by Dennis Wagner - Sept. 30, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Since Phyllis Mizioch was murdered last summer, her survivors have been fighting in federal court over who should get the $4.5 million life-insurance payout.
Peter J. Mizioch, the widower and named beneficiary on two insurance policies, claims he is entitled to the money.
But her adult children allege in U.S. District Court complaints that their stepfather was responsible for the homicide and should be barred from receiving the money under Arizona law. They have no direct evidence of his involvement, but they say in court filings that his connection to other murder victims with large life-insurance policies that named him or a close associate as beneficiary - a pattern documented in an Arizona Republic investigation in February - is a powerful circumstantial string of events.
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The 71-year-old Phoenix businessman denies any part in the slayings, all of which remain unsolved.
Last month, U.S. District Judge James Teilborg decided that a pattern of profitable deaths is not legally sufficient to prevent Mizioch from receiving the $4.5 million. But just as Teilborg was poised to award the money, a new witness emerged with allegations that insurance agent James Bieleniewicz admitted to writing a multimillion-dollar life-insurance policy on one of the previous murder victims to wipe out a gambling debt to Peter Mizioch.
In a sworn statement to the court, Karen Bieleniewicz wrote that she had not previously divulged that information about her brother due to fears for her life but reconsidered after learning that Mizioch was about to be awarded millions of dollars.
"Even though I am concerned for my safety," she wrote, "I feel I have to come forward with what I know. . . . I felt so strongly about seeing justice done in this matter."
James Bieleniewicz answered in a court statement: "I have never been involved in such criminal activity and a (sic) categorically deny the allegations made about me."
The payout is on hold again while Karen Bieleniewicz's claim is reviewed.
Unsolved cases
Police say 57-year-old Phyllis Mizioch, a volunteer with Sunshine Angels homes for underprivileged children, was shot to death in her Phoenix kitchen on June 6, 2010, hours after meeting with her estranged husband about their pending divorce.
Peter Mizioch, who is countersuing his stepsons Mark, Jimmy and Russell Montoya, asserted in court filings that he had "absolutely no involvement in Phyllis' death." The Montoyas, who are seeking damages on a claim of wrongful death of their mother, already have received payouts from a separate life-insurance policy.
Mizioch also has denied involvement in other homicides of business associates. He was listed as the beneficiary on the life-insurance policy of one, and a close associate was listed as the beneficiary on two others:
-?Wayne M. "Mike" Snodgrass, Mizioch's partner in a construction business, who was killed at his Phoenix office in 1989. The value of his life-insurance policy was not listed in public records.
-?Ronald J. Bianchi, a Phoenix journalist and entrepreneur who owed more than $2 million to Mizioch, who was found dead in the forest near Payson in 1999.
-?David Stark, Bianchi's partner in loan deals, who was slain in 2005 inside a Detroit residence where property records listed Mizioch as a co-owner.
Bianchi and Stark were insured for $1 million each, according to court records.
Another person, Oran B. Ingram, Mizioch's partner in a carpet company, was wounded in an ambush at his Phoenix residence in 1979. According to police records, Snodgrass told investigators he believed Mizioch was responsible for the attack to collect on a $200,000 life-insurance policy.
All of the men were shot. All of the cases remain unsolved.
Law-enforcement records show that insurance benefits from the slayings totaled more than $8 million.
Mizioch was questioned in several of the cases. Court papers filed by an insurance company say a Phoenix detective identified him last year as a suspect in his wife's murder, but police later said he was not a suspect.
James Bieleniewicz prepared life-insurance policies on Bianchi, Stark and Phyllis Mizioch.
In her statement to the court, Karen Bieleniewicz described her brother as a problem gambler who informed her in late 1999 that he owed Mizioch $200,000 and "was scared for his own life after having been beat up and threatened with his life."
Shortly after Bianchi was killed, Karen Bieleniewicz alleged, her brother confided that he had written a policy for $250,000 on Bianchi's life one month before he was killed "to pay off his own debt."
James Bieleniewicz, a licensed Arizona insurance agent, is listed in state Corporation Commission records as director of Bieleniewicz Insurance Group LLC, a company in good standing. He could not be reached for comment but filed a sworn statement denying participation in a murder or fraud conspiracy and declaring that his sister is not credible due to a "long history of mental illness."
Karen Bieleniewicz responded in an interview with The Republic, "I've never been diagnosed with mental-health issues. That he would say that goes to his credibility."
In a court motion filed Sept. 19, James LaGanke, an attorney for the Montoyas, argued that new evidence demonstrates "a pattern and conspiracy. . . . There is now sufficient direct and circumstantial evidence to justify a trial under the Slayer Statute," he wrote, referring to a state law that bans the collection of death benefits by a person responsible for murder.
David W. Williams, an attorney for Peter Mizioch, answered that Karen Bieleniewicz's statement to the court is hearsay that has nothing to do with the death of Phyllis Mizioch and does not directly implicate his client in any homicide.
"Still, the Montoyas continue to use baseless claims and speculation to support their positions," wrote Williams, "no matter what the personal cost those accusations have on the persons involved."
Williams also noted that Peter Mizioch was not the named beneficiary on life-insurance policies for Bianchi and Stark. Instead, Mizioch's friend and business associate, Edward Maciag, was listed.
Maciag, a former police officer, told The Republic early this year that Mizioch took out "key man" insurance on borrowers to secure his financial interest. Such insurance policies, common in the financial world to compensate businesses for losses from the death of a top employee, are purchased with consent of the insured person.
Maciag described himself as a beneficiary in name only, adding that all death-benefit checks were signed over to Mizioch.
Recent rulings
Last month, Judge Teilborg issued multiple rulings in the case.
He refused to dismiss the wrongful-death claim against Peter Mizioch, finding that the Montoyas "alleged facts sufficient to state a claim."
At the same time, however, Teilborg ruled in favor of Mizioch on key issues: He found that the Montoyas "have come forward with no facts tying Mr. Mizioch to the murder of Phyllis Mizioch" and that Peter Mizioch is therefore entitled to the benefits from his ex-wife's insurance policy.
LaGanke, the Montoyas' attorney, has appealed those decisions to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals while also asking Teilborg to hold off on payment of funds to Mizioch and to reconsider earlier rulings based on new evidence.
Williams said he believes the judge is about to release the death benefits to his client.
"I anticipate the (Montoyas') wrongful-death claim will be dismissed as well," he added.
Police, who said earlier this year that new revelations had prompted a re-examination of the case, declined comment, as did a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Insurance.
Reach the reporter at dennis.wagner@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8874.
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