Wife afraid of Hart, police say on tape

Police told a man charged in the drowning deaths of his twin daughters that his wife was afraid of him and that he had threatened and assaulted her, a jury heard Friday in Newfoundland Supreme Court.

Nelson Hart, 38, is on trial for first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of his three-year-old girls, Krista and Karen, who drowned in Gander Lake on August 4, 2002.

The jury heard on Friday a taped interview of Hart conducted by RCMP Sgt. Harold Nippard.

On the tape, Nippard informs Hart that his wife told the police that she was afraid of him and that he had not only threatened and assaulted her but that he had also threatened the children.

Hart, on the tape, denies it all, saying he does not know what Nippard is talking about.

According to police at the time of the twins' deaths, Karen was found dead in the water, while Krista wasunconscious anddied later in hospital.

Hart has given conflicting stories to police about what happened that day, court has heard.

Ona tapedpolice interview done on the day that the girls were pulled from the lake, Hart said Krista fell into the water and he left Karen to drive to get help. When he returned with his wife, both girls were in the water and an ambulance was called.

In a laterpolice interview, Hart said hedidn't see Krista fall in the water. Hart, who has epilepsy, said that after he took the girls to the park and got them out of the car, he had a seizure and blacked out.

The trial is in its first week and isn't expected to wrap up until April.