Husband of Heart’s Ann Wilson Sentenced for Assault on Sister Nancy’s Children
The husband of Heart singer Ann Wilson has been sentenced for the assault on Nancy Wilson’s children that’s forced the band onto hiatus.
Deen Wetter, 66, was arrested last year after striking one of the guitarist’s kids during a disagreement on a tour bus while Heart were performing a show at the White River Amphitheater in Auburn, Wash.
SeattlePI.com reports that he pleaded guilty on March 9 to two counts of fourth-degree assault. On April 14, he was sentenced to 364 days in jail as part of a plea deal that means he won’t spend any time behind bars. The agreement includes payment of restitution, two years of probation, counseling and a ban on contact with Nancy Wilson’s children.
The Wilson sisters continued their Heart tour following the August incident, but kept contact to a minimum and used separate dressing rooms for the first time since they’d started working together in the ‘60s.
Earlier this month, Ann described the rest of the tour as “hell” while Nancy called it “excruciating.” Both discussed how Wetter’s marriage to Ann had caused a rift in the family, with his wife saying her relatives “demonized” Wetter, while Nancy said he was “a hard man to know.”
The Wilsons had already found themselves at odds over their band’s future, but the incident brought the situation to a head. But Ann said it wasn’t impossible that they’d reconnect. “My side really hurt her side, her side really hurt my side," she said. "We’ve got to let those heal and get some counseling.”
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