LETHBRIDGE – The husband of a Lethbridge city councillor who ran away to Las Vegas with a married man said he is convinced his wife did not have an affair. David Heatherington said that, contrary to reports, his wife, Darlene, gave her laptop computer to police, who were investigating complaints she was being e-mailed by a stalker.
“There is a great amount of speculation in the media, much of it fuelled by the release of information by the authorities in Great Falls,” said David Heatherington, whose wife, Dar, has captured headlines since she went missing in Great Falls, Mont., on May 3 while on a business trip with other Lethbridge councillors.
She was found disoriented at a Las Vegas hotel, claiming she had been kidnapped, drugged and assaulted.
She was charged by police in Great Falls last week after they said she admitted her first story was a lie and she had actually driven to Las Vegas with an Alberta man.
“There is a great amount of speculation in the media, much of it fuelled by the release of information by the authorities in Great Falls,” said David Heatherington, whose wife, Dar, has captured national headlines since she went missing in Great Falls, Montana, on May 3 while on a business trip with other Lethbridge councillors.
“We have been very forthcoming with our information and have done our best to co-operate with the authorities in every way possible.”
A massive search was launched after Dar Heatherington was reported missing. Days later, she was found disoriented at a Las Vegas hotel, claiming she had been kidnapped, drugged and assaulted.
However, she was charged by police in Great Falls last week after they said she admitted her first story was a lie and she had actually driven to Las Vegas with an Alberta man.
U.S. justice officials have said they doubt that story as well. Police in Las Vegas said she left town without completing the tests normally administered to assault victims.
And in another blow to Heatherington’s credibility, a source close to the investigation says that authorities were skeptical of her stories well before her trip to Great Falls.
The Ingatbola88 source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Lethbridge police had come to doubt Heatherington’s claims of being stalked through letters, e-mails and a prowler in her backyard.
Heatherington declined a lie detector test and refused to surrender her computer to police, the source said.
But David Heatherington said his wife not only agreed to take the test, but also turned her laptop computer over to police. The Heatheringtons’ home computer and printer have also been given to police, he said.
“On the Wednesday evening prior to her trip to Great Falls, she did meet with the Lethbridge police and she agreed to take a test to verify the complaints that were made,” David Heatherington wrote in an e-mail to reporters over the weekend. “In fact, she signed a form authorizing this.”
He also said a pink slip in his possession verifies his wife did have the necessary medical test in Las Vegas.
He said he believes his wife was raped and that her body is covered with bruises.
“I may never know all of the details,” he wrote in the e-mail. “Indeed, I do not want to know all of the details. There are some things that a person should not have to live through twice.
“She has suffered some serious trauma; something that no person wants to experience. In time, she will be able to talk with me freely.”
Dar Heatherington faces a misdemeanour charge of providing false information. The penalty is a maximum $500 US fine and/or up to six months in jail.
She is to appear in court in Great Falls on Wednesday to enter a plea.