It claims a former police detective took advantage of a man with dementia
PORTLAND — A former Medford police
detective who specialized in investigating elder abuse has been accused
of using her expertise to exploit the dementia of a Portland lawyer
before his death last year.
The daughter of Victor Calzaretta says in a
$4 million lawsuit filed in Portland that she was in line to inherit
his estate until Calzaretta married the detective, Sue Campbell, after a
brief courtship. Calzaretta changed his will in 2011 to make his wife
the executor and sole beneficiary.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of Diane Miller
of La Center, Wash., says the detective was familiar with the signs of
dementia and married Calzaretta — her elder by 13 years — “not because
she loved him,” but to get access to his estate.
“Campbell’s actions were taken for the
improper purpose of financially exploiting an elderly demented man for
her own financial benefit,” the lawsuit states.
Sue Campbell Calzaretta declined comment by
phone Thursday. Her lawyer, Jim Callahan, said his client adamantly
denies the allegations, and he spoke no further.
Victor Calzaretta, who died at 72, worked
as a police officer before switching careers in the early 1980s and,
according to lawsuit, amassing an estate worth about $4 million.
In July 2003, he made out a will leaving
his estate to his second wife, Anita. If she died before Victor
Calzaretta, the estate would go to Miller. Anita Calzaretta died in
2004.
The lawsuit states that Calzaretta began showing signs of dementia in 2008, and it worsened the following year.
Toward the end of his legal career,
Calzaretta was hit with two negligence complaints, court records show.
One of them was filed by a client whose lawsuit was tossed by a judge
early into a November 2010 trial. A news report from the time said the
judge sharply criticized Calzaretta for his lack of preparation,
including his inability to even say when his next witnesses would show.
According to the lawsuit, Calzaretta had
been friends with Campbell and bought her a wedding dress in 1994. The
two, however, went years without seeing each other until Campbell
invited Calzaretta to attend a funeral with her in February 2010. They
started dating and got married two months later.
Campbell worked for years investigating
abuse cases involving the elderly. In 2007, the state Department of
Human Services honored her as one of 11 “Everyday Heroes” in the fight
against the crime. The agency said in a news release that the detective
went “above and beyond” her professional duty by taking victims of elder
abuse on outings, walking their dogs, baking them desserts and
celebrating holidays with them.
Calzaretta’s will, a copy of which was
found in Jackson County Probate Department records, is similar to the
2003 terms except that Sue Calzaretta’s name is substituted for the
second wife. If Sue Calzaretta had preceded her husband in death, the
estate would have gone to Diane Miller.
Victor Calzaretta’s other surviving child, Richard Calzaretta of Vancouver, Wash., was shut out in both versions.
Tara Lawrence, the lawyer for Diane Miller,
said her client could not be interviewed and she wouldn’t discuss
Miller’s financial situation.
“(The lawsuit) has so much less to do with
finances,” Lawrence said Thursday. “It certainly plays a factor. But
Diane is bringing this for justice for her father.”
One of Victor Calzaretta’s siblings,
William Calzaretta, said he couldn’t shed any light on his brother’s
relationship with Sue Campbell. But, he added, the family also didn’t
know anything about Victor’s first and second wives until he married
them.
“He never communicated with us,” he said.
Full Article & Source:
Daughter’s suit alleges exploitation
