Howell, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Institute of Government.

Friday's agreement promises further trips to court to discuss the care of the Cooper girls. The order is temporary, and Bradley Cooper had indicated he isn't giving up his custody rights for good.

Instead, his attorneys vowed to clear Bradley Cooper's name.

"We look forward to a meaningful disclosure from the Cary Police and the Medical Examiner in the coming days as they will no doubt stifle the whisper campaign and distortions surrounding him and allow Mr. Cooper and his family to get on with their lives," Kurtz and Blum said in a statement.

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