Wesley Hadsell charged with murdering his adopted daughter, A.J. Hadsell
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In July, detectives received two letters from a 48-year-old inmate at the Western Tidewater Regional Jail. The inmate, Richard Patterson, said he was housed with Hadsell when the two were inmates at the regional jail and that Hadsell shared details about his daughter’s death, Cpl. David Benjamin said in an affidavit seeking a search warrant.
Patterson has convictions for making false statements and obstruction of justice on his record. He was sentenced last week to 8 years and 4 months in prison in part because he worked with his wife to try and cover up his illegal possession of several firearms. He also tried to get his teenage daughter to commit perjury, federal prosecutors said.
Patterson said he knew Hadsell and A.J. before he was locked up, and that both of them had come over to his Suffolk home in January or February of of 2015, Benjamin said. He claimed to have direct knowledge of A.J.’s death but told police he wanted immunity before he'd share that with them.
Benjamin told a magistrate he pulled regional jail records for Patterson and Hadsell, confirming the two were housed near each other and would’ve been able to communicate.
The search warrant application, which was granted, was for Patterson's laptop. Benjamin wrote that he hoped to determine whether the inmate was telling the truth about claiming to know Hadsell and A.J. before reconnecting in jail. He also said he wanted to look for any evidence Patterson played a role in A.J.’s death.
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