I�m heading out to Colorado for an elk and mule deer hunt in a few days. Let�s have some fun while I�m gone!

Everybody thinks they are a detective and can solve cases. But not all cases are easy. Logic plays a role.

An actual death case I worked. I�ll lay out the facts, you come up with a logical conclusion that two opposing attorneys and a probate judge will accept and act on.

Facts:

John and Mary were married for over 40 years. They accumulated wealth in the millions. They had separate wills that made different dispositions of their share of the property, depending on who died first. If John died first, certain provisions kicked in, but if Mary died first, the provisions changed drastically. It�s clear the couple expected John to die first when they wrote both wills. There was no provision if they both died instantly and at the same time, in a plane crash, for example.

In the throes of depression, John drove himself and Mary out into the country where he shot Mary in the chest with a 22 revolver, then turned the same gun on himself and shot himself in the head.

John left a handwritten, signed and dated note at their home confessing to what he was going to do, and where he was going to do it.

Grown children found the note; sheriff�s deputies found the bodies.

There is no doubt the act was a murder/suicide and that John pulled the trigger both times.

The question you have to answer; Who died first?

Based on your logic, which provisions of the wills should the judge impose on the estate?

Mary died first?

John died first?

You have everything you need to make a decision and make it stick with the attorney representing Mary�s estate, the attorney representing John�s estate, and the probate judge that will make the final decision.

The only thing I changed are the names.

I wrote a report not much longer than this. Both attorneys accepted my conclusion without question and the judge acted on my logic.

I�ll grade all entries when I get back on or about November 7.

John commited Felony Murder. His rights should be Void! derf

Depending upon individual state law, the provisions of Mary's will should go into effect but once the court rules that John illegally caused the death of Mary he would be cut out as beneficiary. The court should then divide "John's" part of the estate among the rest of the beneficiaries.