Washington Man Denies Killing Girl for Insurance Money
An Auburn-area, Wash., man accused of drowning his 3-year-old stepdaughter to collect on a $200,000 life insurance policy pleaded innocent in King County Superior Court and remained in jail on $5 million bail.
Joel Zellmer, 37, was arrested in the death of Ashley McLellan, who was pulled unconscious from the family pool in December 2003 and died two days later.
Authorities initially ruled the drowning an accident but reopened the investigation after finding that the death fit a pattern of near-drownings and other bizarre injuries to befall the young children of women that Zellmer dated or married, according to court records.
Zellmer is charged with first-degree murder, as well as first-degree theft for allegedly faking a head injury to collect $193,000 in disability payments from the state Department of Labor and Industries.
- PE Firm Cornell Sued Over $345 Million Instant Brands Dividend
- Blacks and Hispanics Pay More for Auto Insurance. Study Tries to Answer Why.
- Florida Citizens’ Brass Tired of ‘Clickbait’ News on its Hurricane Claims Denials
- Changing the Focus of Claims, Data When Talking About Nuclear Verdicts