News Release 12/21/2006
Slaying of lawyer in Clayton office is mystery
This story was published in the St. Louis Post Dispatch (online edition), on December 21, 2006. It is of interest to the Major Case Squad and it is reported here, verbatim.
Slaying of lawyer in Clayton office is mystery
By Margaret Gillermanand Tim O'Neil
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Thursday, Dec. 21 2006
CLAYTON — Ernest Brasier was a dedicated family man who enjoyed golf and jogging. On Wednesday, detectives were trying to figure out who shot him to death in his office at a Clayton law firm, and why.
Whatever police might be learning, they were not sharing. The Major Case Squad reported this morning that it had no new leads.
A janitor found Brasier's body about 7 p.m. Tuesday in his office on the third floor of a building at 7912 Bonhomme Avenue, just south of the St. Louis County Courthouse. Police say a single gunshot killed him.
Clayton Police Chief Tom Byrne said officers found no signs of forced entry or robbery. He sought help from the Major Case Squad, which put 30 detectives on the case.
A spokesman for the squad said Wednesday night that it had no developments.
Brasier, 57, of Town and Country, was a partner with the firm of Boggs, Boggs & Bates, where he specialized in defending clients against personal-injury suits.
He and his wife, Patricia Holtmeier, have one daughter and two sons: Kelly Holtmeier-Brasier, 26, a college graduate who lives at home; Jeff Holtmeier-Brasier, 19, a student at Southern Illinois University Carbondale; and Zach Holtmeier-Brasier, 17, a student at Chaminade Prep High School.
Brasier's murder is the first in Clayton since July 2005, when a supervisor for a janitorial service was murdered inside another law office, at 10 Brentwood Boulevard. A co-worker was charged with murder in that case. Before that, Clayton had gone almost 10 years without a murder.
People who work in the building on Bonhomme said the janitor who found Brasier's body thought he might have suffered a heart attack. The janitor went for help and returned with a lawyer from another firm, who noticed blood on the victim's mouth. They called police.
Keith Liberman, a lawyer with another firm in the same building, said he and Brasier had been on opposite sides in a legal case. "He's a good guy, always very pleasant, and he tried a lot of cases."
In an interview, Patricia Holtmeier said the family had no idea why her husband was killed.
"His wallet was on him," she said. "Nothing was taken. It was just a senseless act."
She said they were married in 1976, five years after they met while he was a law student at the University of Missouri at Columbia. They were to have celebrated their 30th anniversary on Dec. 30. She said they lived in San Antonio, Texas, for nine years before moving 24 years ago to their home, off Bopp Road.
"He was wonderful," she said. "He coached all the kids in every one of their sports, whether he knew about the sport or not. Ernie enjoyed doing everything, and he was interested in everything and everybody, and he was so kind. He never had an enemy."
Two friends who did not want to be quoted by name said Brasier was a weekly golfer and a regular jogger.
"He liked to run because it relaxed him," said one friend, who noted that Brasier didn't get upset when he didn't golf well. "He'd talk about his family. They were very involved in the kids' sports and their educations. He was just a great person."
The family is active at St. Clement Catholic Church in Des Peres, where the children attended grade school.
Their home is decorated for Christmas with white snowflake lights across the front. Inside is a gingerbread house, a Christmas tree and a vase of red roses that Brasier had given his wife only a few days ago. The family had been planning holiday celebrations including Brasier's birthday on Dec. 28.
Tina Rickell, a neighbor, said Brasier tended a garden with daughter Kelly, "and would bring us tomatoes and other vegetables." Her husband, Barry, said Brasier's family is "one of the reasons I like being here."
Brasier was born in Chicago and grew up in Robertsville, Mo., in Franklin County. He graduated from Pacific High School. He graduated from the University of Missouri at Columbia in 1970 and from the Law School in 1974.
Patricia Holtmeier grew up on a farm near Washington, Mo. A nurse by
profession, she has worked in recent years as an instructor for Kumon Math and Reading, a private tutorial service. She also is a member of Town and Country's Public Health and Environmental Commission, an advisory body.
