The late Harold William Olson was a frugal widower, a lifelong St. Paul resident who worked hard and lived simply in his modest home near Ford Parkway and the Mississippi River.
He also was vulnerable as he lay bedridden and unable to speak as his estate was swindled of at least $1.6 million, according to a criminal investigation now underway and a judge's orders in a civil lawsuit.
Beverly Jean Miller, the 77-year-old companion to whom he had given power of attorney over his care and finances, spent Olson's money on cash payments and china, crystal, furniture, airline tickets and other uses that didn't help him, according to allegations in search warrant documents recently filed in Ramsey County District Court. No charges had been filed against Miller as of Monday afternoon.
Olson, who died in May 2010 at age 87, never wanted to go into a nursing home, and he had remained at the house on the 600 block of Mount Curve Boulevard right up to the end with Miller, said an attorney for his estate.
After Olson died, it became clear that Miller had spent about $2 million over a 29-month period, and that most of the money was going to Miller and her family for their own uses, according to records and attorney John Gunderson of St. Paul.
Judge ordered payment
In August of last year, Ramsey County District Judge Margaret Marrinan ordered Miller to pay nearly $1.6 million to Olson's estate after finding that she paid herself and her relatives "grossly inflated amounts" for Olson's care and home maintenance.
Olson's will had given Miller, a nurse, the right to remain in the 2,000-square-foot house and be provided with $200,000 in living expenses, Gunderson said Monday. But, he said, she far exceeded that amount and didn't show receipts for much of it.
