Richard Schmelzer’s four children would receive his portion of their great-grandmother’s estate should a judge uphold the Texas man’s murder conviction, according to court records in a civil case tied to Mildred Darrington’s death.
A jury in December convicted 44-year-old Schmelzer of killing Darrington in 2014 as part of a scheme to cash in on his portion of Darrington’s estate worth an estimated $800,000, including the value of her East Dundee home, according to records. Schmelzer and his mother, Angela, were appointed as co-trustees of the trust Darrington established in 1991. Angela Schmelzer filed paperwork in August 2015, while Richard Schmelzer awaited trial, to have her son excluded from any role in the estate.
At a Jan. 20 hearing, an attorney representing Angela Schmelzer filed a motion seeking to have Richard Schmelzer removed as a beneficiary of the trust given the outcome of the murder trial, according to records. The motion indicates his share would be distributed to his four children should Judge Linda Abrahamson deny a post-trial motion seeking an acquittal or for a new trial to be held in the murder case.
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Schmelzer’s attorney contends that prosecutors failed to prove Richard Schmelzer killed 83-year-old Darrington, while also arguing that Abrahamson erred at several points during the two-week trial, according to records. Abrahamson is scheduled to hear the motion March 23 and, unless she rules in his favor, sentence Schmelzer to at least 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors at trial focused on Schmelzer’s financial motive to kill Darrington as he lived a secret lifestyle that involved lavish spending on women which extended him beyond his family’s means, according to records. Evidence at trial included an electronic trail of cellphone calls and prepaid American Express card purchases left by Schmelzer as he drove a rental car from Texas to Illinois in the hours before Darrington’s body was discovered stabbed to death in her bed.
Dan Campana is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.