Arizona man stole $150K from his elderly mom. Then a probate judge asked to hug him

by Robert Anglen
Arizona Republic

Even veteran litigators say they cannot unsee what transpired inside a Maricopa County courtroom.

In the span of a nearly hour-long hearing, a Superior Court commissioner befriended a man fresh out of prison who was convicted of financially exploiting his 97-year-old mother.

She told him how young and wonderful he looked. She offered career advice and personal growth tips. She talked favorite concerts, weight gain, bucket lists and the quality of In-N-Out french fries. She also coached him on ways to secure visits with his mother.

Then Probate Commissioner Vanessa Smith asked if she could step down from the bench and give him a hug.

“Your honor, I would very much enjoy that,” convicted fraudster Karl Edmark III said.

Two of Edmark's siblings called the scene "bizarre" and "appalling." They said Smith seemed to abandon objectivity and professionalism, becoming personally invested in their brother's case — and his cause.

"It was a surreal situation," Rick Edmark said. "Why should a victim have anything to do with her abuser?"

The case illustrates the insular nature of probate court, where a tight-knit group of judges and lawyers hold sway over the health and wealth of people unable to care for themselves.

Hearings regularly take place in near-empty courtrooms without the public scrutiny or attention given to criminal prosecutions. Nevertheless, decisions on individual freedom and finances can be as consequential as a life sentence, with or without parole.

Commissioners in probate court have many of the same powers as judges. Among other duties, they monitor cases of people ruled to be incapacitated, whose bank accounts, property, possessions and continued care are turned over to third parties known as legal guardians.

Lawyers and legal scholars described Smith's conduct in Edmark's hearing as troubling, with potentially serious ramifications for both the case and the court.

"We are seeing bizarre sympathy for predators," said William Black, associate professor of economics and law at the University of Missouri. "You never, ever do this. ... You don't hug him."

Black, a white-collar criminologist who served as a visiting scholar at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, said Smith's hearing appeared to subvert fundamental judicial training and etiquette. He said she should face sanctions.

"This was completely unethical, front to back," he said.

Superior Court officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Smith, through a court spokesperson, declined to discuss the case.

Tasya Peterson, the court's communications director, said Smith was ethically prohibited from talking about an ongoing case. Peterson would not answer any questions about the hearing on the record.

This isn't the first time Smith's behavior on the bench has come under scrutiny. Phoenix probate lawyer Tom Asimou filed a judicial conduct complaint in March, accusing Smith of using a racial slur to describe a man seeking to become his adult son's guardian.

A judicial panel dismissed the complaint, but not before Asimou said Smith targeted the man in subsequent hearings, treating him with a "patronizing demeanor."

Asimou was not in the courtroom April 25, when Smith hugged Edmark. He represented the private fiduciary charged with overseeing the physical and financial well-being of Edmark's mother, Mary Miller, who spent the last months of her life in hospice.

Miller was the former wife of Karl William Edmark, a cardiovascular surgeon who gained international fame for developing the modern defibrillator. He died in 1994.

When Karl Edmark III, their oldest son, got out of prison in March, he immediately sought to see his mother in person.

Miller's fiduciary for months fought to prevent Edmark from visiting his mother without strict supervision. Allowing him to do so risked putting Miller at the mercy of someone who once "used his positions of trust and confidence to his mother to obtain and use her assets for his own benefit," Asimou said in court filings.

"I have spent my entire career helping the most vulnerable," Asimou told The Arizona Republic. "The overarching function of the probate court is to protect vulnerable adults. Mary Miller deserved those protections."

Miller lapsed into a coma and died Oct. 1. It was unclear if she was aware of the legal battle her oldest son was waging to see her.

'I always refer to you in my head as Karl'

Smith lacked the authority to grant Edmark rights to visit his mother. Under the rules of the court, she had little say in who got to see Miller.

That didn't stop her from trying to help him — and using her position on the bench to give Edmark pointers on how to legally make it happen.

"I would very much appreciate any assistance to clear the way to visit my biological mother before she passes," Edmark said in April.

Smith acknowledged Edmark's conviction, referring to "allegations of theft from a vulnerable adult."

She suggested including a letter from the probation department indicating it did not object to Edmark visiting his mother in an emergency petition to the court.

