Spouse of murdered physician ordered to pay hundreds of thousands
FOX 13’s Jordan Bowen stories on the spouse of Dr. Steven Schwartz, a 74-year-old kidney specialist discovered useless from gunshot wounds in Could 2014, was discovered chargeable for his demise in civil court docket and ordered to pay his children $200 million.
TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. – It has been greater than a decade since a outstanding physician was discovered shot to demise in his storage in Tarpon Springs.Â
Dr. Steven Schwartz, a 74-year-old kidney specialist, was discovered useless from two gunshot wounds within the storage of his Tarpon Springs mansion again in Could 2014. His spouse discovered him and referred to as the police, saying there had been a housebreaking.Â
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Nobody was ever formally charged together with his homicide, however his spouse, 64-year-old Rebecca Schwartz, was discovered chargeable for his demise this month in civil court docket as a part of a wrongful demise lawsuit. She was ordered to pay his children $200 million.
“He was an exquisite man,” stated Wil Florin, the plaintiff’s legal professional. “He was the kind of physician that, if a affected person was in want of cash, he would have them come again to his workplace privately and assist them out. Everyone liked him.”
Virtually 11 years after her husband’s demise, Rebecca Schwartz was present in civil court docket to have “unlawfully and deliberately killed, or participated in procuring the demise” of Steven Schwartz. The civil swimsuit was introduced in opposition to her by his three children.
“The case we offered to the jury, the motive was very clear, was cash. The testimony was that she’d been embezzling cash from Physician Schwartz, she the defendant for years, and giving it to her children, and beginning a marijuana develop home with the handyman,” Florin stated.
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Florin defined that he argued in court docket that Dr. Schwartz discovered concerning the embezzlement and threatened to divorce her, which might have left her penniless.
“She was caught red-handed, embezzling once more by shopping for a Verizon Wi-fi retailer in Wisconsin for one among her sons from a earlier marriage, and this time it was sufficient,” Florin stated. “And as he left for work on the hospital to do his rounds, he was taking place the steps and in response to the forensic proof, shot twice within the head.”
Pictured: Dr. Steven Schwartz.
His spouse was by no means charged with homicide, however the handyman did find yourself pleading responsible to at least one depend of accent to the homicide and was deported again to Albania. Detectives discovered his DNA on Steven Schwartz’s shirt in addition to cellphone data that didn’t match his alibi.
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“The handyman that was later convicted of an adjunct after the actual fact was despatched to the scene to scrub up the mess, take the laborious drive of the surveillance system, take a butcher knife and attempt to retrieve the bullets,” Florin stated.
Florin stated his children are happy with the decision however stated they’ll probably solely gather wherever from $10 to $20 million.Â
What we do not know:
FOX 13 made makes an attempt to succeed in Rebecca Schwartz’s legal professional and are nonetheless ready to listen to again.
The Supply: The knowledge on this story was gathered utilizing particulars from the civil swimsuit and knowledge from the plaintiff’s legal professional.Â
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