Mother Who Regained Son Is Shot to Death

A former Chula Vista, Calif., woman who recovered her missing son nearly three years ago by displaying his picture on television was shot to death in her home here by the former husband who had absconded with the boy, authorities said Monday.

Ken Arthur Hayden, 38, was in turn killed by Judy McLean’s current husband, police said.

Investigators said Hayden climbed a ladder, threw a tire rim through a second-floor bedroom window of the McLean home on Saturday and fired four blasts from a shotgun to kill Mrs. McLean, 35, as she slept.

Hayden died from two shots to the head fired by Kermit McLean, who suffered a head wound and was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Mrs. McLean’s son, Jeffrey Hayden, 7, was in the house, but he was not injured.

Her former husband took Jeffrey on a camping trip in June, 1981, and never returned. She appeared on such television shows as “Good Morning, America” and “Donahue,” displaying the boy’s photograph and pleading for help for single parents whose former spouses kidnap their children.

In May, 1982, a social worker in Connecticut telephoned her to say the boy had been found. Mother and son were reunited on NBC’s “Today” show.

Friends said she lived in constant fear of Hayden.

He was arrested in Connecticut and returned to Chula Vista, where he was convicted of a misdemeanor custody violation. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail and put on 36 months’ probation.

The McLeans, who were married in August, 1983, subsequently filed a $25,000 lawsuit against Hayden in an effort to recover the costs of searching for the boy. Their attorney, Don Chisholm, said the suit may have put too much pressure on Hayden.