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Miami Herald
19-03-2025
- Miami Herald
Wife helped kill doctor considering divorce, Florida jury finds. She owes kids $200M
A wealthy kidney doctor accused his wife of stealing from him and threatened to divorce her, then he wound up shot and stabbed to death at his Florida home, according to a lawsuit filed by his kids. A Pinellas County civil jury has now found that the wife 'unlawfully and intentionally killed, or participated in procuring the death of Steven Schwartz (in 2014),' and she owes his three adult children nearly $200 million, court documents show. McClatchy News is not identifying the woman because she is not facing criminal charges. The couple's handyman, Albanian citizen Anton Stragaj, was charged with murder but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of accessory after the fact in 2021 and went to prison, Pinellas County records show. McClatchy News reached out to the woman's attorney March 18 but did not immediately receive a response. 'Temporary situation' Dr. Steven Schwartz married his second wife in 2011 when he was 71 and she was 50, according to the wrongful death lawsuit filed in 2016 by Schwartz's children. But years before they got married, the woman became a Schwartz, the family's attorney said. She changed her last name to Schwartz and was 'claiming she was married to him so she could fraudulently cash checks in his name,' according to the lawsuit. The wife, who was the business manager of her husband's medical practice, was accused of embezzling money from the practice, and she hid it from Schwartz by deleting emails and threatening staff members who found out, according to the lawsuit. The wife was accused of telling staff 'I could just shoot him' when she got upset he donated money to patients, and called her marriage a 'temporary situation,' the lawsuit says. The attorney for Schwartz's kids said she coerced him into changing his 'estate plan to particularly benefit her rather than his natural children' and threatened to expose personal information of his if he didn't. When Schwartz found out about his wife's financial behavior, he threatened to divorce her, but again she blackmailed him, the lawsuit says. According to testimony, the wife would buy fixer-upper homes that her husband didn't know about, and Anton Stragaj would do the renovations. She also bought her own children homes without her husband knowing, her daughter-in-law testified during a deposition. The wife had previously been convicted of embezzling from Mothers Against Drunk Driving, according to the lawsuit. One former staffer testified that the wife asked him multiple times to go on Schwartz's computer to see if Schwartz had read a particular email or looked something up online, and they would post a lookout staffer to make sure Schwartz wasn't coming. The staffer said he had the impression the wife knew Schwartz was looking into some of her finances and purchases, and she was concerned about what he might do. The killing Steven Schwartz was found dead four days after his three-year wedding anniversary on the evening of May 28, 2014, according to court records. The wife told investigators she last saw her husband when she left home that morning, officers with the Tarpon Springs Police Department wrote in an affidavit. Later that day, the wife went out to dinner for Anton Stragaj's birthday with a group of people, including her son and daughter-in-law, the latter testified. When she got home at around 9 p.m., she called 911 to say someone had broken in, according to police. When officers arrived, they said they found Schwartz dead from two gunshot wounds to the head and stab wounds to his neck and scalp, as well as a spinal fracture. It appeared the perpetrator had strangled him with his tie and killed him while he was on his way to work that morning, according to police and the autopsy. For a year, police worked the case, until they hosted a press conference in April 2015 to announce that DNA evidence on Schwartz's clothes could be connected to Stragaj, and he was charged with murder. But the former staff member at the office who was close with the wife said during a deposition that everyone in the office suspected the wife had orchestrated her husband's killing. They just didn't know who she had carry it out. He testified the wife kept close tabs on her husband and 'always knew where he was.' 'A couple of things really stood out, one being that supposedly nobody knowing where Dr. Schwartz was throughout the day. Because again, being murdered on the 28th or whatever, and not knowing until the nighttime, that's not possible in (her) world.' Inheritance conflict The wife inherited much of her dead husband's fortune and proceeded to 'cut off all support to Steven P. Schwartz's natural children, while lavishing monies on her own natural children,' the lawsuit says. The Schwartz family attorney also said the wife bought a plane for her and new new boyfriend, bought his parents a Mercedes and paid for them all to go on an Alaskan cruise. The woman's daughter-in-law testified during a deposition that she suspected her husband's mom had in fact killed Schwartz because of how quickly she had moved on from their life together. She said the woman 'started a new life and only seemed bothered by anything with it when it pertains to her and how it makes her look and what she might lose.' She remarried and subsequently got divorced again after Schwartz died, records show. The daughter-in-law also testified that her mother-in-law bought multiple homes and a brewery for her kids after Schwartz died while having Schwartz's son 'removed' from a condo his father owned 'immediately' after his father died. Now, his kids are expected to recoup at least some of the funds the former wife inherited after the jury rendered the verdict March 4. State Attorney Bruce Bartlett told the Tampa Bay Times the case will 'remain open until such time as we gather sufficient evidence to make an arrest.'
