Wife of doctor found dead in Tarpon Springs mansion ordered to pay his children $200M
Wife of doctor killed in 2014 ordered to pay millions
FOX 13's Jordan Bowen reports on the wife of Dr. Steven Schwartz, a 74-year-old kidney specialist found dead from gunshot wounds in May 2014, was found responsible for his death in civil court and ordered to pay his kids $200 million.
TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. - It has been more than a decade since a prominent doctor was found shot to death in his garage in Tarpon Springs.
Dr. Steven Schwartz, a 74-year-old kidney specialist, was found dead from two gunshot wounds in the garage of his Tarpon Springs mansion back in May 2014. His wife found him and called the police, saying there had been a burglary.
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No one was ever formally charged with his murder, but his wife, 64-year-old Rebecca Schwartz, was found responsible for his death this month in civil court as part of a wrongful death lawsuit. She was ordered to pay his kids $200 million.
"He was a wonderful man," said Wil Florin, the plaintiff's attorney. "He was the type of doctor that, if a patient was in need of money, he would have them come back to his office privately and help them out. Everybody loved him."
Almost 11 years after her husband's death, Rebecca Schwartz was found in civil court to have "unlawfully and intentionally killed, or participated in procuring the death" of Steven Schwartz. The civil suit was brought against her by his three kids.
"The case we presented to the jury, the motive was very clear, was money. The testimony was that she'd been embezzling money from Doctor Schwartz, she the defendant for years, and giving it to her kids, and starting a marijuana grow house with the handyman," Florin said.
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Florin explained that he argued in court that Dr. Schwartz found out about the embezzlement and threatened to divorce her, which would have left her penniless.
"She was caught red-handed, embezzling again by buying a Verizon Wireless store in Wisconsin for one of her sons from a previous marriage, and this time it was enough," Florin said. "And as he left for work at the hospital to do his rounds, he was going down the stairs and according to the forensic evidence, shot twice in the head."
Pictured: Dr. Steven Schwartz.
His wife was never charged with murder, but the handyman did end up pleading guilty to one count of accessory to the murder and was deported back to Albania. Detectives found his DNA on Steven Schwartz’s shirt as well as cell phone records that didn’t match his alibi.
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"The handyman that was later convicted of an accessory after the fact was sent to the scene to clean up the mess, take the hard drive of the surveillance system, take a butcher knife and try to retrieve the bullets," Florin said.
Florin said his kids are pleased with the verdict but said they will likely only collect anywhere from $10 to $20 million.
What we don't know:
FOX 13 made attempts to reach Rebecca Schwartz's attorney and are still waiting to hear back.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered using details from the civil suit and information from the plaintiff's attorney.
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