By David Propper
A greedy son sent his wealthy mother to an early grave with abuse that included forcing her to walk up stairs without her cane – leading to a brutal fall, his older siblings claim.
Jeffrey Cutler, 43, dipped into his philanthropist mother Cecelia’s pricey wine collection at her tony Westchester County mansion and pried a diamond from her ring before he cut his brother and sister out of medical decisions in a quest to keep her $10 million fortune for himself, the steaming siblings claim in an explosive new lawsuit.
But Jeffrey Cutler argues the fiery claims are “all bogus” and he painted his family-turned-plaintiffs — Robert, 45, and Cynthia Triggs, 45, — as the real heartless offspring who are only after mom’s money.
“They allege all sorts of things. None of it is true,” he told The Post while claiming that his siblings didn’t even attend their mom’s funeral.
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| Cecelia Cutler and her husband Kenneth. Cecelia Cutler and her husband Kenneth. Westchester County |
The lawsuit filed this week piles up accusations against Jeffrey, including that he instructed NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester doctors not to intubate the trio’s mother, which resulted in her suffocation and death on April 19, 2022.
A month before, the 82-year-old, who previously ran a charity foundation, landed in the hospital after Jeffrey allegedly “ordered” her to climb a set of stairs in her swanky Bronxville mansion without her cane, causing her to fall and injure her head, the lawsuit states.
“In addition to ignoring her health problems, on information and belief, Defendant Jeffrey physically and verbally abused Decedent, stole various items of her personal property, including jewelry, artwork, and bottles of wine from Decedent’s wine collection,” the lawsuit claims.
Jeffrey initially moved in with his mother and father Kenneth in 2012, according to the claims. Kenneth, a former general counsel and partner at a large investment management firm, died in 2015.
That’s when Jeffrey began receiving a $125,000 spending allowance, the lawsuit alleges. Jeffrey denied the allowance in an interview with The Post this week.
In 2017, Cutler forced his mother to change her will so he collected most of her money, which totaled more than $10 million at the time of her death, the lawsuit alleges. Originally, the three children were supposed to split the inheritance evenly, according to the allegations.
Triggs and Robert, who is a lawyer representing himself and his sister in the suit, were left $100,000 each, according to the suit. Cecelia raised five children with her husband but two predeceased her.
The plaintiffs are seeking as much as $15 million in damages, including their $6.7 million cut of the inheritance.
When Cecelia suffered brain trauma from the alleged stairs incident in March 2022, she was taken to the hospital, where Triggs and Robert discovered a ring she had on was missing the diamond and one of the prongs bent back, and the plaintiffs accused Jeffrey of taking it in their lawsuit.
Their mother’s condition improved after surgery, and she was sent to Sprain Brook Manor, a nursing facility in Scarsdale, though her cognitive abilities were “severely impaired” and she could not answer questions, according to the allegations.
Around the same time, doctors arranged an agreement that Triggs, Robert, and Jeffrey each had to sign off on any medical decision made for their mother, according to legal papers.
But family relations quickly spiraled when Robert petitioned a state court in Westchester on April 7, 2022, to take over as guardian for his ailing mom after he found out about what allegedly led to her fall and the missing diamond, the lawsuit states.
When Jeffrey discovered his brother’s move, he allegedly began to misrepresent himself as his mother’s sole guardian to the nursing home and filled out a form that would end life-sustaining treatment if the situation arose, the suit claims.
After the matriarch suffered a respiratory setback on April 17, 2022, she was moved back to NewYork-Presbyterian and placed on a ventilator, according to the children. When that aid began to falter, Cutler decided against intubating his mother without the other two siblings weighing in, the lawsuit alleges.
NewYork-Presbyterian and Sprain Brook Manor are also defendants in the lawsuit because they “recklessly” followed Jeffrey’s directions at the nursing home and hospital, the suit states.
Sprain Brook declined to comment while NewYork-Presbyterian didn’t return a message seeking comment.
Jeffrey objected to the totality of the lawsuit as he slammed his siblings for allegedly not going to their mother’s or father’s funeral. He also claimed they hadn’t spoken to their mother for 10 years starting in 2012.
Jeffrey said in a recent interview he wasn’t even in the room when his mother fell inside her home, and believes she likely collapsed from an ongoing brain condition. He also said she didn’t use a cane to walk.
He claimed the diamond fell from his mother’s ring at least a month earlier and never turned up — well before she landed in the hospital.
And he also insisted when the form to end life-saving treatment was filled out at the nursing home, a nurse asked his mother, and she mouthed she wanted to “go in peace,” though it’s unclear what her mental capacity was at the time.
“I know I didn’t do anything wrong,” he declared, adding, “My brother hates me” and the lawsuit accusations are “complete nonsense.”
He accused his siblings of being angry over receiving a much smaller inheritance than him.
Jeffrey’s legal team did not return an email seeking comment.
Robert Cutler declined to comment when reached Monday and did not return a text message Tuesday following his brother’s allegations.
Cecelia Cutler was president of the Kenneth and Cecelia B. Cutler Foundation, which supported many charities.
“She was a very caring lady,” Jeffrey said.
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Greedy son forced wealthy NY philanthropist to walk without cane in ploy to send her to early grave, siblings claim in lawsuit
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