Plantation police are investigating text messages the Fort Lauderdale police chief's wife sent moments before she shot at him.A week after the Fort Lauderdale police chief's wife used his gun to shoot at him three times, details remain unclear about what led to the shooting.
Plantation detectives are reviewing 62 text messages from police Chief Frank Adderley's cellphone that will ''possibly show the knowledge and intent of the suspect involved in the incident,'' according to a warrant released Wednesday.
On the night of July 8, Eleanor Adderley sent a text message to her husband asking where his gun was minutes before shooting at him, the search warrant said.
''[Plantation police or the state attorney] could be reevaluating the case,'' said Howard Finkelstein, Broward's public defender. ``They are either looking for evidence that supports the position [she intended] to kill him or they are looking for evidence to support the belief that she didn't intend to kill him.''
MISSING FIREARM
In a sworn statement, Frank Adderely told police he noticed his firearm, a 9mm Baretta, was missing after reading his wife's text message.
Moments later, Eleanor Adderley ''suddenly pointed and discharged a handgun impacting the bed inches from where the victim was lying in bed,'' the warrant said.
Adderley ran outside the couple's Plantation home. His wife followed him to the porch, where she discharged a second round. He ran to a neighbor's house as she shot at him again.
The neighbor persuaded Eleanor Adderley to give up the gun.
It was unclear why Eleanor Adderley may have been texting her husband if he was home in bed. Days later, Plantation police retrieved 62 digital photos of text messages from the chief's Motorola cellphone.
''The key is what all the text messages say,'' Finkelstein said. ``If she asked where his gun was, that could be used to show that she planned this. That's premeditated and that's attempted murder.''
Eleanor Adderley, 45, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and firing into a dwelling. The following day at a bond hearing, attorneys presented a sworn affidavit from Frank Adderley requesting his wife be released.
The warrant said the phone was ``possibly used as a communication device preceding the incident, during the incident and following the incident for the suspect to communicate with the victim as well as others.''
The warrant did not clearly explain when Eleanor Adderley sent text messages.
`MARITAL MATTERS'
The couple were in an argument over ''personal marital matters,'' the warrant said.
It is unclear who called Plantation police to the scene in the 1100 block of East Tropical Way, but the person reported a ``a domestic altercation.''
Eleanor Adderly later told police she was only trying to ''scare him by shooting the bed and down at the ground'' and that ''she did not intend to cause any injury.'' Her lawyers later said Eleanor Adderley suffers from ``medical issues.
In the days following the shooting, the charges drew criticism from the community that Adderly got special treatment. Finkelstein said anyone else would have been charged with attempted murder.
''Obviously, she got preferential treatment,'' Finkelstein said. ``If you took a weapon and shot inches away from someone, they would assume you wanted to kill them. That's attempted murder in the first degree.''
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