"I certainly would hope we could reach some sort of agreement so Karl could see his mom," Smith said.

Five days later, on May 1, Edmark's representatives filed an expedited petition for contact with Miller.

Judges and commissioners don't typically address people appearing before them by first name. But Smith told Edmark she felt as if she could relate to him.

"Your case has been around a long time; I always refer to you in my head as Karl," she said.

Courts in 2021 first ruled Edmark was unable to care for himself. Smith's role in the case is limited to making sure lawyers and fiduciaries managing his case are acting in his best interests.

Representatives for Edmark did not respond to interview requests.

Smith couldn't grant Edmark visitation rights to see Miller, whose case is overseen by a separate probate court judge.

Miller's court-appointed lawyer had argued in favor of letting Edmark have supervised visits with his mother.

"Karl never physically harmed his mother," Scottsdale lawyer Yvette Banker said in an April 28 email to Asimou. "Allowing Mary to see her child, at least once, before she dies, should be allowed."

Banker said she "didn’t care" what Edmark's siblings thought, telling Asimou it was not their call.

Banker did not respond to multiple interview requests. But court documents show Banker previously said Miller felt betrayed by Edmark, who had wasted her assets. Having visitors also overwhelmed the nonagenarian, Banker said.

Although the April 25 hearing had nothing to do with Miller, Edmark repeatedly steered the conversation to visitation while the commissioner questioned him about his probation status and rehabilitation.

Smith expressed empathy for Edmark.

"I cannot imagine coming out of a system where I'm confined, and I have to follow the rules and I'm handcuffed and I can't even pick out my own clothes," she said.

Probate commissioner gets personal — and up close

Edmark clung to Smith's words like a lifeline as her observations became more personal and they exchanged anecdotes.

They talked diet and exercise:

Edmark: "It makes me feel very terrible, being that heavy, because it is so high above my desired weight."

Smith: "I'll tell you, Karl. I am identifying with you because I don't move from this desk all day long, and I need to. What are you doing about it? Are you walking?"

Age:

Edmark: "I'm actually 70-plus."

Smith: "I know, but you don't look it at all."

Edmark: "That's a very nice compliment, your honor."

Smith: "I know you're stressed about that. I get it. But I think you look wonderful. I'm just glad to see you in person."

Fast food:

Smith: "What's the first thing you did when you got out?

Edmark: "Had my cousin take me to In-N-Out hamburger for lunch."

Smith: "I don't like their french fries. Do you?"

Jobs:

Edmark: "I am a hard-working individual. I would really like to get a job with a local chip manufacturer."

Smith: "I love it. I think if that's a real possibility, then go for it. Have you updated your resume recently?"

They also talked about concerts (Smith saw U2 at the Sphere in Las Vegas; her kids are obsessed with Taylor Swift); hobbies (Edmark enjoys model rocketry and scientific journals); podcasts (Smith recommended "Ear Hustle" about adjusting to life outside prison); and inventions (Edmark wants to develop a blood monitoring device).

Smith said it was "the best hearing I've had in a while," and just before wrapping it up, she told Edmark, "I'm so glad you came to visit." Then she asked if she could hug him."All right, you just made my day, Karl," she said.

Rising to greet Edmark in the gallery, Smith appeared to acknowledge her unorthodox behavior, if only to herself. The microphone caught her trailing words: "I realize I probably violate judicial behavior code every day ..."

Fraud, theft and a last-minute brain injury claim

Edmark in 2021 took a plea deal and admitted to stealing more than $150,000 from his mother while acting as her guardian.

He was hours away from sentencing in Maricopa County Superior Court when his estranged wife filed a petition with the court saying Edmark needed a guardian of his own; that he was unable to care for himself.

She claimed Edmark suffered from Alzheimer's disease, dementia and aggressive behavior. By way of explanation, she included a doctor's report saying a car accident years ago had left Edmark with a subdural hematoma on the right side of his brain.

The injury was self-reported, and the doctor later acknowledged basing her assessment on a phone call with Edmark's wife, court records show.

"Despite apparently knocking his head into a rental car windshield in 2016, Karl appeared to live an otherwise normal life until his criminal conduct began to have real consequences," Asimou wrote in a June 2025 objection to Edmark's petition to see his mother.

