Custody of Coopers' girls at stake today

Bradley Cooper and his slain wife's relatives to go before Wake judge

The judge who will decide who should rear Nancy and Bradley Cooper's young daughters must wade through the couple's messy marriage.

Today in a Wake County courtroom, Nancy Cooper's parents and sister square off against Bradley Cooper for custody of the girls, Bella, 4, and Katie, 2.

Nancy Cooper vanished July 12; a walker found her body near a drainage ditch in an unfinished subdivision near her home. Cary police ruled her death a homicide but have not named a suspect.

Since her death, those around her have broken into two camps. Her closest friends and relatives say Bradley Cooper is a selfish cheater who poses a danger to his children; his allies, some of whom produced new affidavits for the court Thursday, say he's a doting father run into the ground by a wife who spent more than he made.

Wake County District Court Judge Debra Sasser must answer this question: Is Bradley Cooper an unfit parent or has he behaved in a way so contrary to a responsible parent that he has somehow forfeited his rights? For an outside party such as Nancy Cooper's parents and sister to claim custody of the children, they must convince the judge that Bradley Cooper is no longer able to parent his daughters.

Attorneys for both sides have provided Sasser with statements from nearly two dozen friends and family members who watched the couple's marriage unravel. The filings have allowed the media and gawkers to peer into the lives of the Coopers.

Two contradictory images of Bradley Cooper have emerged: a self-absorbed, controlling cheater or a doting, ambitious, kindly father. For every claim of Bradley Cooper emotionally abusing his wife or depriving her of money, another one surfaces describing Nancy Cooper as prone to exaggerate and to spend money on luxuries such as art and jewelry.

In the name of Bella and Katie, Sasser must decide who is telling the truth. Last week, as police hovered around Bradley Cooper in the days after his wife was found dead, Sasser awarded emergency custody of the children to Nancy Cooper's family. To win that, Nancy Cooper's family had to convince the judge that the girls faced physical danger.

Nancy Cooper's family has piled on examples of instability and poor parenting. They say Bradley Cooper once attempted suicide and contemplated it as recently as this winter. They insist he never had time for his family because he trained for Ironman competitions. They say he gave Nancy Cooper so little money that she had to sell her belongings at yard sales or paint friends' houses to buy groceries for herself and the girls.

On Thursday, the attorney for Nancy Cooper's family asked Sasser to order Bradley Cooper to undergo a psychological evaluation.

Bradley Cooper and his friends and family fired back Thursday, saying that Nancy Cooper told tall tales.

"Nancy often exaggerated the details of a story for dramatic effect," said Scott Heider, a friend of Bradley Cooper. "She liked to tell people stories and liked the attention."

His parents insist that Bradley Cooper is quiet but stable. His father, Terry Cooper, said in an affidavit that his son "was never depressed or wanted to die."

Bradley Cooper, speaking through another affidavit Thursday, countered Nancy Cooper's friends and their descriptions of his absences and limited financial assistance. He included pictures of him with his daughters -- riding ponies at birthday parties and cuddling napping newborns. He detailed how much he spent filling up the gas tank of Nancy Cooper's BMW and paying her each month for groceries and household expenses.

To counter claims from his wife's friends that he was so self-absorbed that his blog didn't include photos of his family, Bradley Cooper explained that Nancy's brother, a police officer in Canada, warned that pedophiles might see the girls on his personal Internet site.

"I am normally a private person and to date have not disrespected Nancy by correcting any half-truths or exaggerations that she told during our marriage," Bradley Cooper said in his affidavit. "I feel I need to set the record straight on a few issues."