Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 28, 1994 TAG: 9407280082
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHICAGO LENGTH: Medium
Helen Vorhees Brach was last seen checking out of the Mayo Clinic in 1977. Her body never was found.
Richard Bailey, a stable owner prosecutors described as a con man preying on older women, was arraigned Wednesday on federal charges and ordered held without bail.
In court awaiting his hearing, a pale, nervous-looking Bailey had to be escorted outside to vomit.
U.S. Attorney James Burns said Brach was killed after threatening to go to authorities after discovering Bailey had duped her into paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for worthless horses.
Bailey also duped other elderly women in a similar horse-trading scheme, Burns said.
``He broke his way into lives and hearts by telling them that he loved them and wanted to marry them,'' Burns said.
Brach, 65, became the sole heiress of the Brach Candy Co. fortune in 1970 after her husband, Frank, died. Most of her $30 million estate, which included a stable of thoroughbreds, went to charity when she was declared dead in 1984.
The investigation also led to charges against 22 others in an equestrian insurance fraud scheme, which allegedly involved prominent horse owners killing their animals to collect benefits.
``This is the dirty little secret of the [showhorse] industry,'' said Steve Miller, an assistant U.S. attorney.
Bailey, 65, was charged under federal murder-conspiracy statutes. Bailey arranged Brach's killing but did not commit the crime, Burns said, declining to say whether investigators know who killed her.
If convicted on all charges, which include numerous fraud counts, Bailey could be sentenced to 245 years in prison.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB