Woman says ex-husband killed daughter, himself; files wrongful death lawsuit against his estate

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State police investigate death of woman.

Michigan State Police investigators collect evidence from a Crystal Waters condo in Holland Township Monday afternoon. ( Mark Copier | MLive.com )

Mark Copier

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By John Agar | jagar@mlive.com The Grand Rapids Press
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on November 04, 2014 at 12:47 PM

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HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, MI – The mother of Stacey Grotenhuis, found fatally stabbed in the neck after her father, Gary Volkers, killed himself, has filed a lawsuit against Volkers’ estate.
Karen Jarrell of Holland filed a wrongful-death action against her ex-husband’s estate in Ottawa County Circuit Court.
Jarrell is seeking compensation for medical, funeral and burial costs, and the loss of her relationship with her daughter. She is also seeking “reasonable damages for Stacey’s pain and suffering while conscious between the time Stacey’s injuries were inflicted and Stacey died.”
State police continue to investigate and are awaiting DNA and other testing before calling the killings a murder-suicide.
Related: Father of Holland-area homicide victim committed suicide, death certificate states
Related: Father-daughter deaths: Police awaiting DNA results, computer searches
Volkers’ body was found near his car at 13 Mile Road and 205th Avenue in LeRoy Township. Police found his daughter’s body at their Crystal Waters condominium in Holland Township while trying to find Volkers’ next of kin.
Grotenhuis had earlier moved into her father’s home after living five years in South Dakota.

Gary Volkers, Stacey GrotenhuisFile photo 

Attorney Daniel Goeman said the Ottawa County Medical Examiner has concluded that both died in a murder-suicide.
“After killing his daughter, Stacey, in their home, Gary Volkers drove to Osceola County … and committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a pistol.”
The gun was registered to Volkers.
Meanwhile, the lawsuit says that another woman, Jeannie Smith of Texas, who says she is also Volkers’ daughter, has filed paperwork related to Volkers’ estate in Ottawa County Probate Court. Jarrell acknowledged that Volkers paid child support on her behalf but now “demands proof thereof" that she is his daughter, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit contended that the only interaction between Volkers and Smith was on Facebook.
Jarrell is suing on behalf of her daughter’s estate.
Jarrell has described Volkers as a “wonderful” father and said, “The whole situation is mind-blowing.”
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John Agar covers crime for MLive/Grand Rapids Press E-mail John Agar: jagar@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ReporterJAgar

Mentally ill man’s home to be sold by state-appointed guardian

Mentally ill man’s home to be sold by state-appointed guardian (MI)

October 29, 2014

GENESEE COUNTY, MI (WNEM) -  A mid-Michigan man is upset after his rights have been stripped to care for his mentally ill son and now the son’s home is being sold by his state-appointed guardian.
Lendon Chambers says his wife, Emma, has a terminal illness and his adult son suffers from a mental illness. A Genesee County Probate Court says Chambers can not care for both of them so the court has named a guardian to deal with his son’s needs.
Chambers says he is frustrated and worries about his son’s assets.
The son’s home is now up for sale and Chambers wonders where the money from the sale will be going.
The guardian says if an incapacitated person has assets, the money from that sale is first used to pay for funeral home expenses. The rest of the money is used for food, clothing and medical needs for the patient.
The guardian also says that every cent is monitored by the probate court. She also says that frustration felt by family members is not unusual.
She also says that family members can seek legal action in probate court if they have concerns about their loved one’s care.
Attribution:
Mentally ill man’s home to be sold by state-appointed guardian
James Felton
September 26, 2014
WNEM.com
http://www.wnem.com/story/26640075/mentally-ill-mans-home-to-be-sold-by-state-appointed-guardian

Family, wife of Warren man battle over half-million dollar estate

Mariya Wintoniwa testifies in front of a photograph of her late husband, Iwan Hlywa, on Wednesday in Macomb County Probate Court in Mount Clemens. David Dalton--The Macomb Daily

By Jameson Cook, jamie.cook@macombdaily.com, @jamesoncook on Twitter

Posted: 03/06/14, 12:29 PM EST |

Mariya Wintoniwa is sworn in with the assistance of interpreter Valeriia Miller. David Dalton--The Macomb Daily

The surviving children of a deceased Warren man say that his wife pilfered up to a half-million dollars from him during their five-year marriage, including transferring nearly $300,000 of it to her children in her native Ukraine.

