An ugly chapter in Heart’s long strange trip will close on Friday when a Seattle judge passes sentence on the husband of one the classic-rock band’s two founding sisters — for the simultaneous strangling of the other sister’s twin sons!
Lingering animosity from the August 2016 incident resulted in the band going officially on “temporary hiatus,” canceling plans for a summer 2017 arena tour.
In a plea deal worked out by lawyers for Dean Wetter, husband of the band’s lead singer and co-founder Ann Wilson, he will get off with two-year’s probation. He’s also expected to agree to counseling and therapy, swear off drugs and alcohol, pay $3,000 restitution and forego any contact with his sister-in-law Nancy’s children.
Police arrested Wetton, 67, after he allegedly assaulted Nancy’s twin 16-year-old boys near the end of a concert in Auburn, Washington, just outside of the sister’s Seattle hometown. An altercation ensued after one of the boys left a tour bus door open. Wetton addressed this violation of his close-the-door warning by cold-cocking the youth with a closed-fist blow to the back of the head. The other twin moved to intervene, but both wound up in the tightening two-handed throat-clutch of the man Ann calls her “Zen Warrior.”
Nancy, the band’s lead guitarist, has reportedly referred to Wetton as an “oddball” and a “crankpot” who tends to “mouth off at kids.” And the stress from the incident played out through the remaining 20 stops on the band’s 2016 tour, a run Nancy described as “excruciating” and Ann called “complete hell” in a Rolling Stone interview.
If Wetter’s sentencing brings closure to the case, Ann expresses hope that “feelings all settle down and people can just be adults and talk to each other.” Meanwhle, Ann has been playing solo dates and Nancy started Roadcase Royale — a new band fronted by R&B singer Liv Warfield.
