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He led a double-life; one as a $33,000 a year clerk.

Maybe for the IRS and they are making an example of him because he didn't divy up with his bosses?

He was a county or city clerk (not sure which) and stole from people who didn't have wills, apparently forging his own wills for them.

Its really simple. If you're willing to lie cheat steal and forge legal documents, anything is possible.

When? How? Why? Hello? Hello? Is there any information in this article?

Sadly, not enough info. But think about it. Dead democrats can win elections, and dead people vote all the time, and they make money for people like John Edwards and Miss Cleo...

Well, not quite. As probate clerk, he designated himself estate administrator on official documents which he stamped with the court's seal. He was employed in this capacity for 14 years and did this to 122 estates to the tune of about 5 million. His sister was in on it with him. The extent of his greed was truly amazing and he actually made a lot more than the 5 million he stole directly. He did things like renting out the homes of the deceased and collecting rents on them. His sister was in on it with him. Here's another article on this. It was also covered by CBS, the Boston Globe and the Dallas Morning News.

And here is one of the Ferarris he acquired. If you scroll down, you'll find he took title in January, 1999 when it had about 10,900 miles on it. Then you'll notice the word got out in November of 2001 that the DA was taking possession of it. Two days later, Spillman listed it for sale, (get this) giving the mileage as 10,200 (700 miles less than when he had bought it 2-1/2 years before).

Here are a lot more links to this story.

San Antonio Express-News: Table of Contents window.name='search';

34 record(s) found (Search results: 1 - 20)


