Boulder police: Caregiver befriended widower, tried to change will
Fort Collins woman Julianna Rigby accused of attempted theft
08/12/2011
A Fort Collins woman is facing criminal charges of attempted theft after prosecutors say she befriended a 93-year-old Boulder widower with the intent of inheriting his estate.
According to an arrest affidavit, Julianna Rigby, 50, met Louis Hall, a retired University of Colorado professor who has since died, when she was working as a receptionist at the office of a Boulder ophthalmologist who treated Hall. Beginning in January 2010, Rigby started taking Hall, whose wife died in 2001, to breakfast and visiting him in his home on the 4500 block of Sioux Drive, in the Frasier Meadows neighborhood.
Rigby moved into Hall's home in October. She later told a Boulder detective that she did it out of love for Hall, who had bone cancer and needed in-home care. According to the arrest affidavit, Rigby does not have any training in home health care.
Soon, neighbors, Hall's doctor, an elder law attorney and a professional conservator hired to help Hall with his finances were raising concerns about the relationship
.
According to the arrest affidavit, neighbors who used to have Hall over for dinner and check in on him frequently felt that Rigby was trying to isolate Hall.
Hall told neighbors Rigby was his "girlfriend" and that she bought him gifts and meals, the affidavit said. But she also wouldn't let neighbors visit anymore and threatened to leave him if his niece, Phyllis VanderZwiep, ever visited again.
VanderZwiep, who lives in San Diego, held Hall's power of attorney and stood to inherit most of his estate, the affidavit said. She used to visit several times a year, but Rigby told Hall that the niece wanted to put him in a nursing home, an accusation the niece denied to detectives.
VanderZwiep could not be reached for comment, but in a victim impact statement she filed in Boulder County District Court, she said Rigby caused her to lose her last opportunities to spend time with her uncle.
"I lost my uncle with him believing I didn't love him," she wrote.
According to the affidavit, Rigby also tried to sit in on meetings with Brandon Fields, an attorney to whom Hall was referred by his doctor, and tried to prevent Martha Meshak, a conservator recommended by Fields to protect Hall's financial interests.
"Initially, when we met with her, she seemed too good to be true," said Meshak, who owns Louisville-based Elder Resource Inc. "She seemed willing to abandon her own life to take care of him."
Meshak said Rigby's extreme altruism raised red flags for her.
"It's very unusual for non-family members to put their entire life aside without any compensation," she said. "I think she just had the end goal in mind, which was that she would get his estate."
According to court documents, Hall's home was worth between $400,000 and $450,000, and he had between $520,000 and $570,000 in various bank accounts and investments.
In December, Hall brought a new will to Fields in which the bulk of his estate, including his house, which had previously been designated to go to VanderZweip, would now go to "my friend Julianna Rigby."
According to an arrest affidavit, Rigby repeatedly tried to interrupt Hall's meeting with Fields and then tried to fire him as Hall's attorney.
Rigby also tried to cancel a meeting with Meshak and Fields at Hall's house, despite Hall's repeated statements that he wanted to meet with them, the affidavit said. When Meshak and Fields did meet with Hall, Rigby again tried to interrupt numerous times.
Meshak said she brought the case to the Boulder County District Attorney's Office and shared her concerns with Cynthia Taylor, head of the Consumer Division, who has extensive experience with financial exploitation of the elderly. Meshak said Taylor confirmed her suspicions that the case warranted intervention.
Fields obtained a protection order keeping Rigby away from Hall, and the day after that, Meshak found a new will written by Rigby that left Hall's home to her. By that time, two neighbors of Hall also had filed complaints with Adult Protective Services.
Meshak arranged for Hall to receive 24-hour, in-home care until his death in February, and he seemed to quickly forget about Rigby, Meshak said. More than anything, he seemed to need company.
"He got to spend his last months feeling secure and well cared for," Meshak said.
After an investigation by the Boulder Police Department, Rigby was charged with two felony counts of criminal attempt to commit theft. Her arraignment is scheduled for Friday.
Rigby, who is free on bond, could not be reached for comment. It was not clear from court documents whether she has retained an attorney.
According to the arrest affidavit, Rigby told detectives that it was Fields and Meshak, not her, who manipulated Hall.
Meshak praised police and prosecutors for pursuing the case.
"This is one of those times where you really feel like the system worked to protect this person," she said.
SOURCE: The Daily Camera
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