On the morning of September 30, 2011, Scott had left Jennifer’s to deliver a package to the hospital. She went about her business of getting ready that morning until she faced the police officer standing in the apartment door.
Scott had been killed in a serious car accident.
Jennifer slowly began picking up the pieces again, but she wanted Nelson out of her life for good.
In 2012, she went to the courthouse to get a divorce. However, Nelson wouldn’t sign, so special procedures had to be followed. Two weeks after the process began, the divorce was finalized.
Afterword
In August 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada decided the Mr. Big operation used to obtain Nelson Hart’s confession was unreliable and inadmissible.
The Crown withdrew the charge of murder, and Nelson Hart was released from prison in Bishop’s Falls.
Nelson Hart’s lawyers called the sting operation the perfect storm. There was psychological manipulation by the police, and Mr. Hart was an extremely vulnerable target, according to defence lawyer Robby Ash.
Nelson served a total of nine years in prison. There is no word on whether there will be a wrongful prosecution suit from the lawyers, but his mother says there’s no question they will be seeking compensation for wrongful conviction.
Jennifer Hicks lives with her fiancé in Gander. While she’s come a long way financially and emotionally, she wishes her daughters could be here to be part of this new life.
The investigation into the deaths of Karen and Krista Hart could potentially be reopened should the police find additional evidence. Jennifer is holding on to that hope.
“I had to fight for my youngsters ever since they came into the world. From the first hour they were born. I am still fighting for them.”
Today Jennifer spends as much time as she can at the Salvation Army Cemetery in Gander. The pain is still as sharp today as it was in 2002. Photo by Colleen Lewis.
Gander Lake as it is today. The old wharf where Karen and Krista drowned has since been removed, but these pictures were taken from the area where the drownings occurred. Photos by Colleen Lewis.
Commentary written by Jennifer Hicks
I am so saddened that Nelson has gotten out of prison. My life has been turned upside down. Why should he be out and happy while I’m suffering all my life without my precious angels? When they died, I died.
When they were born, I thought I had the world, I knew I had it in the palm of my hand. They were my life. I look at people with their families and it hurts. Why couldn’t Nelson be a good father? If he were half the father I was a mother, the girls would still be with me. March 9, 2015, would have been their sixteenth birthday, and I couldn’t even give them their daughters’ pride rings.
I shouldn’t have to go through this. I should be able to enjoy my girls, watch them grow up, go to school, and get married. I wanted to be a grandmother, but that will never happen because of Nelson Hart.
I often find myself down at the gravesite. I’ve been doing that ever since they passed away. I would give anything to have them walk through my door and say, “Mommy, I’m home.” There are days I go down to where my angels are and it’s okay. But more times, I don’t want to leave.
Nelson needs to pay for what he did to my girls and me. I won’t stop until I get justice.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Flanker Press and Jerry, Garry, and Margo Cranford for their help, professionalism, and dedication.
This book could never have happened without the continued courage from Jennifer Hicks, who so often struggled to relive the most difficult moments a parent could ever imagine.
To Marissa, who went to bed a little earlier each night so Mommy could write, I love you.
About the authors
Colleen Lewis spent her early years in Rocky Harbour and grew up in Deer Lake. She spent several years as a print reporter, and for the past twelve years she has been a video journalist with NTV.
She followed the story of Karen and Krista Hart since the arrest of their father, Nelson Hart, until the summer of 2014, when he was released.
Jennifer Lisa Hicks was born to Gertrude and Cyril Hicks of Musgrave Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador, in 1974. She went to Gill Memorial Academy for a few years before attending elementary school and Lester Pearson High School.
She started working at the Good Luck Restaurant in Valleyfield, Bonavista Bay, until she moved to Gander in 1997, where she began post-secondary education in business administration at the Career Academy. While in Gander, she began working at the Albatross Hotel.
In October 1997, Jennifer met and moved in with Nelson Hart, and soon after that she became a full-time mom. Her daughters, Karen and Krista, were born in March 1999. Jennifer’s life was turned upside down in 2002 when she lost the two most important people in her life, her precious daughters.
Today, Jennifer has a fiancé, Myles Gunn. Her life is better now, but it will never be the same without the two daughters she misses dearly.
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Mr. Big Page 22