The Black Widower by Michael Fleeman

Author:Michael Fleeman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

TWELVE

The morning of Thursday, November 6, 2014, unfolded like any other for Harold Henthorn. He dropped his daughter off at school then drove to his home in Highlands Ranch. It had been nearly a year since news broke of the investigation, and Harold had become a pariah at the school. Grumbling about his presence had built to a vocal protest by parents fearful that a killer lurked in their midst. Harold refused to stay away, and the school had little recourse since he had not been formally accused of a crime. Harold also now openly clashed with Toni’s parents. After going public against him, he cut off all contact with them and refused to let them see or talk to Haley. Letters they sent her went unanswered. Gifts they mailed went unacknowledged. The Bertolets could only imagine what Harold was saying about them to Haley.

Toni’s parents responded by hiring a lawyer and going to family court in Denver, seeking grandparent visitation rights. Harold got his own lawyer and fought back. Since the proceedings are confidential, no records are available, and the Bertolets shared only a few details. Very quickly, they found that going public against Harold would cost them. “Harold said [to the judge] that because we came out and accused him that turned the parents against him at the school and the children were criticizing little Haley,” said Toni’s father, Robert Bertolet. “That caused all sorts of problems. The judge seemed to take that into account.” Also at issue was the fact that Harold had yet to be formally charged with a crime. “There was too much of a potential conflict between this and Harold’s Fifth Amendment right,” said Robert. “If we asked if he murdered his wife, he didn’t have to answer.” The judge put off a decision on visitation until authorities decided whether to charge Harold in the deaths of Toni or Lynn.

The court inaction meant that Harold retained custody of Haley and could continue to keep her from seeing her grandparents. All the while, tensions increased between Harold and the Bertolets and between Harold and the other parents at the school.

To protect her interests, the court assigned Haley her own lawyer. In March 2014, Barbara Cashman began serving as Haley’s guardian ad litem. The phrase “ad litem” is Latin for “for the suit” and in the legal world it’s usually attached to a lawyer who acts on behalf of somebody else, normally an incapacitated adult or, in this case, a child, providing a voice for those who can’t express themselves.

Cashman met Haley for the first time on a Saturday in April 2014, having secured a court order approving of the session. “Haley was punctual and polite,” Cashman later recalled in court testimony. “She was understandably a bit wary of me. I know this was partly because of what Harold said to her in advance about our meeting.” What Harold had said would become apparent as the meeting went on.

The meeting was critical for Cashman in developing an understanding of Haley’s personality in a setting away from her father.

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