More details are being released about a Valley man accused of threatening to kill his brother over inheritance money.
36-year-old Ross Emmick is accused of extortion, stalking and conspiracy to commit murder.
There are three brothers. Two including the suspect were adopted out of the family when they were younger. The third says he had no idea he had brothers.
The battle for money began when changes were made to their grandparent's trust.
"It’s always a surprise when someone walks in and it’s so blatantly changed," said Mark House, attorney at Becker and House, PLLC.
Documents were given to House with scratched out names and evident changes made to a trust created back in 1998 by James and Jacqueline Emmick.
They were diagnosed with dementia in 2019 according to court documents, just weeks before changes were made.
The beneficiaries were their sons who died before they would ever get the inheritance. That's when House says changes were made by Emmick.
"At the very end of James and Jacqueline’s life, Ross took them in to redo their estate plan to leave everything to him rather than leaving everything to him as a beneficiary. He just had himself named as the successor trustee. If you’re the successor trustee of the trust, all you have the ability to do is manage the assets for the benefits of the beneficiaries," House explained.
Emmick's sole duty was to provide information to the beneficiaries, his two brothers, Patrick and the victim, who has asked to remain anonymous.
House says Emmick thought he had the ability to change who the beneficiaries were.
Patrick says that on top of changes to the will, Emmick allegedly stole thousands of dollars before his grandfather died in June 2019.
"Ross actually stole a bunch of money from James before he died and then walked out with $50,000 after death. A significant amount that went into casinos. This was not a well-administered trust," House said.
The brothers agreed to drop the case and split the remainder of the trust. That's when investigators say Emmick started threatening the other two brothers.
Emmick is due in court on Monday, Aug. 24, for his preliminary hearing.
This article originally appeared on Fox 10 Phoenix.
