Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Prosecutors can use evidence of a decades-long series of frauds in their case against a Maryland woman accused of swindling and murdering a widower, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week.

A 4th Circuit panel said in a 2-1 decision that the evidence is relevant to the government’s claim that Nancy Jean Siegel killed 76-year-old Jack Watkins to prevent him from reporting her crimes and to allow her to target a wealthier man.

U.S. District Judge Andre M. Davis of Baltimore had refused to allow the evidence, saying it was inflammatory.

Siegel’s attorneys claimed only evidence directly related to the crimes involving Watkins could be used by prosecutors. But the appeals court agreed with the government’s claim that evidence of the other crimes is admissible to show the full scope of the fraud scheme and demonstrate a motive for killing Watkins.

Prosecutors claim Siegel obtained money or credit in the names of three husbands, several friends and acquaintances, and her two daughters over several years. It all started when she left her first husband more than $100,000 in debt, according to the government.

According to prosecutors, Siegel then stole the wallets of four people and either drained their bank accounts, used their credit cards or took out loans in their names. Siegel also allegedly defaulted on credit accounts she opened in her daughters’ names and caused one daughter’s car to be repossessed.

Siegel was on probation for the wallet thefts when she met Watkins, a retiree about 30 years her senior who had little debt and owned his home outright. The appeals court described their relationship as “romantic.’’

Within months Siegel ran up tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt in Watkins’ name and persuaded him to tap virtually all the equity in his house, which he later sold –at Siegel’s behest – netting only about $3,800. She also pawned most of Watkins’ possessions and cut off his contact with friends and his stepchildren from a previous marriage, according to prosecutors.

Watkins fell ill on a trip to Atlantic City to celebrate the couple’s upcoming marriage. He told hospital workers that Siegel was his fiancee, but she said she was just his caregiver or housekeeper, prompting doctors to believe Watkins suffered from dementia, the government says.

Unable to find an opening for Watkins in a long-term care facility, Siegel took him to her condominium. Less than a month later, on May 16, 1996, Watkins’ body was found stuffed in a trunk in Loudoun County. Authorities determined the man had been strangled but were unable to identify him.

Authorities say Siegel continued to cash Watkins’ Social Security checks long after his death. She also married Eric Siegel, a wealthy commercial loan broker whom she started seeing while still involved with Watkins. Nancy Siegel ran up $300,000 in debt in her husband’s name without his consent. He paid the debt without going to the police.

In January 2003, Virginia authorities finally identified Watkins’ body through military fingerprint records. Social Security investigators led police to Siegel, who first claimed Watkins was still alive but later told family members she came home one afternoon and found him sprawled across the bed with a cord around his neck.

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