GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.—A woman accused of killing her husband was suspected of transferring funds from his checking account without his knowledge, according to an affidavit.
Alan Helmick, 62, was found shot in his Whitewater home June 10, after Miriam Helmick called 911 to report a break-in at the house.
An affidavit said Miriam Helmick, 51, had made out more than $16,000 worth of checks from her husband’s personal checking account to herself and to a dance studio Alan Helmick founded after the couple married in June 2006, The Daily Sentinel reported. She was not authorized to sign the checks, the affidavit said.
The studio was in debt by the spring of 2007, the affidavit said.
Miriam Helmick also is suspected of trying to kill her husband two months before his death. An affidavit unsealed Monday said Delta police suspected her of trying to set the couple’s car on fire April 30 using a wooden “wick” jammed into the gas tank, The Daily Sentinel reported.
The car caught fire after the couple traveled to Delta to sell his share in a company, the affidavit said.
When officers confronted Alan Helmick with their suspicions, he said he would be “shocked” if she tried something like that, according to the affidavit. He told officers the couple’s prenuptial agreement allowed his wife to inherit only wealth he came into after their marriage.
Miriam Helmick was being held on a $2 million bond. Her attorney Steven Colvin did not immediately return a phone message Tuesday seeking comment.
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Information from: The Daily Sentinel,
