Orinda, CA case: Bodfish's Will
Hermit of the Glen
The Contra Costa Times had an article on the Bodfish/Wills case today (page
A3), but it was not posted at their website (which they have redesigned but I'm
not sure it's for the better). Entitled "Slaying victim's park wish," the
article explains that Margaret Bodfish left a trust declaring her desire for
her seven-acre Minor Road property in Orinda to become a public park,
recreation area or wildlife sanctuary. Her son would have inherited the
property had he not killed himself. The executor of her estate, lawyer Garrett
Riegg, envisions her three-bedroom house, where her bludgeoned body was found,
becoming a visitor's center. The site also includes a cabin with two tiny
rooms but most of the property is undeveloped. The article didn't contain any
new info on the investigation, though it did note that she had been living as a
man for more than twenty years.
Hermit
Patty
Orinda Homicide Victim Left Land For City Park Use
BCN42 -WOMAN LEFT HOME TO CITY ORINDA (BCN)
A 56-year-old Orinda woman whose battered body was found in her home has
reportedly left her seven-acre home site to the city for park or
recreational uses, according to an Orinda official. Orinda Park and
Recreation Director Todd Skinner said Margaret Bodfish's trust apparently
donates her hilly home site to Orinda or to the Orinda Park and Recreation
Foundation. Garrett Riegg, the lawyer who drafted Bodfish's will and living
trust documents, said today that Bodfish left the bulk of her property to
her 33-year-old son, Maxwell Wills, assuming he would outlive her.
Both documents require that he outlast her by several months or else the
property goes to Orinda and to charities, Riegg said. The son instead
apparently died of a suicide, bleeding to death from self-inflicted wounds
in a Santa Monica motel room on July 1, according to the Los Angeles County
Coroner's Office. Riegg said that Bodfish had apparently died on about June
26, some four to six days before her son's death. The unusual timing of the
mother and son's deaths has led to speculation that Wills might have killed
his mother. Orinda Police Chief Dan Lawrence said today that his
investigators ``can't make the son a suspect at this point. We're working on
it.'' But Riegg, while saying he does not want to interfere with the ongoing
police investigation into Bodfish's murder, said the mother ``was sick,
physically sick.'' An obvious motive for the son would have been to ``put
her out of her misery,'' he said. Riegg said Bodfish's home, located in
northern Orinda, first goes to the Trust for Public Land, based in San
Francisco. He said Orinda has four years to comply with Bodfish's wishes
that it become a park, open space or animal refuge. Failing that, it goes to
charities, Riegg said.
The two houses Bodfish owned in Sausalito and Mill Valley also apparently go
to charities, Riegg said. Riegg said he is named as executor in Bodfish's
will -- Maxwell Wills' death precluding the son from acting as executor.
Riegg said the Marin County Probate Court judge should confirm Riegg's
appointment at a hearing on Aug. 30.
Orinda recreation's Skinner said the Trust For Public Land has previously
``brokered'' a 110-acre land land transfer to Orinda on the city's southern
edge. He said the Bodfish house is in a residential neighborhood. The Orinda
Park and Recreation Commission will take up the Bodfish gift at its Sept. 8
meeting, he said. Riegg said the Orinda land is just right for a
neighborhood park. He said Bodfish went to court to change her name in 1976,
switching from Margaret Bodfish to Emmon Bodfish. The action helped her feel
``closer to her Celtic past,'' and was partly done ``because she was
eventually acting as a man.''
D.King-Leatham530p8/12/99
Patty
Hermit of the Glen <glenh...@aol.comNOSPAM> wrote in message
news:19990814003746...@ngol04.aol.com...
> In article <37b3...@news1.jps.net>, "Patty" <x...@yyy.com> writes:
>
> >
> >Hermit, I found this today on KPIX Bay City News.
>
Excerpt:
The unusual timing of the mother and son's deaths has led to speculation
that Wills might have killed
his mother. Orinda Police Chief Dan Lawrence said today that his
investigators ``can't make the son a suspect at this point. We're working on
it.'' But Riegg, while saying he does not want to interfere with the ongoing
police investigation into Bodfish's murder, said the mother ``was sick,
physically sick.'' An obvious motive for the son would have been to ``put
her out of her misery,'' he said.
Wasn't she beaten or battered to death? Isn't that a brutal way to "put
someone out of their misery?"
Hermit of the Glen
Hermit of the Glen
>Excerpt:
>
>The unusual timing of the mother and son's deaths has led to speculation
>that Wills might have killed
>his mother. Orinda Police Chief Dan Lawrence said today that his
>investigators ``can't make the son a suspect at this point. We're working on
>it.'' But Riegg, while saying he does not want to interfere with the ongoing
>police investigation into Bodfish's murder, said the mother ``was sick,
>physically sick.'' An obvious motive for the son would have been to ``put
>her out of her misery,'' he said.
>
>
>Wasn't she beaten or battered to death? Isn't that a brutal way to "put
>someone out of their misery?"
>
>
>
Yes! "Bludgeoned" was the word they used, I believe. Hard to imagine that the
lawyer didn't know this, but I can't believe he would make such a stupid
statement if he did know how she was killed. This bizarre logic jumped out at
me too. There has been no mention of her being sick, but there's really been
no mention at all of the autopsy findings--would be interesting to have these
details.