In one of the most sickening criminal schemes ever, Joel Zellmer preyed on single mothers so he could target their children for insurance payoffs.
After moving in with the unsuspecting moms, the heartless brute would take out insurance on their children — and then the defenseless youngsters would start having “accidents,” according to investigators.
Zellmer was finally caught when adorable, 3-year-old Ashley McLellan drowned in a swimming pool just three months after he’d taken out a $200,000 life insurance policy on her.
“He’s a depraved, greedy monster,” says Ashley’s grief-stricken dad Bruce McLellan. Earlier this year, Zellmer, 40, was found guilty of killing Ashley.
“The murder of Ashley McLellan was motivated by simple greed,” says Marilyn Brenneman, senior deputy prosecutor for King County in Seattle, Wash.
Jurors at his month-long trial heard that Zellmer married five women, had two other girlfriends plus a fiancee. All were single moms with young children he viewed as his meal ticket.
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