Harry Levins and William C. Lhotka, both of the Post-Dispatch, contributed to this report.
http://STLtoday.com
Copyrighted (2006) St. Louis Post Dispatch
Reprinted with permission of the Post Dispatch
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http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/motion-to-withdraw-boggs-boggs-bates.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/emails-by-attorney-smith-stating-he-is.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/email-to-attorney-malloy.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/attorney-fee-agreement.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/letter-to-us-senator-claire-mccaskill.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/08sl-cc00421-james-stewart-v-harris-cab.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/court-cases_3394.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/metropolitan-taxicab-commission.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/share-email-to-friend-write-to-editor.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/news-release-12212006-slaying-of-lawyer.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/series-of-deaths-at-clayton-law-firm.html
Showing posts with label Murder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Murder. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Series of deaths at Clayton law firm leave some wondering.
Related Topics:
Lawyers | Coroners Courts & Offices | Shootings | Employee Leave | Homicide | Investigations | Diseases & Disorders | Legal Services | Law Courts & Tribunals | Violence & SocietySeries of deaths at Clayton law firm leave some wondering.
Publication: Daily Record (Kansas City, MO)
Date: Monday, August 18 2008
You are viewing page 1
Byline: Kelly Wiese
Most think it's just an odd set of coincidences. But they still scratch their heads and can't help but wonder if there's more to the story. The civil defense firm of Boggs, Avellino, Lach & Boggs has hadthree of its lawyers die suddenly in less than two years. The firm continues
to claim about two-dozen lawyers, but the individuals working there have changed greatly in that time frame.
Count among the personnel turnover Mark Bates, who helped found the firm with managing partner Beth Boggs in 1999. Bates, who left the firm in April, said part of the turnover is the nature of the industry. But he also cited the firm's management style and people's wanting to start fresh after one of the firm's partners was shot to death in the law office in Clayton. For whatever reason, the small firm has been through a lot. InDecember 2006, partner Ernest Ernie Brasier was fatally shot in the firm's law office. His death remains unsolved, though robbery was ruled out as the motive. Add to that, last fall, another lawyer who hadworked at the firm with Brasier, Dan Bennett, died. The medical examiner's office said the cause was heart disease, according to media reports at the time. Then, this month, Boggs firm partner Vincent Venker also died suddenly. The medical examiner's office has not released his cause of death yet, but said there were no obvious external injuries. Clayton Police say the investigation into Brasier's death is open but they have no new information, and Venker's death did not change anything from their perspective. Certainly, like anybody else we're curious, but that case is a St. Louis city case, Capt. Kevin Murphysaid. We're not going to comment on somebody else's case. Bates worked with all of them and said the series of deaths does make people wonder what's going on at the firm. What people told me is at best theplace is cursed, he said. In the legal community, people want to talk about it and ask their questions. The Boggs firm released a statement mourning the loss of Venker, saying he was a friend and mentor to many and will be greatly missed. Firm administrator Joe Minner said the law firm had no further comment. According to Bates, there are several connections among the men that seem curious, but nothing that really answers what happened to Brasier. I don't know how to put all the pieces together, he said. For example, when Brasier was found dead in the law firm after business hours, he actually was in Bennett's office at the time. Bates said the office was upgrading its computer system, and Bennett was then on a leave of absence from the firm. So others used his computer to access the company network. Bates also said the firm has space in more than one floor in the Clayton office building, and all three men who died were on the third floor, where Bates also had worked. I would've been the only partner left that worked on the third floor that's still alive, he said. Also, both Bennett and Venker had been through a divorce not that long before their deaths, and Brasier represented Bennett in his