Social worker: Man blames ex-wife for deadly attack
RALEIGH, North Carolina (WTVD) -- "They got what they deserved."
Those chilling words were pegged to admitted killer Nathan Holden in a Wake County courtroom on Friday. A social worker said that's what Holden told her two days after he murdered his mother-in-law and father-in-law and beat and shot his estranged wife.
Social worker Larna Haddix told jurors Holden blamed his now ex-wife, LaTonya Allen, for the crime.
"'All this was her fault. If she just would have answered the phone,'" Haddix explained. "That he continuously tried to call her all day. He called her and called her and she wouldn't answer the phone. And if she would have answered the phone none of this would have happened."
She then inquired about why he would take it out on his in-laws.
"I asked him why he would do that, you know, they were very nice people," Haddix said, to which Holden reportedly replied, "'What's done is done. They got what they deserved.'"
Holden faces first-degree murder charges in connection with the fatal shootings of 57-year-old Angelia Smith Taylor and 66-year-old Sylvester Taylor near Wendell in April 2014.
RELATED: 2 dead in Wake County triple shooting near Wendell
Court documents show LaTonya Allen had a restraining order against her husband when the incident happened. The couple separated back in December 2013.
Allen survived the beating and being shot in the face and chest as the couple's three children were huddled in a nearby closet listening.
The doctor who operated on LaTonya Allen's chest wound has already called her survival miraculous.
RELATED: Doctor says it was 'miraculous' woman survived attack
Friday, the doctor who operated on her facial wound also indicated that she was lucky that shot hit her teeth.
"It was a very interesting vector of injury. It looked like something had hit it in one spot and kind of ricocheted off," Dr. James O'Neil, a WakeMed ear, nose, and throat surgeon told jurors.
Testimony will resume Monday morning when jurors and people in the gallery will get to see a deputy's dashcam video. That video shows the couple's children - who were in the house during the crime - crying and worrying that they were going to be killed.
Those watching from home will not be able to see it because the judge has ordered the courtroom camera turned off to protect the juveniles.
