I dont know if its any solice to you, but the courts are changing. This story feels like its at least 20 years old, if not more so. My wife is a Family Law attorney, and shes shared story after story where the courts biased is slipping away. There are even entire national law firms dedicated to mens divorce/family law that thrived because they knew how to navigate the bias.
Id like to think your buddy’s story would have a different ending if it happened today
Gotta love the days you leave with more than you came with!
I was always overly concerned with finding mine in the woods and would regularly search long enough and find other peoples lost ones