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Chapter 1: What led to the legal battle over Diane McIver's fortune?
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I would meet Billy at the Downwinds restaurant there at P Street DeKalb Airport. And if you didn't know it was Billy Corey, you thought it was a poor homeless man sitting at the table hoping somebody would buy him a cheeseburger. But once you got to know him and to know Diane as well, you could see they were very talented at making money.
Billy would make money with Democrats, Republicans, Independents. It didn't matter.
This is J. Tom Morgan, who knew most of the circle of players in this story and who has his own strong opinions on how this all played out.
I met Billy Corey when I worked for a law firm in Atlanta, and he was one of our clients. And that's how I got to know Diane as well. I'm a professor here at Western Carolina University, where I teach criminal law, criminal procedure, and legal ethics to students.
Jay Tom was there for the trial, watching each move by both sides like a hawk.
And I sat through a good bit of the trial, just as a curious observer, not for any particular person. The whole story, both sides, didn't make sense, the prosecution theory and the defense theory.
again having known diane and i didn't know tets but i knew a lot of people who knew tets their relationship you know seemed okay though when they bought their piece of property that you know in middle georgia that tets like to call a ranch most of us from georgia will call it a farm But Diane made sure that Tetz gave her a promissory note for his part.
That's not your typical marriage arrangement. I think it goes back to that Diane was the one who had the business sense. They did not have any children. Tetz had children from a previous marriage. So I think Diane wanted to be careful with her assets, to be honest. I think Diane would take business over a marriage any day.
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Chapter 2: Who were the key players in Diane's life?
I think he's extremely highly ethical. But at the same time, as I teach my students in ethics, the appearance of a conflict can be just as powerful as a real conflict. So for a judge to give his blessings to a plea deal that gives $1.5 million to the son of another Superior Court judge, we need to bring somebody else in.
The Schwalls' claims that the McIvers wanted Austin to receive Diane's inheritance was not news. In fact, in March of 2018, Ann Schwall testified at Texas trial about Diane and Texas' wishes for Austin to have the ranch.
Now, can you tell the jurors, with respect to the ranch, did Diane McIver ever tell you what she wanted to do with the ranch when she died?
Yes, she did tell me that she wanted Austin to have the ranch.
Do you remember when she told you that?
I don't know the exact year. It was a while ago. Austin was younger. It was not recent. She told me that she wanted Austin to have the ranch. She felt like this was a special place for them and she wanted him to have it.
Can you tell the jury, after the death of Diane MacGyver, did you have a conversation with the defendant about Diane's 2006 will? I did. Can you tell the jury when was the first time you would have had this conversation with him about Diane's 2006 will?
It was after her death.
I think a couple of days, a day, a week, a month?
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Chapter 3: What were the insights from the trial?
Frank's deceased wife Sandy and Diane were close cousins as kids.
They grew up together. They were the best friends for years before they got out of high school, and then they kind of went separate ways. But up to then, they were together all the time. Their mothers were sisters.
Frank lives in Peachtree City, Georgia, about an hour outside of Atlanta, and is an attorney, and he's kept a sharp eye on these recent developments.
It's my understanding that the money is still... sitting in the account of an appointed administrator, and it's not going to be distributed until the question of his entitlement to it has been resolved. I certainly don't think he's entitled to any of it, but there are factual and legal questions that need to be resolved before that money can be distributed.
As a moral issue, I certainly don't think he's entitled to a penny of it. What makes it so complicated is that he was found guilty of murder and they set that aside so everything went back to square one. And so the question that had been resolved by the finding that he was a murderer
being set aside and then entering into a settlement, a plea bargain agreement that meant that the state didn't have to retry the case, did not resolve the civil issues that are still pending. And that's the reason that the money shouldn't be distributed to anyone until the civil questions have been resolved.
At the end of the day, who should get the proceeds? Tex, his godsons, or the cousins?
Well, the godsons aren't entitled to it at all. They don't have a say. The only two options are Tex and the heirs, which are the first cousins in the case. Tex can only get it if he's not barred by the Slayer statute.
The parties that entered into the plea bargain agreement can't do an end run around the Slayer statute or try to avoid the Slayer statute simply by him making some kind of an agreement as to what he did or didn't do. They're trying to give the money to, they can't give it to the godsons.
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