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	November 9, 2001	San Antonio Express-News
	Courthouse 'Ferrari clerk' runs out of places to park Rick Casey Former courthouse clerk and accused body snatcher Mel Spillman has been evicted from his upscale home near the Medical Center. Call it the district attorney's version of "No more Ms. Nice Guy." DA Susan Reed's staff had already seized Spillman's house, together with five Ferraris housed in its expansive showroom of a garage, after he posted a 'for sale by owner" sign. But Spillman had been allowed to stay, effectively under house arrest [View the full-text article, 744 words]
	August 19, 2001	San Antonio Express-News
	How losing job helped clerk to amass Ferraris Rick Casey Column Back to the story of Mel Spillman, the former $33,000 a year courthouse clerk who amassed five Ferraris and other assorted trappings of wealth before the district attorney's office had him arrested and charged with fraud. Spillman is suspected of forging papers appointing himself administrator of estates of persons who died without known relatives or heirs over a period of more than a decade. A reader asks the key question: How could he do this without a supervisor [View the full-text article, 839 words]
	April 25, 2002	San Antonio Express-News
	The Spillman files War veteran was key to breaking the case of stealing from the dead. Ihosvani Rodriguez EXPRESS-NEWS STAFF WRITER A 70-year-old war veteran hoping to give his old drinking buddy a decent Christian burial helped topple the lavish life former courthouse bureaucrat Mel Spillman had created for himself by pilfering from the dead. Richard Alexander was to be one of the main witnesses in the case against Spillman, who pleaded guilty Tuesday to defrauding an estimated 122 estates out of about $4.9 million. Alexander's story appears prominently throughout one of three hefty case files [View the full-text article, 828 words]
	April 24, 2002	San Antonio Express-News
	Former clerk is guilty in 'Ferrari case' Spillman was charged with defrauding estates of $4.9 million. Ihosvani Rodriguez EXPRESS-NEWS STAFF WRITER News - Local Mel Spillman, the former courthouse clerk charged with stealing millions from the dead to finance a lifestyle that included six Ferraris and a $400,000 home, pleaded guilty Tuesday in exchange for a maximum 10 years in prison. Spillman appeared relatively cheerful, chatting with friends and his lawyers before he formally entered his plea. Standing in front of District Court Judge Sharon MacRae, Spillman answered "guilty" to charges of forgery, tampering with a [View the full-text article, 645 words]
	September 30, 2001	San Antonio Express-News
	Jimmy Hall's real niece calls Rick Casey The letter from Mel Spillman to the late Jimmy Hall's real niece, dated last Valentine's Day, was disarming. Spillman in this instance was not assuming the guise of a Bexar County official charged with handling the estates of persons who died without known heirs. "I was a very good friend of James and he asked me to be the executor of his estate," Spillman wrote to Karen Wingblad of Redford, Mich., a Detroit suburb. Wingblad called Friday [View the full-text article, 804 words]
	August 8, 2001	San Antonio Express-News
	Life in Ferrari fast lane: 'The reality is beyond imagination' Rick Casey Column On the wall of the bathroom off Mel Spillman's bedroom hangs a snazzy, framed poster of one of the world's great sports cars. The slogan on the poster perfectly describes the story of the former $33,000-a-year county bureaucrat who is accused of forging documents to snatch estates the way ghouls of old snatched bodies. "Ferrari," it says. "The reality is beyond imagination." Spillman's fast-lane fantasy life crashed Friday [View the full-text article, 664 words]
	August 5, 2001	San Antonio Express-News
	Rich former probate clerk said to inherit aggressively Rick Casey Mel Spillman was one of the most popular employees in the district clerk's office. He was always assisting surviving family members and even attorneys in negotiating the peculiarities of probate, the section in which he served for many years. "He knew more about probate than a lot of lawyers," said one attorney. He looked considerably younger than his years, which number 54. He had a reputation for dating some of the prettier women in the Bexar [View the full-text article, 988 words]
	August 4, 2001	San Antonio Express-News
	Authorities seize clerk's 5 Ferraris Ex-official in probe Ihosvani Rodriguez EXPRESS-NEWS STAFF WRITER News - Local Local investigators hauled away an estimated $750,000 worth of Ferraris and other vehicles from the palatial home of a former Bexar County deputy district clerk who was arrested last week on charges that he forged at least one document in order to steal from the dead. Melvyn M. Spillman, 54, sat inside his home along with his two attorneys as tow-truck drivers and officials with the district attorney's office carefully loaded the vehicles one by one on Friday evening. [View the full-text article, 660 words]
	September 28, 2001	San Antonio Express-News
	The Spillman net is cast, and a victim who needs no tears Rick Casey When the district attorney's office arrested Debra Miller on Thursday, it was the first public notice that prosecutors are going after those they believe might have helped former courthouse clerk Mel Spillman. Spillman is accused of fraudulently taking over the estates of persons who died without known heirs. Alan Brown, Spillman's attorney and at least for now Miller's as well, says she is innocent. Spillman has assured him, Brown says, that nobody else [View the full-text article, 722 words]
	August 30, 2001	San Antonio Express-News
	Estate fraud charges grow Prosecutors say a former clerk may have swindled dozens. Ihosvani Rodriguez EXPRESS-NEWS STAFF WRITER News - Local Two more names came back Wednesday to haunt Melvyn M. Spillman, a former Bexar County deputy district clerk who was arrested last month on charges that he forged a document to steal from a dead man. Spillman surrendered before a judge Wednesday after four warrants were issued accusing him of bilking two more deceased victims by forging documents that essentially made him administrator of their estates. The former courthouse worker, who drew a salary of $33,000, is [View the full-text article, 524 words]
