Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 20, 1994 TAG: 9401200133
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PORTLAND, ORE. LENGTH: Medium
But court records show a violent side to the man accused of planning the baton attack on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan - apparently to help the career of his ex-wife and, at the time, live-in partner, Tonya Harding.
"It has been an abusive relationship for the past two years, and he has assaulted me physically with his open hand and fist. Also he has put me down to the floor on several occasions," Harding said in a July 1993 affidavit with a court order that Gillooly stay away from her.
"He is not in the right frame of mind, and he follows me and he has broke into my house and into my truck and I am afraid for my safety," she said.
The couple was divorced the next month but made up until Tuesday night, when Harding said the two were separating as she fights for her career and reputation.
Court records showed similar abuse in 1991, when Harding won her first restraining order. Gillooly, she said, "wrenched my arm and wrist and he pulled my hair and shoved me. I recently found out he bought a shotgun and I am scared for my safety."
The two began dating in 1985, when Harding was 15 and he 18. Soon after, Harding dropped out of school to pursue figure skating. She and Gillooly married in 1990.
Gillooly's large family has refused to speak to the press, except for a brother who defended him.
"I think he is a pretty levelheaded guy, a very smart person who wouldn't do anything rash," said Joel Gillooly, a Portland businessman.
Harding's mother, La Vona Golden, has refused interviews. But she told Sports Illustrated two years ago that Gillooly "had a violent streak."
"Once when Tonya was living with me, he tried to break down the door because he thought she had gone out with another boy. It turned out it was her brother she'd been with," Golden said. That was before the couple's 1990 marriage, the mother said.
Gillooly's violent side apparently made no impression at school, work or among friends and acquaintances willing to be interviewed.
"He was nothing special, really, just a student who went through school without standing out. Nobody remembers him," said a spokeswoman for David Douglas High School, where Gillooly graduated in 1985. She declined to give her name. Yearbooks at the school show only Gillooly's picture, staring out next to classmates who played sports or took part in other activities.
Since he left school, Gillooly's real career has been Tonya Harding's skating. He has held two jobs, one in a clothing store for a brief period after high school and another from the fall of 1989 to March 1992 as a warehouseman at the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. He quit to help his wife pursue her career.
"He worked on the conveyor belt and he did all right; what can I say?" Ron Marcoe, the manager at the liquor warehouse, said Wednesday. "He seemed OK, he didn't cause any trouble. I wish I could help him out."
Elaine Stamm, president of the Tonya Harding Fan Club, said, "He seems like a nice young man to me, concerned about his Tonya and her future. He wants her success."
Harding, who has stuck with Gillooly despite his blows, shoves and threats, issued a statement Tuesday amid the ruins of her career.
"I wish him nothing but the best," she said. "But I believe during this crucial time of preparation for the Olympics that I must concentrate my attention on my training."
by CNB