Frisco Man Gets 45 Years for Killing Grandmother Over $400,000 Inheritance

A Frisco man was sentenced to 45 years in prison for killing his grandmother in 2014 over an inheritance. Rich Allan Schmelzer, 44, was convicted of the 85-year-old woman's murder in December and sentenced Thursday by Kane County Judge Linda Abrahamson. As co-executor of her estate and a beneficiary of her trust, Schmelzer first started to transfer money from Mildred "Dodie" Darrington's credit cards. He later went into debt due to a lavish lifestyle, which included paying for escort services, prosecutors said. During the trial, Angela "Angie" Schmelzer told the jury that before the murder, she'd loaned money to her son, Rich Allan Schmelzer, which he always paid back, The Chicago Tribune reports.But then he asked for a $200,000 loan. Angela "Angie" Schmelzer told her son that wasn't going to happen. Soon after, she stopped hearing from him. "I loved him," she said. "But I did not like him." After Schmelzer went into debt and found out he could inherit about half of an $800,000 estate, he plotted to slay Darrington to get the inheritance, prosecutors said. He fabricated an elaborate alibi before driving more than 900 miles from Texas to Darrington's home July 18, 2014 when he "let himself in, then stabbed Mildred in the neck as she was in her bed, killing her," prosecutors said, according to a post from ABC7. The Associated Press and Breaking News Producer Tom Steele contributed to this report.  Continue reading...