IN THE NEWS
Chicago Sun-Times - January 8, 2005
Con man's lawyer gets new Brach data
By Shamus Toomey
Just days after it was revealed that an informant has provided new details about the 1977 disappearance of Helen Vorhees Brach, federal prosecutors said Friday they have turned over new information to the lawyer of a man sentenced for conspiring to kill her.
Federal prosecutors refused to say what the new information is -- or if it undermines their contention that convicted con man Richard Bailey was involved in the candy heiress's disappearance.
Bailey's new attorney, Kathleen Zellner, characterized it as "important new information" but also refused to detail it, citing a judge's order.
Theory may be wilting
No one ever was charged with murder in connection to Brach, but Bailey was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 1995 after U.S. District Judge Milton I. Shadur decided he conspired to kill her. The Brach angle was just part of a multicount racketeering conviction against Bailey.
But the new information could mean the Bailey theory in Brach's disappearance is wilting.
Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, refused to say if the new information could help or hurt Bailey, only that it was "appropriate" to release it to Bailey's lawyer.
"The U.S. attorney's office recently learned of information that may be relevant to the sentencing of Richard Bailey," Samborn said, declining to elaborate.
Zellner and federal prosecutors David Glockner and Barry Elden appeared before Shadur on Friday morning. They agreed on a protective order that allows Zellner to see the new information but not disclose it, Samborn said.
Zellner declined to tip her hand on her upcoming strategy.
"It's obviously important new information, and we've got to organize it and present it," she said. "We're going to analyze the information and file the appropriate actions."
The Sun-Times reported Thursday that an informant recently gave investigators new details about Brach's disappearance, but sources said prosecutors do not yet have enough evidence to file charges.
Denies role in disappearance
Bailey's 30-year sentence would have only been about 11 years if not for extra years tacked on because of the Brach allegations, Zellner said. That means he would have been nearing the end of his term absent Shadur's ruling.
Bailey pleaded guilty to racketeering, conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and money-laundering charges. He admitted fleecing elderly widows and divorcees, but denied ripping off Brach or having anything to do with her disappearance.
Federal prosecutors convinced Shadur that Brach was killed because Bailey feared she was about to turn him in to authorities for a horse-killing scam to collect insurance.
Cathy Jayne Olsen testified under a grant of immunity that she overheard Bailey and her father, horseman Frank Jayne Jr., say the 65-year-old Brach "knew too much."
