Cash Landing

Gaela says they had ulterior motives. "Dorothy wanted money from day one," Gaela says. "We got a call from Dorothy wanting some money for her son to start some pyramid-scheme business. She said she needed a loan of $7,500 and asked my mom to write a check. It was terrible, absolutely terrible. Dorothy threw a fit in the attorney's office and said she and Jerry deserved part of the money." Gaela says she was naive. "I tried to treat them like my own family. I trust my own family with everything and I thought Phil's family was that way too. I thought people were honest."

But Jerry and Dorothy were adamant in their suspicions, especially about another man -- Brian Hacker, a construction worker -- in Gaela's life.

Gaela Hedrick had met Brian Hacker through a mutual friend 10 years earlier, but they didn't see each other again until after Phil's accident. Hacker, aware of the Life Flight crash, found out that Gaela was looking for a general contractor to make the couple's Blue Springs home more handicapped-accessible. About a month before the case was settled, Gaela hired Hacker. Over time, the two grew closer as they traded sad stories about their current situations -- Hacker had just ended a 17-year marriage.

"I got the whole nine yards on what happened to Phil," Hacker says. "My heart went out to her and what her entire family went through. You picture someone who is normal and happy and it changes. The father figure and husband went down. For two years, Gaela was scrounging around, keeping her husband alive, the kids clothed and fed. When that settlement finally came, it was long overdue and couldn't make up for the loss of Phil. But it certainly helped her do everything."

During the time he worked on the Hedrick home, Hacker says, he saw how much energy Gaela needed to care for her husband. Sometimes he lent a hand.

"Phil was a big guy -- 6-foot-3, 200 pounds," Hacker says. "He was like a gigantic baby. He wet his diapers and I helped with that from time to time. I saw what went on with Phil. He got treated like a king. He had people pampering his ass. He had a full schedule and if he wanted a steak at 3 a.m., he got it. It was horribly sad and really a mess."

On November 11, 1995, Gaela Hedrick paid $327,000 cash for new digs in the Ozark Mountains. The secluded, 4,500-square-foot house on a 1.2-acre site in the Branson area had a bluff view of Bull Shoals Lake, a two-bedroom guest house, and a ceramic-tile lap pool.

Gaela's sister Gena says buying the home and coming back to Branson were sound decisions for Gaela. "How many people do you know who have that many millions of dollars that live in a $100,000 home?"

Gaela talked to Hacker about doing some remodeling work on the new place. She also asked him to tag along with her on a furniture-shopping trip to Chicago.

"I thought she was kidding," Hacker says. "But we had become good friends and I said, 'What the heck.' She said we were going to fly first-class and stay at the Ritz. It would be a nice getaway. I didn't have a whole lot of stuff on the platter. We did the furniture-shopping thing and hit it off."

And they had sex.

Gaela's relationship with Hacker intensified in 1996. Phil's family -- and her own -- thought Gaela was making a big mistake.

Gaela's mother, Martha Sorrells (who also served as her bookkeeper), and Gena say they felt uncomfortable with Hacker's "discreet" presence in Gaela's life. ("Phil never saw me walk up to Gaela's bedroom," Hacker says.) Gaela's folks were devout Southern Baptists and they bristled at her newfound partner.

"Even with our religious beliefs," Gena says, "I would pray that she would be strong enough not to give into it. But I didn't live and walk in her shoes. I can't say if I would have done anything different, and nobody else can, either. She was lonely and hurting."

Hacker went on family outings with Gaela and Phil -- during one trip to a Blue Angels air show in Wisconsin, Gaela and Hacker pitched a tent together while Phil slept in the back of a nearby motor home. After a while, Gaela says, she and Phil had a candid discussion about Hacker. She says Phil was agreeable to the arrangement.

"I was 34 when, for all intents and purposes, I lost my husband," Gaela says. "I received a settlement in court for the loss of consortium, for a sexual relationship. What if someone walked up to you and said they'd give you $2 million for the rest of your life and you will never have any type of sexual relationship again? You will give up all the intimacy -- emotional and physical -- and give up any companionship for the rest of your life. Would you take that $2 million?"

Phil's side of the family says Gaela took the $2 million and more.