Angel Downs' Ex Calls Alabama Commissioner Stephen Nodine a "Player"

MOBILE, Ala. (CBS/WKRG) Angel Downs' ex-husband, Chris, says he never liked her new boyfriend, Mobile County Commissioner Stephen Nodine. Chris Downs says he thought Nodine was "a player" and "a manipulator" and warned his ex to stay away from him - but he never thought the relationship could end violently.

PICTURES: Angel Downs Murdered; Stephen Nodine Charged

Chris Downs attended Nodine's Wednesday hearing on murder charges and fought back tears afterward when he spoke to CBS affiliate WKRG about his ex-wife.

"She was a beautiful, intelligent person, she could get anybody she wanted, and I was always trying to give her advice to stay away from married people," Chris Downs said.

Angel's post-divorce friendship with her ex-husband was forged in a health ordeal that left Angel frail and vulnerable, Chris Downs told a local paper, and he believes Nodine capitalized on that vulnerability.

"She was very fragile, very frail at 105 pounds," Chris Downs told the paper.

At the Wednesday hearing Baldwin County District Attorney Judy Newcomb said she considered Nodine a flight risk and asked for a $500,000 bond and that twice the customary 10 percent be given for bail.

PICTURES: Angel Downs Murdered; Stephen Nodine Charged"

He was recently divorced and it appeared to me that he was liquidating his assets and so I think [the bail request] is an appropriate amount," Newcomb said.

Nodine's defense attorney, Dennis Knizley denied that his client was a flight risk, saying "that's ridiculous...he's got a 13-year-old son here and he loves him deeply and he's not going anywhere."

Nodine's arraignment is set for June 11.

MORE ON CRIMESIDER
May 26, 2010 - Stephen Nodine, Alabama County Commissioner, Charged in Alleged Mistress Angel Downs' Murder