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decedent had at home. The decedent kept cash at home in a burlap
bag secured in a large safe in his den, and he routinely went to
the safe when he needed money to spend. The decedent was very
private about the contents of this safe, and he generally did not
tell his closest friends about its existence, nor allow them to
enter the den.
A few days before the decedent died, he gave the combination
to his home safe to Polachek and taught her how to open the safe
by herself. Polachek testified that the safe had cash in it at
this time but that it had no cash in it when she and Gonzalez
opened the safe together following the decedent’s death.
Gonzalez was regularly in the decedent’s home following his
death, including the period of time before she and Polachek
opened the safe together. Gonzalez testified to the effect that
she did not know how to open the safe alone, but needed
Polachek’s assistance to do so. We find that testimony
incredible. Gonzalez was deeply involved with the decedent and
his wealth for approximately 1 year before his death, and we
believe it incredible that the decedent would have taught
Polachek to open the safe but not Gonzalez. This is especially
30(...continued)
accounts. They reported that the balance in the money market
accounts was approximately $412,000 and that the balance in one
of the checking accounts was $822. They reported that the other
checking account had a $109,760 deficit.
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