PA PA - Ray Gricar, 59, Bellefonte, 15 April 2005 - #15

[J. J. in Phila]

Slovenia used the Tolar up until 2007. 1 USD = 197.22 Tolar. It was around 183.00 - 190.00 Tolar in previous years. Interesting that Ray left right before Slovenia converted to the Euro.

That still would have been an 18 month to two year gap.

 

[Trackergd]

There had been discussion for a while about various European nations converting to the Euro. If I remember correctly, a rough timeline was in place. It's just an interesting bit of data. Do we have any information about what part of Slovenia Ray's family came from, or where relatives are located? A regional area or city is enough.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

There had been discussion for a while about various European nations converting to the Euro. If I remember correctly, a rough timeline was in place. It's just an interesting bit of data. Do we have any information about what part of Slovenia Ray's family came from, or where relatives are located? A regional area or city is enough.

Not that I know of. I don't think it is like "Smith," but it is not an uncommon name. I think it would translate roughly to the surname "Hill" in English.

 

[sekrah]

Not sure how good this source is: Gričar Surname Meaning, Origins & Distribution

But Gricar seems to be fairly rare, even for Slovenia (Ranked 771st)

 

[J. J. in Phila]

I am adding some site photos that were taken July 30, 2009.

1. The spot where the drive was found. The water is about a foot lower lower that it was on 4/17/05. There is about a ten foot drop from where the photo was taken to the spot where the drive was found. The drive was found around the area where those plants are poking through the water.

2. The barrier on the bridge. The cane is about 32 inches and was leaning slightly, so the barrier is about 30 inches.

3. The bridge walkway. This is facing east, with Lewisburg behind the camera. Note that walk is only on south side of the bridge. The laptop was found on the north side of the bridge.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

1. A photo of the park taken from the porch of the Packwood House. This is the view the witnesses would have had for the first Lewisburg sightings. The far bench and the picnic table are the spot where the drive was likely tossed.

2. Parking spaces across from the Packwood House. Witnesses indicated RFG parked there and got out of the car. He went into the park and sat on a bench, according to the witness. This vantage point is a bit south of the first photo.

3. This is a zoom in on the bench and table, from the same location as #1

4. This is the view from the bench area of the Packwood House.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

This is a picture of the highway bridge from the bench area in the park.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

1. The parking lot across from the SOS. According to TG, Mini was in the middle row, about where the red car (not the red SUV) is in the photo. The vantage point is from the corner of Water and St. John Streets, with St. John being on the left.

2. The middle row of the parking from St. John Street. The red car is almost completely obscured by the silver SUV. Note the proximity of the house.

3. A measurement of the of the parking lot. Note that the tape measure is 10 yards long. There had been some questions about the size; this is for scale.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

RFG's financial disclosure forms for the calendar years 2004 (filed in 2005), and 2005 (filed in 2006). Note that the latter was filed by his daughter, as would be expected .

At the time, all elected officials were required to file one. Any more that $1600 income from a single source were required to be reported.

Though it can be found elsewhere, this is REV-1500 form for his estate.

 

[PaulR]

Gricar made some good change, it had to be going somewhere. I think Gricar was quietly stashing money away overseas for hius last few years planning this.

Perhaps, but then Gricar would have been in violation of FBAR which says that you must declare bank accounts and such held overseas over a low amount ($10K), with very stiff penalties (at the time, 50% of the value of the accounts, no ceiling either); this was an especially big deal in the post-Patriot Act days of the mid-2000s. That isn't to say that people do not do this, in fact a lot of people don't, but Gricar doesn't strike me as the type of guy who would risk the very heavy penalties and disgrace with violating tax laws. If he was declaring offshore accounts to the IRS, we probably would not be having this discussion since the police would have just assumed that he decided to move overseas and not tell anyone as is his right.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Perhaps, but then Gricar would have been in violation of FBAR which says that you must declare bank accounts and such held overseas over a low amount ($10K), with very stiff penalties (at the time, 50% of the value of the accounts, no ceiling either); this was an especially big deal in the post-Patriot Act days of the mid-2000s. That isn't to say that people do not do this, in fact a lot of people don't, but Gricar doesn't strike me as the type of guy who would risk the very heavy penalties and disgrace with violating tax laws. If he was declaring offshore accounts to the IRS, we probably would not be having this discussion since the police would have just assumed that he decided to move overseas and not tell anyone as is his right.

Not so much tax law, but he was in the process of divorcing. The divorce was finalized on July 30, 2001, about 6 weeks prior to 9/11. It would become a big deal very quickly, but just at that time, is wasn't.

another interesting factor is that RFG told PEF that he wanted to put the Mini in her name, in case he was sued. For any professional liability, he was covered under the county master liability insurance.

 

[PaulR]

Not so much tax law, but he was in the process of divorcing. The divorce was finalized on July 30, 2001, about 6 weeks prior to 9/11. It would become a big deal very quickly, but just at that time, is wasn't.

another interesting factor is that RFG told PEF that he wanted to put the Mini in her name, in case he was sued. For any professional liability, he was covered under the county master liability insurance.

You think maybe he was trying to hide assets during the divorce? I think every divorce lawyer knows to see if the numbers add up, and if someone is a lot poorer on paper than they should be, it means they are hiding assets. Gricar would have needed to lie to the court. I think the Bar (and certainly the opposition party) would have a field day over that.

