Trial set to resolve Abbott estate issues
Since pleading no contest to murdering his father and stepmother in the summer of 2011, Colin Abbott has been begging the courts to toss his plea deal and give him a trial.
The plea deal has withstood all appeal attempts so far, but Abbott still could see a trial.
Court officials are gearing up for a May trial in Butler County Orphan’s Court to resolve disputes in the estate of the dead couple: Kenneth Abbott, 65, and Celeste Abbott, 55.
Prosecutors believe Colin Abbott shot the couple as part of a plan to erase $2 million in debt to his father and to inherit the couple’s $4 million estate. Investigators found the couple’s remains burned and scattered on their 25-acre homestead in Brady Township.
In exchange for Abbott’s plea of no contest to two counts of third-degree murder, the county district attorney’s office dropped its intent to seek the death penalty.
Abbott, a 44-year-old New Jersey man, is serving a 35- to 80-year prison sentence. But within days of being sentenced, he began a pursuit to back out of the deal and have a trial.
Although that effort continues, it has been unsuccessful and Abbott’s conviction stands.
Meantime in orphan’s court, attorneys have been ironing out the settlement of Kenneth Abbott’s significant belongings.
Colin Abbott had been named his father’s largest heir. But attorneys representing the estate have claimed Colin Abbott is forbidden from receiving any money under the state’s Slayer’s Act.
Kenneth Abbott’s sister, Kathleen Neal of Virginia, has served as executor. Most of the possessions already have been liquidated. However, the 571 West Liberty Road property still is for sale. Although it previously was appraised at $1.3 million, it is listed at $950,000.
It’s unclear exactly what evidence will be included for a jury when the trial occurs in late May. None of the attorneys involved are talking.
In preparation for the trial, county Judge S. Michael Yeager issued a gag order prohibiting any discussion of the case with the media “to provide for the orderly and fair disposition” of the estate. The written order says it is in force until the jury is dismissed.
Citing the gag order, attorneys representing the estate and Colin Abbott refused comment. The attorney representing Celeste Abbott’s family could not be reached for this report.