The injuries did not prevent Edmark from using his mother's money to book an $80,526 world cruise in 2017, Asimou said.

"Despite his 'forgetfulness' and 'mild cognitive impairment' he was able to navigate the use of Mary's credit cards to purchase and ship hundreds of goods to his home ... none of which were for Mary's benefit," Asimou said.

Edmark, 70, is the oldest of six siblings. He has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder and worked for some of the biggest names in technology, including Intel, Microsoft and HP, according to court documents.

Edmark's father made millions on his development of the defibrillator. In 1995, Edmark's five siblings successfully contested their brother's inheritance, claiming he manipulated their father into changing his will.

But Edmark in 1997 won on appeal and gained control over the bulk of his father's estate, court records show. His siblings said they could no longer afford the legal costs to continue fighting.

Three of his siblings offered a blistering personal indictment of their brother during his sentencing in their mother's case. They said he ripped off family members for decades. First their grandmother, then their father and now their mother, they told the judge.

"For 50 years, our eldest brother, Karl Edmark, has demonstrated a repeated pattern of predatory behavior towards the finances of our elderly family members," Rick Edmark said.

"He became our father's enabler and drug dealer, helping to procure drugs and alcohol to keep our father intoxicated and dependent upon him," Rick Edmark said. "He leveraged our father's drug-induced paranoia to gain access to his finances and cajole expensive gifts for himself, such as airplanes, a jet, a helicopter, lavish vacations and homes."

The siblings came armed with a 1995 opinion from a probate court judge in Washington, who found "Karl's behavior was motivated by greed and callous indifference to his father's needs."

Rick Edmark said his brother in 2017 began "preying upon our mother's multimillion-dollar retirement fund" and later got himself named as the successor trustee on his mother's trust, where most of her assets were held.

He argued Karl Edmark was completely competent to stand trial and asked the judge to give him up to five years in prison.

"His siblings know him as a brother who lacks love and a conscience when it comes to his family," Rick Edmark said.

It was all just an honest mistake, Karl Edmark said when it was his turn to take the stand — one that he regretted.

"I deeply apologize for all of this trouble that's it's alleged that I have — have caused, and I deeply apologize," he said. "And I want the court to know that I am not a predator."

Karl Edmark said there was no instruction book on how to act as a power of attorney for his mother. He painted himself as a dutiful son who helped both his father and his mother in their waning years. None of his siblings would step up and assume the responsibility for Miller's care and finances, he said.

"All I did was everything in my power to do everything for my mother," he said in court. "I was her surrogate husband — surrogate spouse, and I did everything in my power to do the very best for her."

The judge didn't buy it.

Criminal case ends in withering rebuke

Superior Court Judge Timothy Ryan excoriated Edmark in his ruling.

"I didn't hear you say a single thing about the harm you caused," Ryan said. "You're patting yourself on the back like you're some standup guy, and that's just not what I see."

He described Edmark as a taker — "a person who helped himself, helped himself over and over again" — and said it was embarrassing.

Ryan put the emphasis on restitution, ordering Edmark to repay his family, giving him a deferred jail sentence and three years' supervised probation. He warned Edmark failure to make payments would land him in jail.

Edmark did end up in prison. But it had little to do with the fraud case and a lot to do with his wife.

That world cruise? It was while globetrotting that Edmark met his wife, a 37-year-old Polish national who managed the ship's spa, court records show. He proposed to her in 2018 with an $80,000 platinum ring. At 63, Edmark gave up bachelorhood.

After Edmark was sentenced, his wife dropped her petition for guardianship, court records show. She also appeared to drop Edmark, at least on paper. She moved out of their Scottsdale home but periodically returned for visits, including one in 2022.

They went on a date. They got into an argument. Police were called. Officers found a gun in his house. Edmark was arrested in May of that year and was locked up in jail for violating his probation. As a convicted felon, Edmark was not legally allowed to possess a firearm.

Edmark pleaded guilty to the gun charge in 2023 and went to state prison for about two years. While incarcerated, court records show, Edmark reported that he was suffering from seizures and petitioned the court to appoint a guardian.

His wife, meanwhile, got a lawyer and access to hundreds of thousands of dollars in Edmark's accounts, records show.

Asimou, in court filings, called it "poetic justice."

