Attorney Accused as Arguments Begin in Civil Suit Over Estate : Thousands Stolen From Liberace, Court Told

A Los Angeles attorney has stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from Liberace’s estate after orchestrating a will the late entertainer did not want or comprehend, a lawyer for five Liberace associates said Monday.

Los Angeles attorney Joel Strote executed Liberace’s will 13 days before the multimillionaire’s death, and the performer had no idea what he was signing, attorney Harold Gewerter charged in opening statements of a civil suit in Nevada district court here.

But Strote testified that Liberace called him to his Malibu condominium three weeks before his death. He said the entertainer requested that the will be changed so that it could be updated and that longtime manager Seymour Heller be removed as executor.

“He said he did not want to use Seymour anymore and asked me if I could do it,” Strote said. “I said that I would.”

Strote’s attorney, John O’Reilly, argued that Strote has served well as the estate’s executor, saying he has “done more in the past year than many could do in two or three years.”

Removal Sought

The suit by the five seeks to remove Strote as executor of Liberace’s will and as president of the Liberace Foundation for the Performing Arts.

The will left all of Liberace’s vast holdings to a trust, and Strote was named to oversee the trust. Gewerter claims that Strote is mismanaging the trust and spending its money on personal possessions.

Heller, Liberace’s close friend and manager for 36 years, is one of the five plaintiffs in the suit. Outside court Monday, he estimated Liberace’s estate at $20 million.

O’Reilly, in his opening arguments Monday afternoon, claimed that the plaintiffs are only angry that they did not get more money out of the estate.

“Mr. Liberace’s intentions and desires were accurately recorded in that document,” O’Reilly said. “It was only updated to be more generous, in most part, to those here today in court.”

Gewerter asked the court to return a finding of fraud against Strote, saying he had embezzled money from the estate.

“The acts of fraud committed by Joel Strote are indictable offenses,” Gewerter said.

The suit asks to have Strote removed as trustee and replaced by Heller, the executor in four previous wills, and Frank DiBella, Liberace’s accountant at the time of his death.

Medical Problems

Liberace died Feb. 5, 1987 at the age of 67. Death was attributed to medical problems stemming from acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Gewerter said Strote met alone with Liberace in the entertainer’s Malibu home Jan. 15, then left saying, “I’m done with my business.”

He said Strote then came to Las Vegas, where Liberace had extensive property holdings, and had an attorney draw up a will that included a trust for the Liberace Foundation. Strote was named executor of the will and head of the trust.

Gewerter claimed that the Las Vegas attorney, Richard Oshins, drafted documents for the will and trust without speaking to Liberace.

According to Gewerter, Strote “just showed up” at Liberace’s Palm Springs home Jan. 22, took the entertainer into a private room and had him sign the documents.

“Liberace was in such a mental state on the 22nd that he couldn’t understand or read independently,” Gewerter said. “If (comedian) Pee Wee Herman had walked into his room and said he wanted to be executor, he (Liberace) would have said yes. He (Strote) goes into that room owning nothing and comes out with a bag of goodies.”

After Liberace’s death, Strote went to the entertainer’s Palm Springs home and declared, “I am Liberace,” Gewerter said.

“The fraud of Mr. Strote doesn’t stop with the will,” Gewerter said. “He believed he was the embodiment of Liberace. He wanted to be Liberace. More important--he wanted Liberace’s money. Once he became trustee, he began robbing Liberace’s grave.”

Gewerter said Liberace had vowed three months earlier to fire Strote, who had served as his attorney on various occasions.

“I don’t like Joel Strote; I don’t trust Joel Strote; I’m going to fire Joel Strote,” Gewerter quoted Liberace as saying to friends while the entertainer was in New York City for performances at Radio City Music Hall.

Strote spent $6,000 of the estate’s money to fly to Switzerland to close out a bank account held jointly by Liberace and Heller, Gewerter said. The account contained $4,000 and could have been closed out in Los Angeles, just a few miles from Strote’s office, Gewerter contended.

Plaintiffs in the case are Heller; Dorothy McMahon, the entertainer’s friend and housekeeper in Palm Springs; Cary James, a companion of Liberace for six years before his death; Angie Liberace, the only living sibling of the family, and Gladys Luckie, the housekeeper at Liberace’s Las Vegas home.