I'm not sure him transferring the title of the car is a big deal. He may have been concerned about personal liability.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

There was the now infamous time that RFG drove to a Cleveland Indians game after a fight with his second wife, EG. He was away one night at least. It was supposedly a double header in Cleveland. Sloane said that he was back at work on "Monday morning." He also indicated that she was upset because he left and wasn't home. That indicates that they were still together at that point.

RFG filed the initial papers in 2/01; EG was formally served by the end of April.

I checked the Indian's schedules for 2001, 2000, and 1999. There were no double headers involving the Indians in 2001 prior to May. There were three double headers in 2000, one was in Baltimore, the other two were not on weekends. RFG's absence would have been noted if he had been missing at work.

There were two home double headers in 1999. One was on July 3, as part of a series (7/2-7/4). Monday was 7/5, but it was a holiday. It is possible that Sloane just remembered him as being back the next work day.

The other one was April 17. That matches the description best, though I wouldn't rule out 7/3. In any event, it looked like the couple was having problems at least 18 months prior to RFG actually filing.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

You think maybe he was trying to hide assets during the divorce? I think every divorce lawyer knows to see if the numbers add up, and if someone is a lot poorer on paper than they should be, it means they are hiding assets. Gricar would have needed to lie to the court. I think the Bar (and certainly the opposition party) would have a field day over that.

I'm not sure him transferring the title of the car is a big deal. He may have been concerned about personal liability.

Well, we are asking questions about money now.

The Mini wasn't transferred; he paid for it and put it her name.

There is the question of what would he be liable for? He had no private practice, so there was no professional liability. He drove the Mini, but he was required to have insurance for that. He didn't own any real estate, so he had no liability for something like a slip and fall. PEF would have had more, as she owned the house.

 

[Trackergd]

It appears he had no more risk of being sued than the rest of us, so why the ruse to get the Mini in PEF's name? Was this the early planning for an exit?

 

[J. J. in Phila]

It appears he had no more risk of being sued than the rest of us, so why the ruse to get the Mini in PEF's name? Was this the early planning for an exit?

He would probably have a lower chance than a homeowner. If someone slipped and fell on their front walk and sues, PEF would be the defendant.

A lot of the finances/assets, even vanishing before retiring, all points to something voluntary. Walking away is voluntary, but so is suicide.

Putting the Mini in PEF could be estate planning. He wanted her to have an asset, but not have to pay inheritance taxes on it, or rewrite his will.

 

[PaulR]

He would probably have a lower chance than a homeowner. If someone slipped and fell on their front walk and sues, PEF would be the defendant.

A lot of the finances/assets, even vanishing before retiring, all points to something voluntary. Walking away is voluntary, but so is suicide.

Putting the Mini in PEF could be estate planning. He wanted her to have an asset, but not have to pay inheritance taxes on it, or rewrite his will.

The first isn't necessarily true: Property Owner vs. Occupier Liability for Personal Injury - AllLaw.com indicates that the occupier (tenant) would be held liable for personal injury in many cases.

Inheritance taxes in PA are 15% for non-relatives but would have kicked in anyway if RFG had given PEF the car within a year of his death. If paid promptly, it can drop to 10%. I'm not sure how much his Mini would have been worth, but used cars in general don't have a lot of value. A 5 year old basic Mini right now has a KBB of about $12K, not quite half of what a new one costs.

Could he have had a gambling problem? Certainly it would explain where the money went, and State College to Cleveland goes right through Youngtown, Ohio which was (and probably still is) a notorious Mob city, perhaps his occasional visits to Indians games also involved a stop to borrow money to bet on the game.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

The liability generally would apply to the owner or tenant; RFG was neither.

The Mini was a 2004; he had it for about a year, so I'd suspect it still would be fairly valuable. Even at $15,000, it would still be over $2 k. Note that most of his accounts held jointly with his daughter and were, for estate purposes, half hers.

RFG was not known to to gamble, at least to excess. There were no accounts of him going to AC or Vegas. No suggestion that he would have a poker game "with the boys." No accounts of him going to a racetrack. Also, no large cash withdrawals within the prior 2-3 years. None of his acquaintances ever mentioned gambling.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Just bumping.

July had been a month were some new development use to come out in the case. So far, nothing this year.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

There is this; RFG's desktop calendar. It is from PennLive, but I enlarged it.

There is a lot written, but most of it shown the scheduling of things for the ADA's. The have initials of the ADA's.

Until the 5/17/05, election day, most of those have the initials KK. for Karen Kuebler. The one the next week is NB, Nate Boob. The next week, LM and MS, Lance Marshall and Mark Smith, respectively. The final week, there is LM, KK, and on 6/3/05, KA, Karen Arnold.

It looks like these are trials, but RFG doesn't have anything.

There are pre trial conferences (PTC's) on 5/19, and a PCRA (Post Trial Relief Act) conference on 5/26. I don't know if he would be at either. The next Prison Board Meeting should have been 5/12, but that isn't listed.

The only "personal" things were something with PEF on 5/29, with a question mark, and LAG's birthday on 5/27.

I have heard that he was moving a lot of cases prior to 4/15/05. if that is correct, it looks like he was successful.

I don't know if this was normal or something different, but it doesn't strike me as being a heavy load.