Q: Did Don’s abusive behavior decrease after DJ moved in with him?
A: Absolutely not. In fact, it increased, even though Don was now only legally obligated to pay child support for Doni, who remained in my custody.

Angry at having incurred thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees in his first custody petition—and losing, and angry at incurring several thousand dollars more in attorney’s fees to fight the child support increase—and losing, Don broke into my home the night of November 18, 1987 and assaulted me.

It was vitally important that Don not be on my property when the police arrived in response to my 911 call as he was already on probation at his job with the Port of Seattle Police Department (POS), a job at which he had only been employed for five months.

After speeding off my property the night of the assault, Don drove directly to the Federal Way precinct of the King County Department of Public Safety (KCDPS) and told the sergeant on duty that his ex-wife had assaulted him when he attempted to deliver a child support check. The KCDPS sergeant directed the responding officer to include Don’s fraudulent claim in my Investigation Report as this would protect Don from prosecution for the assault.

I knew the fraudulent claim was intended to protect Don and I refused to sign my Investigation Report until it had been crossed out! I could not control the information contained in Don’s Investigation Report, but his fraudulent claims were not going to be included in my Investigation Report.

Q: What happened after the assault?
A: That evening I went to the local emergency care unit to document the injuries I sustained in the assault. The following morning I obtained an Order of Protection. The next evening (two days after the assault) I was served with Don’s second petition for modification of custody.

Q: Even though there was an Order of Protection (restraining order) against him and an investigation pending as to the November assault Don still filed another petition for custody?
A: Yes. Don’s mounting debt to Hepburn merely fed his obsession to gain custody and rid himself of his entire child support obligation. To minimize the impact the Order of Protection might have on Don’s second custody petition, Hepburn obtained an ex-parte order (without notice to me) by fraudulently setting forth claims involving Don’s custodial position and right to make custodial decisions. On November 25, 1987, after the court was informed of the fraudulent claims made by Hepburn, the ex-parte order was vacated and voided in its entirety. Reference: Cause No. 82-3-05162-8, Order Vacating T.R.O., dated November 25, 1987.

Q: Did the court take note that this second custody petition was filed a mere five months after the denial of his first petition?
A: If it did, the court didn’t care. And despite Hepburn’s claim at the child support trial on November 13th that: “Spouses should be discouraged from returning every few years to attempt modification of decrees.” this was Don’s second custody modification petition within the space of five months. Reference: KCSC Cause No. 82-3-05162-8, Respondent’s Trial Memorandum 3599F, p. 9, lines 4-6.