Friday, November 30, 2001
Tot feared Hadley
Inquest told of couple fighting
By SARAH GREEN, Toronto SunGillian Hadley's daughter was afraid of her stepfather and she told a CAS worker she didn't want to see Ralph Hadley, a coroner's inquest heard yesterday.
Ian DeGeer, a child protection worker at the time with the Durham Children's Aid Society, met with Faith -- Gillian's daughter from her first marriage -- twice following Hadley's arrest for assaulting his wife Jan. 7, "She was afraid of Ralph yelling," DeGeer said. "As part of the interview, I asked her, 'Would you like to see Ralph?' She said no. She was afraid of Ralph."
Faith, 7, recalled her mother and Hadley fighting a lot about Mikey -- Gillian's severely disabled son from her first marriage. Hadley was charged in 1999 with abusing him.
That charge -- of criminal negligence causing bodily harm -- was withdrawn Dec. 15, 1999, when Hadley signed a peace bond, which prevented Mikey from returning to live with Gillian.
DeGeer said he did not forecast the murder-suicide of June 20, 2000.
"It was horrific. You didn't see it coming -- a tragedy," said DeGeer, who had moved to Vancouver a month earlier.
The inquest continues.
Copyright © 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership.