MADISON (WKOW) -- The daughter of homicide victims Dr. Beth Potter and Robin Carre will have to fight to receive her inheritance, even though she's included as a beneficiary in the victims' wills.
An attorney for the family friend acting as representative for the estate of Potter and Carre in Dane County Probate Court filed a petition asking that Miriam Carre be excluded from benefits of the estate.
"Miriam was complicit and participated in a plan ... to rob her parents which led to the senseless killings and tragic murders," David Reinecke, the representative's attorney states.
Miriam Carre was Khari Sanford's girlfriend when Sanford fatally shot Potter and Carre in March 2020 in the UW-Madison Arboretum. Though Sanford was tried and found guilty by a jury earlier this month, Miriam Carre was never prosecuted. Carre did receive immunity for her trial testimony.
During trial, Deputy District Attorney William Brown said Carre "had no idea, absolutely no idea" about the plans to kill.
But Reinecke states court records show Miriam Carre spoke of her parents "bands" of money and, along with Sanford, Carre was estranged from the parents after they asked the couple to leave the family home due to friction over COVID-19 safety practices and other issues.
Carre and Sanford were living in a unit subsidized by her parents and using their van when Sanford killed them.
"There is also evidence to suggest that she knew Sanford intended to harm her parents," Reinecke states. Reinecke declined comment when contacted by 27 News.
Carre's attorney Marcus Berghahn has yet to respond to a request for comment from 27 News.
Reinecke is asking for a jury trial in probate court.
"There will be different rules of procedure and evidence that will look like civil rules, so you won't have the issue of self-incrimination, things like that," said Oklahoma City University Law School Professor Carla Spivack.
"The level of proof required in these probate proceedings is preponderance of the evidence," says Tuscon-based estate attorney Robert Fleming. "If it's more likely than not that you were involved in the death, you can be disinherited," he says.
Fleming says Wisconsin law anticipates there could be people involved in the killing of those they hope to inherit from, even if they are not convicted of criminal charges connected to a homicide.
"It says you can be disinherited if you are involved in the unlawful and intentional killing," Fleming says. "Unlawful is a little different from what some states say. Most states say you have to commit a felony."
Spivack says there will be no district or county attorney spearheading any trial effort to exclude Carre from benefits through probate court.
Spivack says Wisconsin's version of what's commonly known as a "slayer statute" has a relatively unique clause that can stop the application of the statute. The statute e calls for a denial of inheritance if the person set to gain was involved in the killing.
Spivack says Carre may have to persuade a jury the clause should be considered.
"Can you make an argument that the parents would ... have not wanted this statute to apply?" Spivak said.
"They clearly loved this child, they chose her, they adopted her, they gave her everything," Spivack said. "A lot of parents I've talked to say I would want my kids to inherit no matter what."
A Madison estate attorney says applicable law makes it unclear how the representative of the estate will be able to establish sufficiently Carre was also responsible for the killings.
"Looks to me to be difficult task at best," attorney Daniel Hardy says.
Potter and Robin Carre have two biological children in addition to the adopted Miriam.
The probate court record does not give an indication of the worth of the estate to be divided. It only shows that a credit union is trying to recover nearly $250,000 in unpaid mortgage on the victims' Madison home.
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