Nevada Divorce Case Involving Murder Takes New Twist & Turn
At the end of February, The Divorce Blog detailed how a Nevada murder prompted a proposed divorce law in the state that would examine more closely how judges come to alimony decisions. Darren Mack was charged with murdering his wife Charla Mack last summer in the midst of a bitter divorce, and a lawyer for the deceased victim’s estate is now alleging that the suspect did so to avoid paying his wife their near $1 million divorce settlement.
Lawyer Egan Walker said on Monday that since Darren Mack verbally agreed to the divorce settlement last year prior to his wife’s murder and the agreement ever being signed, than it should thus be honored. Walker further said that Darren Mack should have to pay the settlement and should not be allowed to use the money to pay his defense lawyers. Mack’s lawyer Mark Wray disagreed and said that doing so would require rewriting Nevada law.
Since there were no signatures, Wray said the contested settlement agreement was not legally binding and thus ended when one party died. Walker said that a person should not be able to fund his criminal defense for the murder of his wife with funds that he had promised to his wife. Wray countered and said that Mack is innocent until proven guilty. Third Judicial District Judge David Huff said he would take both sides’ arguments under consideration and release a written statement within three weeks.
Darren Mack has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his wife, who was found stabbed to death in his garage on June 12th hours after Family Court Judge Chuck Weller was shot in his chambers. According to various sources in news reports, Mack believed that Weller was siding with his wife during their bitter divorce settlement, which fell apart in May over a question of whether his mother Joan would sign releases to end the legal battle with Charla.
Described by friends as viewing himself as an advocate of Father’s Rights in divorce cases, Mack allegedly stabbed Charla and then shot into Weller’s office, who was hospitalized but recovered after being hit with shrapnel. Mack then fled the country and later surrendered in Mexico. We’ll keep you updated on any developments with this Nevada murder case and the proposed law examining whether family law judges are truly using precedent-setting Supreme Court decisions to come to decisions in divorce cases.