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Yahoo
Wife of doctor found dead in Tarpon Springs mansion ordered to pay his children $200M
The Brief The wife of a prominent doctor found shot to death in the garage of his Tarpon Springs mansion was ordered to pay his kids $200M as part of a civil suit. She was found in civil court to have "unlawfully and intentionally killed, or participated in procuring the death" of her husband. She was never formally charged in her husband's death. TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. - It has been more than a decade since a prominent doctor was found shot to death in his garage in Tarpon Springs. Dr. Steven Schwartz, a 74-year-old kidney specialist, was found dead from two gunshot wounds in the garage of his Tarpon Springs mansion back in May 2014. His wife found him and called the police, saying there had been a burglary. READ: 'Bourbon Street Hustler' charged with murder in Super Bowl reporter's drug death, accomplice arrested: police Big picture view No one was ever formally charged with his murder, but his wife, 64-year-old Rebecca Schwartz, was found responsible for his death this month in civil court as part of a wrongful death lawsuit. She was ordered to pay his kids $200 million. "He was a wonderful man," said Wil Florin, the plaintiff's attorney. "He was the type of doctor that, if a patient was in need of money, he would have them come back to his office privately and help them out. Everybody loved him." Almost 11 years after her husband's death, Rebecca Schwartz was found in civil court to have "unlawfully and intentionally killed, or participated in procuring the death" of Steven Schwartz. The civil suit was brought against her by his three kids. Follow FOX 13 on YouTube "The case we presented to the jury, the motive was very clear, was money. The testimony was that she'd been embezzling money from Doctor Schwartz, she the defendant for years, and giving it to her kids, and starting a marijuana grow house with the handyman," Florin said. Dig deeper Florin explained that he argued in court that Dr. Schwartz found out about the embezzlement and threatened to divorce her, which would have left her penniless. "She was caught red-handed, embezzling again by buying a Verizon Wireless store in Wisconsin for one of her sons from a previous marriage, and this time it was enough," Florin said. "And as he left for work at the hospital to do his rounds, he was going down the stairs and according to the forensic evidence, shot twice in the head." His wife was never charged with murder, but the handyman did end up pleading guilty to one count of accessory to the murder and was deported back to Albania. Detectives found his DNA on Steven Schwartz's shirt as well as cell phone records that didn't match his alibi. VIDEO: Missing runaway teen from Texas rescued in Florida after dramatic car chase "The handyman that was later convicted of an accessory after the fact was sent to the scene to clean up the mess, take the hard drive of the surveillance system, take a butcher knife and try to retrieve the bullets," Florin said. Florin said his kids are pleased with the verdict but said they will likely only collect anywhere from $10 to $20 million. What we don't know FOX 13 made attempts to reach Rebecca Schwartz's attorney and are still waiting to hear back. The Source The information in this story was gathered using details from the civil suit and information from the plaintiff's attorney. WATCH FOX 13 NEWS: STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA: Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV Download FOX Local mobile app:Apple |Android Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines Download the SkyTower Radar app Sign up for FOX 13's daily newsletter
