https:// nypost. com/2018/02/26/cruz-tried-to-get-800k-inheritance-before-massacre/
Accused Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz hired a lawyer to try to get his hands on a reported $800,000 inheritance almost two months to the day before his alleged killing spree, court records revealed Monday.
Cruz, 19, signed a retainer agreement with lawyer Audra Simovitch on Dec. 13 to pursue his share of the estate left by his late adoptive mom, Lynda Cruz, according to an order handed down by Broward County Probate Division Judge Charles Greene.
Greene granted Simovitch authority to meet with Cruz, 18, while he’s locked up in the county jail on murder charges in the Feb. 14 slayings of 14 students and three staffers at Marjory Stoneman Davis High School in Parkland.
Greene also ruled that the county Public Defender’s Office — which is representing Cruz — “shall not interfere” with Simovitch’s efforts to meet with him.
The order, signed Friday, came in response to an emergency petition in which Simovitch accused the Public Defender’s Office of “obstructing justice” by denying her access to Cruz and suggesting to Rocxanne Deschamps — who is raising Cruz’s younger brother — that Cruz “might wish to waive his interest in the estate.”
Under Florida law, Cruz wouldn’t be entitled to a free defense lawyer if he has or expects to have more than $2,500 in assets other than a home and a vehicle.
On Feb. 15, one day after the high-school slaughter, Simovitch filed court papers on behalf of Deschamps, saying Deschamps “has an interest” in Lynda Cruz’s estate because she’s caring for Lynda’s adopted son Zachary Cruz, who was a minor at the time but turned 18 on Wednesday.
That filing identified both brothers as having equal, 50 percent shares in the estate of Lynda, but didn’t disclose that Nikolas had hired Simovitch to represent him.
Lynda died Nov. 1 at age 68. Her late husband, Roger, died Aug. 11, 2014, at age 67.
Before the shootings, Nikolas was living with the family of Kimberly and James Snead, and told them he expected to inherit at least $800,000, most of which he would get when he turned 22, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel newspaper.
Simovitch told The Post that she hadn’t yet met with Nikolas, but was planning to do so, “probably before the first of March.”
She also said it was unclear if he still wanted his share of Lynda’s estate, adding: “That’s one of the reasons I need access to him.”
The Public Defender’s Office didn’t immediately return a request for comment
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the day of the shooting they were looking for
"a short guy with red hair and black pants"
does Cruz have red hair?
is he short?