divorce proceedings, Batessaid. Both Bates and another former attorney there, Matt Morris, were unaware of any major cases or clients that the three who have died worked on together, and Bates said they were not particularly close outside of work. In the end, both said it's probably just a weird string of events. Obviously there may be some skepticism, but it's just a series of coincidences, Morris said. People are comparing it to 'The Firm' -- I think that's overstated. The Firm was an early John Grisham novel, a tale about a young lawyer who got a great gig at a law firm only to watch as other attorneys turned up dead, and then discovered the firm was being run by the Mafia and investigated by the FBI.Bates also had a few thoughts about the reasons for turnover at the firm. According to an attorney listing on the firm's Web site from December 2006, shortly before Brasier was killed, compared to the current page, 11 of 24 lawyers from that time have left. For comparison, another St. Louis firm, Paule Camazine & Blumenthal, today lists 27 lawyers on its Web site. That firm's listing shows five attorneys who worked there in December 2006 no longer do. Bates, now a partner at Rynearson, Suess, Schnurbusch & Champion in St. Louis, said part of the turnover is common for insurance defense work, and part is because the Boggs firm is in many ways a training ground for young lawyers. That was the case for Morris, who used to work at the firm but left afew months before Brasier was killed. Morris said he left mainly because he decided he preferred to do plaintiffs' work, but had a good experience at the Boggs firm. He also knew many others who didn't staylong at their first job after law school. Once you get that experience, if you become a little more marketable, if you're a young attorney and tried three or four cases in your first few years, you can translate that into more money, said Morris, who now works for GoldenbergHeller Antognoli Rowland & Short in Edwardsville, Ill. I don't thinkit's anything that's endemic to that firm. But Bates said that's only part of the answer. Another issue is that people were unsettled after Brasier was killed, but also some didn't get along with Boggs, he said. That whole incident and the follow-up to it was very hard on both me and my family, a lot of uncertainty and [being] a little scaredBates said. I certainly hoped they would have some resolution and provide some closure. But Bates said he had other reasons, and took an opportunity that arose. A lot of it was Beth Boggs' personality as much as anything. That's what led me to leave, he said. Boggs did not return a call seeking comment. Morris, however, said he got along well with Boggs, and that his leaving just stemmed from seeking to practice a different kind of law. I was treated very well by Beth, he said. I don't have anything bad to say about the place.
http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/legal-services-lawyers/12852998-1.html
I can be contacted at:
justiceseeker2010@yahoo.com
Feel free to contact me, & feel free to post your own injustice on this blog.
justiceseeker2010@yahoo.com
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/motion-to-withdraw-boggs-boggs-bates.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/emails-by-attorney-smith-stating-he-is.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/email-to-attorney-malloy.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/attorney-fee-agreement.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/letter-to-us-senator-claire-mccaskill.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/08sl-cc00421-james-stewart-v-harris-cab.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/court-cases_3394.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/metropolitan-taxicab-commission.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/share-email-to-friend-write-to-editor.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/news-release-12212006-slaying-of-lawyer.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/series-of-deaths-at-clayton-law-firm.html
Lawyers | Coroners Courts & Offices | Shootings | Employee Leave | Homicide | Investigations | Diseases & Disorders | Legal Services | Law Courts & Tribunals | Violence & SocietySeries of deaths at Clayton law firm leave some wondering.
Publication: Daily Record (Kansas City, MO)
Date: Monday, August 18 2008
You are viewing page 1
Byline: Kelly Wiese
Most think it's just an odd set of coincidences. But they still scratch their heads and can't help but wonder if there's more to the story. The civil defense firm of Boggs, Avellino, Lach & Boggs has hadthree of its lawyers die suddenly in less than two years. The firm continues
to claim about two-dozen lawyers, but the individuals working there have changed greatly in that time frame.