The wife, however, claims their father, Iwan Hlywa, approved of the way the money was spent even if they didn’t like it, before he died at 84 in September 2011.

The trial pitting the children of Hlywa against Mariya Wintoniw, 74, began with opening statements this week and will continue into next week in front of a seven-person jury and Judge Carl Marlinga in Macomb County Probate Court in Mount Clemens.

Stephan and Nicholas Hlywa accuse Wintoniw of moving $281,000 of Iwan Hlywa’s money to her two children in native Ukraine from 2006 to 2011, and in the weeks before his death as his mental abilities declined moved an additional $96,000 from his account to hers, among other transactions.

“She’s taking this money to send to Ukraine because someday that’s where she’s going to go,” said Patrick McQueeney, attorney for the Hlywas, during his opening statement.

But Wintoniw’s attorney, Walter Czechowski, said Hlywa spent the money how he wished and was coherent up until a short time before his death.

“It’s what John (Iwan) wanted,” Czechowski told jurors. “This is about the ability of an individual to make decisions for himself. He did what every man tries to do, take care of his spouse.

“They (his sons) wanted to decide how John spent his money before and after his death.”

Iwan “John” Hlywa and Wintoniw got married in 2006 during a weeks-long visit to Ukraine. Hlywa was born in Ukraine and came to the United States as a young man. His first wife died in 1993. Wintoniw came here in 1998 after her husband died. They met in 1999.

Hlywa was described by McQueeney as “an exceptionally frugal man” who saved money by reducing his meals and collecting rainwater to wash clothes even though he accumulated wealth working up to three jobs and buying and renting out a handful of properties.

McQueeny said Wintoniw had a “sense of entitlement” to the money because she took care of Hlywa. She accelerated her pilfering the sicker he got, exploiting him in an incapacitated state, he said. He told The Macomb Daily the family believes she deserved some money but far below the amount she took.

The civil lawsuit alleges undue influence, fraud, breach of contract and conversion.

The lawsuit says Wintoniw violated a prenuptial agreement that said the two would keep their money separate.

Czechowski said the prenuptial was done improperly and even if it was legitimate, it was circumvented by Hlywa and revoked via an attorney hired by Hlywa.

It was also overridden by a will created three months before his death that split the monetary assets in thirds between Wintoniw and Hlywa’s two sons. Wintoniw also was to receive two of Hlywa’s five properties, one of three parcels on Republic Street in Warren and one of two parcels in Sumpter Township, he said. Hlywa’s sons were to receive the other three.

Czechowski said the monetary split was $90,000 each, per the will.

But McQueeney said the will is illegitimate because of Hlywa’s mental state.

He said Wintoniw doesn’t deserve any of the properties, and the monetary amount indicates a total that is far less than what should be available. He said that Hlywa’s assets at one point reached $1.5 million.

More than $300,000 and ownership of the properties have been frozen pending the trial’s outcome.

Czechowski said Hlywa agreed to send money to Ukraine after his visit there to marry Wintoniw, who had returned there in 2004 after the couple broke up.

Hlywa created a bound with the people of Ukraine during the visit and spent the money to help them – repairing roofs on two churches, constructing a barn, purchasing a combine and, “yes, helping pay for her children’s student loans,” he said.

He said his client moved the $96,000 when she began to worry because credit union statements for the account stopped coming to their home and she suspected a relative tried to access the account.

Wintoniw, who says she does not speak English, testified Wednesday and Thursday through interpreter Valeriia Miller that she did not transfer the $96,000 from his to her account and said she worked for her husband.

“I worked for Iwan,” she said. “I did a lot of work for him.”