Actually, Andreev committed fraud in simply coming to the country, Detective Britt says. The documents Andreev submitted when he immigrated contained no mention of his conviction, something he was obligated by law to report.
"It's beyond my comprehension why the U.S. government has not taken action against him" for the immigration violation, Britt says. "The last thing we need here is an admitted murderer who lied to get into the country."
Landon Armstrong
Atanas Ilkov supplied the English translation of the alleged will.
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Whatever Andreev does next, he will be able to do it in style.
He's been awarded full rights to Gadzanov's home, worth about $200,000, and Louie's checking account containing about 50 grand.
But the plum of Gadzanov's estate is 21/2 acres he owned on a strip of Pinal County near McKellips and Ironwood roads, in the north end of booming Apache Junction. A local real estate agent estimates the land is worth between $400,000 and $500,000.
Bruce Phillips, Andreev's attorney, says he's advised Andreev to put the property up for sale.
In the vast majority of wills, family members end up with the spoils. But the alleged will of Ljuben Gadzanov gave the lion's share of the estate to a friend, Andrean Andreev. That prompted Commissioner Vatz to order an investigation when Andreev appeared at the first court hearing on the matter, three days before Andreev was arrested.
The county's Public Fiduciary Office, which has the job of acting as temporary guardian for the property of dead or mentally incompetent people, was ordered to do the investigation. The office soon contested the will, using lawyers from the County Attorney's Office as counsel. But one of the lawyers, Wright, arrived on the scene late in the game, after months of gathering evidence. She parachuted into the complicated case just two months before the hearings, after the Fiduciary's first counsel, Stacey Johnson, went on maternity leave. Vatz denied Wright extra time to bone up on what had so far transpired.
After the county's team failed to convince Vatz, the Fiduciary's Office neglected to appeal his ruling within a required 30-day time limit. Which means the case is history.
The failure to appeal is baffling, considering how much effort was put into trying the case both in the probate court hearings and in preparations for the criminal prosecution. Officials from the Fiduciary's Office and the County Attorney's Office declined to comment on this issue, among others.
Britt refuses to say whether he considers the case dead, or whether it's possible more evidence could turn up against the group of five. The only court action in recent months has been the finalization of the transfer of Gadzanov's property to Andreev.
In mid-August, the Andreevs moved from their apartment to Gadzanov's home on Vista Avenue, which they now own.
As far as anyone can tell, Lane, Kocankov, and Ilkov received nothing for helping Andreev obtain the estate.
Lane calls his experience of the past two years — getting arrested, charged, and exonerated — a "nightmare." He says he might file a separate complaint against Gorajczyk, the handwriting expert employed by the Department of Public Safety. Lane claims he lost a job teaching golf course management days after his arrest, even though he was in jail for only two days before posting bond.
Kocankov doesn't seem as miffed, though the government fired him as an interpreter after his arrest, and it hasn't rehired him despite the outcome in probate court.
Besides the Andreevs, the only other clear winner in the case was Smith, who left Gadzanov's home — with Gadzanov's cat (someone else adopted the rottweiler) — after staying there eight months rent-free, after Louie was no longer around to collect rent. She says the saved rent money has been a godsend.
Andreev hasn't asked for it. He's content to leave well enough alone.
