RALEIGH, N.C. – A judge decided that the daughters of a jogger found murdered near her North Carolina home in July will stay with her sister in Canada.
Wake County District Judge Debra Sasser on Wednesday granted another temporary custody order allowing the girls to live with Nancy Cooper's twin, Krista, and her husband, Jim Lister.
Custody of 4-year-old Bella and 2-year-old Katie has been in question since Cooper, 34, was found dead after she vanished days earlier.
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Nancy Cooper's parents said they were happy with the judge's ruling. But a lawyer for her husband Bradley Cooper said he was disappointed with the court order.
Brad Cooper, whom police have been investigating for months in his wife's killing, wanted custody of his daughters, but must settle for limited contact with the girls.
No one has been arrested in Nancy Cooper's death.
Brad Cooper, also 34, told police his wife went jogging on the morning of July 12 and never came home. Her body was found two days later at a construction site about three miles away.
He has not been named as a suspect, and police have said he has cooperated. The couple lived together with their little girls but had been planning a separation.
Warrants released last month said Brad Cooper's statements were inconsistent with interviews with family and friends.
The warrants reveal police found Nancy Cooper's cell phone and keys inside the couple's house. Relatives insisted she always carried her keys for protection.
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