Count among the personnel turnover Mark Bates, who helped found the firm with managing partner Beth Boggs in 1999. Bates, who left the firm in April, said part of the turnover is the nature of the industry. But he also cited the firm's management style and people's wanting to start fresh after one of the firm's partners was shot to death in the law office in Clayton. For whatever reason, the small firm has been through a lot. InDecember 2006, partner Ernest Ernie Brasier was fatally shot in the firm's law office. His death remains unsolved, though robbery was ruled out as the motive. Add to that, last fall, another lawyer who hadworked at the firm with Brasier, Dan Bennett, died. The medical examiner's office said the cause was heart disease, according to media reports at the time. Then, this month, Boggs firm partner Vincent Venker also died suddenly. The medical examiner's office has not released his cause of death yet, but said there were no obvious external injuries. Clayton Police say the investigation into Brasier's death is open but they have no new information, and Venker's death did not change anything from their perspective. Certainly, like anybody else we're curious, but that case is a St. Louis city case, Capt. Kevin Murphysaid. We're not going to comment on somebody else's case. Bates worked with all of them and said the series of deaths does make people wonder what's going on at the firm. What people told me is at best theplace is cursed, he said. In the legal community, people want to talk about it and ask their questions. The Boggs firm released a statement mourning the loss of Venker, saying he was a friend and mentor to many and will be greatly missed. Firm administrator Joe Minner said the law firm had no further comment. According to Bates, there are several connections among the men that seem curious, but nothing that really answers what happened to Brasier. I don't know how to put all the pieces together, he said. For example, when Brasier was found dead in the law firm after business hours, he actually was in Bennett's office at the time. Bates said the office was upgrading its computer system, and Bennett was then on a leave of absence from the firm. So others used his computer to access the company network. Bates also said the firm has space in more than one floor in the Clayton office building, and all three men who died were on the third floor, where Bates also had worked. I would've been the only partner left that worked on the third floor that's still alive, he said. Also, both Bennett and Venker had been through a divorce not that long before their deaths, and Brasier represented Bennett in his divorce proceedings, Batessaid. Both Bates and another former attorney there, Matt Morris, were unaware of any major cases or clients that the three who have died worked on together, and Bates said they were not particularly close outside of work. In the end, both said it's probably just a weird string of events. Obviously there may be some skepticism, but it's just a series of coincidences, Morris said. People are comparing it to 'The Firm' -- I think that's overstated. The Firm was an early John Grisham novel, a tale about a young lawyer who got a great gig at a law firm only to watch as other attorneys turned up dead, and then discovered the firm was being run by the Mafia and investigated by the FBI.Bates also had a few thoughts about the reasons for turnover at the firm. According to an attorney listing on the firm's Web site from December 2006, shortly before Brasier was killed, compared to the current page, 11 of 24 lawyers from that time have left. For comparison, another St. Louis firm, Paule Camazine & Blumenthal, today lists 27 lawyers on its Web site. That firm's listing shows five attorneys who worked there in December 2006 no longer do. Bates, now a partner at Rynearson, Suess, Schnurbusch & Champion in St. Louis, said part of the turnover is common for insurance defense work, and part is because the Boggs firm is in many ways a training ground for young lawyers. That was the case for Morris, who used to work at the firm but left afew months before Brasier was killed. Morris said he left mainly because he decided he preferred to do plaintiffs' work, but had a good experience at the Boggs firm. He also knew many others who didn't staylong at their first job after law school. Once you get that experience, if you become a little more marketable, if you're a young attorney and tried three or four cases in your first few years, you can translate that into more money, said Morris, who now works for GoldenbergHeller Antognoli Rowland & Short in Edwardsville, Ill. I don't thinkit's anything that's endemic to that firm. But Bates said that's only part of the answer. Another issue is that people were unsettled after Brasier was killed, but also some didn't get along with Boggs, he said. That whole incident and the follow-up to it was very hard on both me and my family, a lot of uncertainty and [being] a little scaredBates said. I certainly hoped they would have some resolution and provide some closure. But Bates said he had other reasons, and took an opportunity that arose. A lot of it was Beth Boggs' personality as much as anything. That's what led me to leave, he said. Boggs did not return a call seeking comment. Morris, however, said he got along well with Boggs, and that his leaving just stemmed from seeking to practice a different kind of law. I was treated very well by Beth, he said. I don't have anything bad to say about the place.
http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/legal-services-lawyers/12852998-1.html
I can be contacted at:
justiceseeker2010@yahoo.com
Feel free to contact me, & feel free to post your own injustice on this blog.
justiceseeker2010@yahoo.com
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/motion-to-withdraw-boggs-boggs-bates.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/emails-by-attorney-smith-stating-he-is.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/email-to-attorney-malloy.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/attorney-fee-agreement.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/letter-to-us-senator-claire-mccaskill.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/08sl-cc00421-james-stewart-v-harris-cab.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/court-cases_3394.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/metropolitan-taxicab-commission.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/share-email-to-friend-write-to-editor.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/news-release-12212006-slaying-of-lawyer.html
http://seekingjustice2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/series-of-deaths-at-clayton-law-firm.html
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