Son found liable in '98 death - Civil court awards sister $26 million

Houston Chronicle ^ | April 20, 2002, 9:45PM | SUSAN PARROT - AP

[ValerieUSA]

DALLAS -- Jurors on Friday found the son of a slain millionaire responsible for the 1998 killing and ordered him to pay his sister $26 million in a case unusual because it reached a courtroom before criminal charges were filed.
Lawyers for Amanda Mayhew Dealey had asked jurors to find Chuck Mayhew responsible for the shooting death of Charles Mayhew, a former Sunnyvale mayor.
Jurors deliberated about half a day Friday after a three-week trial before awarding Dealey more than five times the $5 million she was seeking.

Dealey said the judgment provides closure, but also mixed emotions. "It's so sad to have it confirmed by others that my brother killed our father," she said. "It would have been so much better if the criminal courts had dealt with it. I hated to be the one to take that responsibility."
She said she hopes to forgive Mayhew someday. "I still love him," she said, "he's my brother."

Jury foreman Robert Schutz said the panel wanted to send a message, but he wouldn't elaborate.
Because her suit was a civil matter, the jury was not asked to find guilt, a term used in criminal prosecutions. Dealey's lawyers had to prove to the jury only that it is more likely than not that Mayhew killed his father.

Defense attorney Bill Hommel said his client was found guilty of not being a nice guy. "He treated his dad badly over the years" but did not commit murder, Hommel said.

Dealey, a 51-year-old Austin socialite, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her brother after Dallas County authorities never collected enough evidence to pursue a criminal indictment. She accused Chuck Mayhew of killing their father because he worried about being cut from a large inheritance.
"Chuck Mayhew believes he's clever and can get away with murder," said plaintiff's attorney Steve Sumner.
Sumner said the elder Mayhew had warned others that he feared his son and started taping their phone conversations three years before his death. "He was making those tapes for you," Sumner told the jury. "He wanted his son held accountable."
Attorney Rebecca Hamilton told jurors that the criminal justice system failed in this case, and asked them to send a message that the district attorney's office needs to pursue it.

Mayhew, 49, has denied any involvement in the death, and Hommel said his client would never have hurt his father. "They don't have any real proof," Hommel said. "They don't have any real evidence that he killed his father."

Charles Mayhew, 81, was shot once in the neck while he slept.

[ValerieUSA]

Now that Mayhew's inheritance has been depleted, perhaps the bribes will stop and the police and prosecutors can fully investigate the murder of the elder Mayhew.

[Squantos]

Money..........brings both joy and heartache at some point in everyones lives .One of those little puzzles in life that plays with ones mind. Never too much but always too little. People, as suggested in this case, kill for it. Others give it away and or save it. Those who have it are somebody , those who don't are nobody .......sort of a cancer on society IMHO as it drives almost every decision made, good or bad .............sad.

Stay Safe

[ValerieUSA]

I think coveting someone else's money played a part here - even it was his father's money.