...Ted Lawson, a city spokesman, declined to comment on the new details, saying, "The chief was a victim of a crime, and it's a personal matter."...
Previous entries:
- [FL] Eleanor shot at police chief husband "without intent to kill"
- [FL] Police Chief Adderley is a domestic violence victim - of attempted murder or nothing major?
- [FL] Chief Adderley's wife Eleanor taunted him: Where's your gun?
LAUDERDALE POLICE CHIEF SHOT AT AFTER QUARREL ABOUT `AFFAIR'
The Miami Herald
By Adam H. Beasley
abeasley@MiamiHerald.com
Jul. 31, 2008
Eleanor Adderley, the wife of Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley, fired four shots in her husband's direction after an argument the two had over an alleged affair the chief had in late 2007, according to sworn statements to police.
A neighbor later told authorities Eleanor Adderley had considered suicide after discovering her husband's affair, which he told her had ended.
Frank Adderley also told authorities his wife used his service weapon in the July 8 shooting.
Plantation police, who handled the investigation, released dozens of pages of documents Thursday morning that painted a more complete picture of the night's events than had previously been described.
Frank Adderley was not available to comment Thursday, and the police department referred all questions to City Hall.
Ted Lawson, a city spokesman, declined to comment on the new details, saying, "The chief was a victim of a crime, and it's a personal matter."
According to the statements by Frank Adderley, his wife and his 15-year-old nephew, Karrick Robinson, Eleanor Adderley, nicknamed "Lisa," returned to the family's Plantation home about 9:30 p.m. as her husband lay in the darkened master bedroom.
Robinson told authorities that he heard his aunt and uncle arguing loudly, then heard Frank Adderley state, "Please don't kill me, Lisa."
Robinson said he then saw Eleanor Adderley shut the bedroom door while holding the 9mm Beretta in her hand. He then heard a shot. The bullet missed the chief by mere inches, striking the mattress.
Eleanor Adderley then chased her husband out of the house, firing three more shots before a neighbor could calm her down.
The documents also provided an answer to why there was no 911 call. Earlier in the evening, Frank Adderley had called Plantation Deputy Chief W. Howard Harrison after his wife had asked where his gun was located.
Harrison then dispatched a lieutenant, who coincidentally arrived at the home shortly after the shooting. Lt. Ken Kilbride was met by a group of young men, including the couple's son, who told him his mother was across the street and his father had left about 10 minutes earlier.
Harrison and Kilbride then entered the home and saw evidence of the shooting, including a spent shell casing on the couple's bed.
It was not made clear in the documents if anyone called police immediately after the shooting.
Early the next morning, police charged Eleanor Adderley with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, not attempted murder, which drew widespread criticism from the legal community that she was receiving preferential treatment.
Eleanor Adderley found out about the relationship, the chief told police, "five, six months after it happened," and the two were in counseling to work through it. They were set to meet with a counselor the next day.
"I just think she just got very angry, and it's been hard for her and she just wasn't herself," he said.
Earlier in the day, Eleanor Adderley text messaged her husband, asking where his gun was. He kept it in their closet, and she must have retrieved it before he returned home from work, he added. That's when he reached out to Harrison.
Police later found the gun in the front seat of a car owned by neighbor Robert McKinzie -- to whose home Frank Adderley fled the night of the shooting. Eleanor Adderley followed him there, but Robert and Deberenia McKinzie were able to get the gun from her and separate the two.
'She said, `Deberenia, I just want the pain to go away,' " Deberenia McKinzie told police a week later.
Eleanor Adderley also told her friend that she was despondent all day and contemplated shooting herself with the gun but could not do so because she did not want to leave their son.
The day after the shooting, Frank Adderley released this statement: "Despite these trying times, I support and stand by my wife. I love her very much and will do everything possible to get her whatever assistance she needs during this difficult time."
He paid her $25,000 bond through her attorney and has made it clear he does not want her prosecuted.
Eleanor Adderley told authorities that she was only trying to "scare" her husband, not kill him -- part of the reason she was not charged with attempted murder.
[Source]
Orlando Sun-Sentinel Poll: Do you think Eleanor Adderley received preferential treatment?
Yes (2627 responses) 
80.9%
No (439 responses)
13.5%
I don't know (181 responses)
5.6%
- 3247 total responses (Results not scientific)
Any marriage that goe's back is a hardship on the family. First of all, thank god that no one was hurt or killed, doing this incident. My prayers go out the Chief and his wife. Lord knows how hard a life can be, when you're working in a position like the Chief. I have been working in law enforcement for over twenty five years, and on top of it, I have been married three times. I also loved my wife's too, and I do understand that life must move on. Chief Adderley has showed that his feelings for his wife is very blessed and strong. We need to let them handle there own problems, at there own pace, and God will do the rest. jh
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