	August 30, 2001	San Antonio Express-News
	Ex-clerk faces charges in 2 more estates Probe may extend to 65 other cases Ihosvani Rodriguez EXPRESS-NEWS STAFF WRITER Two more names came back Wednesday to haunt Melvyn M. Spillman, a former Bexar County deputy district clerk who was arrested last month on charges that he forged a document to steal from a dead man. Spillman surrendered before a judge Wednesday after four warrants were issued accusing him of bilking two more deceased victims by forging documents that essentially made him the administrator of their estates. The former courthouse worker, who drew a salary of $33,000, is [View the full-text article, 531 words]
	August 15, 2001	San Antonio Express-News
	Ferrari flash: More race cars confiscated, questions answered Rick Casey Column Let's return to the story of Mel Spillman, the former probate clerk who is accused of confiscating the estates of persons who died without known heirs and using the money to buy Ferraris and Indy-style racing cars. First a news flash, then I'll take questions. News flash: Officials from the district attorney's office have located and confiscated the trailer in which Spillman is said to have hauled his vintage Formula One cars to races around the [View the full-text article, 703 words]
	April 17, 2002	San Antonio Express-News
	Will Ferrari clerk walk into prison with appropriate style? Rick Casey Mel Spillman, a.k.a. the Ferrari clerk, appears headed for prison. The friendly, mild-mannered former $33,000-a-year courthouse clerk who is accused of fraudulently plundering scores of estates to support a life in the fast lane, has reportedly agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a 10-year prison sentence. Sources say only a few details remain to be worked out before Spillman is brought before District Judge Sharon McCrae to enter the guilty plea. The [View the full-text article, 714 words]
	September 9, 2001	San Antonio Express-News
	Swindler's list: How family learned of father's death Rick Casey Column There is no good way to learn that your father has died, but nobody should learn the way PerryJo "Missy" Kellum and her brother, Mark Cosper, did last Sunday morning. Kellum, her husband and her daughter had driven Saturday from their home in Texas City to the old family home in Fredericksburg where their grandparents' had lived. On the way up they had stopped by her father's house in the Highland Hills neighborhood on San Antonio's Southeast Side. [View the full-text article, 770 words]
	August 26, 2001	San Antonio Express-News
	Dead man's spirit may live on in clerk's Ferrari Rick Casey Jimmy Hall lies under a simple tombstone in San Fernando Catholic Cemetery No. 3, an unshaded burial ground in one of the poorest parts of San Antonio. About 11/2 feet by 21/2 feet and lying flat to the ground, the pink granite marker reads: "James Franklin Hall: Dec. 30, 1914; July 22, 1999. Rest in Peace." The grave does not reflect old Jimmy Hall's soul neither its religion nor its flamboyance. Hall, who dealt antiques (or junk, depending on [View the full-text article, 825 words]
	September 27, 2001	San Antonio Express-News
	Warrant issued for ex-clerk's sister Ihosvani Rodriguez EXPRESS-NEWS STAFF WRITER News - Local The sister of a former Bexar County courthouse worker accused of stealing more than $1 million from at least 65 estates in the past 14 years is expected to surrender to authorities today after a warrant was issued Wednesday for her arrest. Court documents allege that Debra Diane Miller, 51, of Houston portrayed herself as the niece and sole heir of James Franklin Hall, who died in 1999. An affidavit supporting the arrest warrant accuses Miller of selling Hall's [View the full-text article, 338 words]
	September 23, 2001	San Antonio Express-News
	How $350,000 went to Baylor instead of into Ferraris Rick Casey Some men tell stories of the fish that got away. This is the story of the $444,882.74 that got away. William Habicht was one of those quiet Germans who lived modestly and very privately. He was retired from the military and from civil service. For years he earned some money as an accountant. He lived for decades with his wife in a $60,000 house near Lackland Air Force Base, and stayed there alone after she died. He and his late wife had no children. [View the full-text article, 794 words]
	September 2, 2001	San Antonio Express-News
	Spillman case riches await heir of mystery Rick Casey Column When I mentioned that I wanted to run a list of persons whose bodies were turned over by the medical examiner's office to former courthouse clerk Mel Spillman, a friend said, "That'll be pretty boring." Are you kidding? I said. Do you know anybody who doesn't read the list of abandoned bank accounts that the state comptroller's office publishes in newspapers every year? We all have our fantasies of found money. If one of the people listed [View the full-text article, 728 words]
	August 29, 2001	San Antonio Express-News
	Dead man's 'niece' has special relationship with Spillman Rick Casey Debra Miller hung up before I could deliver a message or ask any questions. "I have no comment," she said. "Thank you." Click. The message was from her soon-to-be-ex-husband Sherrill Miller. "She's a fine person," he told me. "I just wish I was the right man for her, and the funny thing is is that I'm the one filing for divorce. She should write a book about herself. She's quite a special [View the full-text article, 780 words]
	January 3, 2002	San Antonio Express-News
	Grand jury indicts ex-clerk, sister in estate fraud case Ihosvani Rodriguez EXPRESS-NEWS STAFF WRITER News - Local Mel Spillman, the former courthouse clerk accused of stealing millions of dollars from at least 65 estates by posing as a court-appointed administrator, was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday. Jurors also indicted Spillman's sister, Debra Miller, 51, in the pilfering of at least one of the estates of people who died without known heirs. The indictments follow a lengthy and covert investigation begun in the spring by the district attorney's white-collar crime [View the full-text article, 459 words]


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HOW? Please tell us. I Wanna Know...

HOW?

Please tell us.
I Wanna Know...