PAWTUCKET, Rhode Island — Trans killer Robert Dorgan battled “demons” throughout his life, and alienated all his six of children due to a pervasive pattern of “toxic” behavior even before he started living as a woman, his daughter told The Post.
Despite his years of troubling behavior, his family kept giving him second chances, said Amanda Wallace-Hubbard, 36.
“Gender identity was not remotely a factor in him being ostracized from the family, at least on the part of myself or my siblings, it really was just a symptom of something that had been going on that was much deeper his entire adult life. He struggled with some demons his entire life,” she said.
She said she tried for decades to look past her father’s dark side but finally had enough after having children of her own.
She finally cut her dad out of her life in an effort to shield her kids from his volatile behavior.
“My siblings and I have all gone through ups and downs about how we handle his level of involvement in our lives, because for all his flaws, he had a few redeeming qualities,” she said.
“And every once in a while, you would see the hope that you know, maybe he could come through and be a stable, parental figure in your life,” Wallace-Hubbard added.
His sex change operation was cited as the main factor in the 2020 breakup of his 30-year marriage to ex-wife Rhonda Dorgan, whom he gunned down along with their son at Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Despite years of Robert’s family trying to work with him, he never sought the help he needed or cleaned up his act, Wallace-Hubbard said.
“He never really saw the error in his ways. Yeah. I think without real substantial mental health help, I don’t think he ever would have come around to see that, but you have to admit that you have a problem before you can get help,” she said.
“He was just not willing to do that.”
Wallace-Hubbard declined to cite specific examples, and was careful to emphasize that she didn’t speak for her siblings, whom she acknowledged all had their own “complex relationships” with their father.
“For the safety of my kids, I had not had any contact with him in previous years, because I did recognize that he was not a healthy individual for my kids to be around. As an adult, I’ve already grieved the loss of my father long ago. I’m just really devastated that it had to end in a way that also took away the lives of just two really amazing and influential people in our lives,” she said of her murdered stepmother Rhonda and her brother, 23-year-old brother Aidan.
“Rhonda had a very close relationship with all her kids, all her step-kids, me and my older brother and sister. She was the backbone of our family,” Wallace-Hubbard said, sharing that her slain stepmother was known for her “effervescent and bubbly, funny and charismatic” personality.
“Everybody who knew her loved her,” she added.
“Obviously Rob wasn’t well for a very, very long time, and she was always the sturdy rock that we could all rely on. And it’s hard with her passing because anytime our family had a crisis, she was the person who would organize and be there for everybody.”
She also spoke glowingly of her slain brother.
“Aidan was a really intelligent, hardworking kid. He was an engineer, and he was pursuing an advanced degree. His fiancée, Starr, was also at the hockey game but wasn’t injured. He was a great uncle to my kids, and he was a really important member of the hockey community in Rhode Island growing up,” she said.
“He will be missed by so many people.”
Of Rhonda, she said “It’s going to take an army to fill her shoes.”