Marilyn Bradshaw Reagan tried but failed to prevent her sister Frances Schreuder from inheriting the fortune made by their father, whose murder sent Schreuder to prison.
Schreuder was paroled Tuesday to a comfortable home and income left by her mother.According to court documents filed last August, attorneys for Marilyn Bradshaw Reagan cited a Utah law that bars convicted killers from inheriting anything from their victims. Reagan, who stood to gain nothing financially had she prevailed, asserted Schreuder, 58, deserved no stake in the estate of their mother, Berenice Jewett Bradshaw.
Bradshaw's money came from her 76-year-old husband Franklin, who was gunned down in 1978 at his Salt Lake auto-parts store by Schreuder's son, Marc, then 17. Prosecutors contended the youth was ordered by his mother to carry out the slaying because she feared her father wanted her disinherited. Marc Schreuder was paroled last year.
After an Aug. 7 hearing, 3rd District Judge Kenneth Rigtrup ruled that the law does not govern Berenice Bradshaw's choice of heirs.
Reagan, who lives in New York City, was out of town and could not be reached for comment.
"I would just like to drop it," said another of Frances Schreuder's sisters, Elaine Drukman, who declined further comment.
Six years after Frances Schreuder's 1983 murder conviction, Berenice Bradshaw set up a trust naming Frances as the primary beneficiary, according to court records. Berenice Bradshaw died Feb. 24 at age 92.
After the estate - estimated at $2 million - pays out taxes and specified bequests, the trustee is to manage half of what is left as a trust for Frances Schreuder. The other half goes to two of Berenice Bradshaw's grandsons, Samuel and Maxwell Drukman.
Berenice Bradshaw's will provides for Schreuder to receive an annual income totaling 5 percent of the trust's market value. Schreuder also gets her mother's personal belongings, including her Salt Lake condominium. A friend of Berenice Bradshaw had been living in the condominium since the widow's death.
Had Frances Schreuder been unable to inherit, the will required the assets to fund a trust to benefit Westminster College, Utah Opera and Ballet West. These organizations are to get what money remains when Frances Schreuder dies.