HANFORD -- When Conrad Hawk saw blood spatters and papers strewn in his mother's home in June 2006, one of the many thoughts racing through his mind was that Dave Hawk might be the reason Debbie Hawk was missing.
Conrad Hawk, 19, testified Friday in Kings County Superior Court that after he and his sisters went through the Hanford home and could not find their mother, he called 911 -- not his father.
Dave Hawk, 51, of Lemoore was charged in mid-2007 with embezzling more than $300,000 from his children's trust funds and was awaiting trial in that case when he was arrested in May 2008 in connection with his ex-wife's murder. Debbie Hawk's body has never been found.
On Friday, defense attorney Dennis Peterson read transcripts of interviews Conrad Hawk had with investigators, which Peterson said showed Conrad and Dave Hawk did not get along well and that Conrad Hawk was suspicious of his father very early after Debbie Hawk's disappearance.
Conrad Hawk acknowledged to prosecuting and defense attorneys that he was much closer to his mother than to his father.
He testified about his contentious relationship with Dave Hawk, recalling one time when his father yelled at him and said he was "an evil person" like his mother.
The dispute arose, the younger Hawk said, because Dave Hawk was asking him to support his request to a mediator for equal child custody with Debbie Hawk. At that time, Debbie Hawk had custody of the couple's three children about 65% of the time, and Dave Hawk had custody the rest of the time.
Conrad Hawk testified that Dave Hawk continued to chastise him later at home. "He said he had failed as a father because he was raising a terrible, horrible, despicable person," said Conrad Hawk, noting he was so shaken by his father's outburst that he told him he would agree to support the custody change request.
Conrad Hawk said his father claimed Debbie Hawk was trying to take his children, his home and his parents' home away from him.
He said his father would make comments such as "your mother split our family up ... she's done her damage."
He said his mother also made negative comments about his father, but "my mom's were more in a joking, laughing, sarcastic manner."
Daughter Chelsa Hawk, 17, testified Friday that her father went to bed about 11 p.m. on June 12, 2006, the last day Debbie Hawk was seen, and she didn't hear him leave his bedroom that night. Chelsa said her father woke her about 7:30 or 7:45 the next morning, and they went to a swim school where he worked.
When asked if she saw any cuts or bruises on her father that morning or if he was acting unusual, Chelsa said no.
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