NH Senate Candidate Accused Of Domestic Incident In Colorado: Doc

CONCORD, NH — The ex-wife of a U.S. Senate candidate in New Hampshire feared for her and her children's safety after an incident in November 2006 so much so that she filed an emergency court petition to have him removed from their Colorado home — while making claims she feared an escalation in violence and he was also recording their conversations without her knowledge.

Dr. Peggy Battalora, who was married to Bryant "Corky" Messner for more than a decade, filed the petition in Arapahoe County District Court in Englewood, CO, after the couple attempted to live amicably before divorcing. At the time, both Messner and Battalora were separated but lived together with their sons in Greenwood Village, CO.

Battalora's attorney, Mary Ray White, filed the request for her to take possession of the couple's home as well as 50-50 interim parenting on a week-on, week-off basis, while also requesting no contact between the parties.

"The atmosphere in the home has been tense," Battalora's attorney wrote in the filing, "involving bickering, disagreements about care of the children, and (Messner's) surreptitiously making tape recordings of conversations in the home."

The night before the emergency order was filed, on Nov. 28, 2006, Battalora was tending to one of the couple's sons, who was ill, in his bedroom. While caring for the child, Messner approached the child's room and "demanded to enter the bedroom, repeatedly shoving the door, and demanding to enter while (Battalora) told him to get out." She was so frightened by the incident she called police.

According to a dispatcher's report, Battalora and the child were in her room, hiding inside a closet, while speaking with dispatch before officers arrived. Dispatch told approaching officers there were no drugs or weapons "that she is aware of" in the home and she did not know if Messner was still inside the home. Battalora also told police "she found a recording device in the house and had turned it in to her attorney."

Five officers responded to the incident. After an investigation, police determined, "for now no crime," according to the report. White, in the petition, wrote "police came to the home and ascertained there had not been a blow struck or crime occur" but they advised Battalora to seek a restraining order.

The officers cleared the scene about 40 minutes after the call was placed.

Battalora's attorney filed a petition to have him removed from their home the next day.

"(Battalora) reasonably fears further escalation and physical violence if she and (the child) return to the home," White wrote. "Based on the escalation that has occurred, it is the reasonable belief of (Battalora) that her personal safety is in danger if she returns to the marital home while (Messner) has access to that home."

White wrote Messner had already purchased another home — without telling or getting approval from Battalora, the petition stated. That home, the attorney noted, was "unoccupied and available for his use during the pendency of this action."

In the petition, the attorney said Battalora had been "the primary caregiver" for both children. One of the boys, the report said, had to be taken with her to her medical office sometimes — something Messner had "threatened to report" to her superiors and "threatened to go to her office and take the child away," the petition said.

An exhibit in the case file received by Patch included a child care schedule from 2005 — with Battalora outlining their activities with the children, which parent did most of the work, and which spent the most time organizing the family responsibilities, with the help of an assistant.

"Corky makes himself available and is contingent upon Peggy's surgery schedule," the exhibit said. "He is not always needed to come home early but has made the necessary arrangements to be available should he need to be home early."

White said the family had spent many months with a case management investigator appointed by the court but their recommendations had not been completed or issued at the time the petition was filed. Battalora, her attorney added, could no longer wait for the report's recommendation and wanted him out of the home.

"Once the report is issued, it is not certain that both parties will follow the recommendations of the report," White said.

White also raised the issue of who was supporting the family financially. She said Battalora had paid for the children's tuition at Colorado Academy, a private, college prep day school as well as the mortgage and other household bills on the marital home — despite Messner earning "five to seven times more income per month" than Battalora did.

Messner and Battalora married in May 1995 — about five months before Messner was arrested on a drunken driving charge in Boulder, CO.

It is unknown if the secret recordings were legal or not at the time the petition was issued.

Colorado currently is a one-party recording consent state meaning if one person is having a conversation with another person, that conversation can be recorded, because the person recording the conversation consented to the recording process — even if the other person might not know or approve. It is unknown at post time if the eavesdropping or recording statute had been changed between 2006 and present day — although White mentioned the issue twice in the petition.

Divorce documents are not public records in Colorado but the Arapahoe County District Court confirmed the existence of the emergency petition request case file as well as the fact that Battalora and Messner are now divorced.

Messner, a corporate attorney who has had a vacation home in Wolfeboro for many years that he now calls home, is campaigning for the Republican nomination to faceoff against incumbent U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat. He did not respond to a request for comment about the incident. A campaign spokesperson, however, placed the blame for the release of the information squarely at the feet of Democrats.

"This sort of toxic politics will disgust many New Hampshire voters," Lauren Zelt, a spokesperson from the campaign, said in an email. "Career politician Jeanne Shaheen is so desperate, she has dug up 14-year-old divorce allegations just to save her life-long political career. Voters will see this gutter Fake News for what it is and hold Jeanne Shaheen accountable for this."

Neither Battalora nor White returned phone calls seeking comment about the divorce or the incident.

According to the latest Federal Election Commission filings, Messner has loaned his campaign nearly $3.9 million for the Senate race. Shaheen has raised more than $12.3 million this year.

Former Brigadier Gen. Don Bolduc, journalist and attorney Andy Martin, and Gerard Beloin, a roofer and ski instructor, are all also on the Republican ballot.

Shaheen is being challenged on the Democrat's primary ballot by Tom Alciere, a former state representative, and Paul Krautmann, a former dentist and veteran. Justin O'Donnell, a veteran and author, is running as a Libertarian while Thomas Sharpe V, a veteran and firefighter, is running on the Bull Moose Party's banner.

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