Edmark was released from prison in March. A month later, he was discussing hamburgers with Smith and beseeching the probate commissioner to help him see his mother.

Commissioner accused of using racial slur

Smith, without apparent notice — or explanation — removed herself from several cases in August, all involving Asimou.

Asimou declined comment on Smith's recusal, saying only that he had no idea what prompted it.

The complaint he filed against Smith was dismissed in July. He accused her of demeaning a person of color during an exchange about prior court rulings. Transcripts and recordings captured what was said in the Jan. 7 hearing.

Asimou: "Not my circus, not my ring, but."

Smith: "Monkeys."

Asimou: "I wasn't going to say that because I think that's disrespectful."

Smith continued the hearing as if nothing had transpired. The phrase originates from a Polish proverb that historically is meant to mean, "not my problem." But it also has been described as racist.

Pool Roy, who is of Indian descent, took it as a slur. He was appearing before Smith to assume care of his incapacitated adult son and get the court's approval to move him to Maryland.

"As a man of darker complexion and with English as my second language, I found it deeply offensive and disheartening," the retired university professor said in a declaration. "In my experience, this term has historically been used to dehumanize people of color."

The utterance made him second-guess whether he was being treated fairly. Roy said he feared speaking out would cause the commissioner to retaliate.

"This experience left me feeling marginalized and discriminated against in a setting where I expected fairness and justice," he said.

Asimou accused Smith in the complaint of continuing to mistreat Roy. During a follow-up hearing, Smith was condescending, raising "concerns" about his intentions, Asimou said.

"The court appeared to assume that Pool Roy would not be able to obtain appropriate services for his son in Maryland — which is clearly contrary to Pool Roy's testimony and training as a guardian," Asimou wrote.

Smith ultimately signed off on putting Roy's son into his father's care.

Commissionersin Maricopa County are chosen by a committee of judges and lawyers and appointed by the court's presiding judge. Their roles are limited compared with judges. But probate court commissioners are given wide latitude to oversee cases.

Smith graduated from law school in 2004 and worked for most of her career in the Maricopa County Office of the Public Defender, according to her biography on the court's website. She became a commissioner in 2022.

She got high marks in her 2024 performance review, with litigants and court staff giving her 100% in surveys on a range of categories.

Her highest scores among attorneys were for maintaining control of the courtroom (96%), knowledge of evidence rules (94%) and clearly written legal decisions (94%). Her lowest score was for "judicial temperament" and being respectful to all individuals (82%).

Smith declined comment on Roy's case. Former Maricopa County Superior Court Presiding Judge Joseph Welty in March disregarded Asimou's complaint as "frivolous" while acknowledging he had not yet reviewed it.

"No reasonable person who understands the context of the statement could find it to be racially motivated or racially insensitive," he said in a statement to The Republic. "My office takes such accusations seriously, but this is a frivolous accusation against a court commissioner who was recently awarded for her integrity.”

Lawyers who complain can put cases at risk

Judges and commissioners are rarely held to account for misconduct in their courtrooms, said Black, the legal and ethics scholar.

But those who are most likely to witness such misconduct are lawyers whose cases are on the line, he said. They run the risk of antagonizing the judge and jeopardizing their reputations and, more importantly, their clients' cases.

"Most of the folks who observe it are lawyers who have to practice in front of the judge," he said.

Smith's behavior in the Edmark case should be called out, he said. Fawning and hugging someone whose case you are presiding over goes against the most rudimentary judicial training.

Former State Bar of Arizona President Ed Novak agreed Smith's behavior raises questions.

"It is unusual behavior, I will say that," Novak said. "Judges have been disciplined for less."

 Novak has taught ethics at Arizona State University and has served on the Arizona Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness. Some of Smith's questions of Edmark could be explained away as part of a careful interview process by the commissioner to gauge his state of mind, he said.

For instance, the exchange about where he went to eat after being released from prison could reveal his awareness of time and place, Novak said.

But other questions and actions, including the hug, were inexplicable, he said.

"That seems inappropriate to me," he said. "I don't know if it necessarily violates the code of judicial conduct."

Novak said he was familiar with Smith and her handling of cases. Asked if he had any opinions on her conduct, Novak replied: "None that I want to be quoted on." 

Full Article & Source:
Arizona man stole $150K from his elderly mom. Then a probate judge asked to hug him